Family law practice can be hard. Lawyers must navigate the law, including legislative amendments and common law changes, changes to court procedure, clients with their own issues (not all of them legal ones), the challenges of carrying on a business/practice, and so on. On top of this, many family law clients deal with trauma and this can affect lawyers. These on-demand programs explore these “collateral issues” that family law practitioners face. The total running time for each presentation ranges between 1 hour, 20 minutes and 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Review topics like preparing a successful costs application, strategic considerations for counsel and costs and self-represented litigants.

With the current economic situation in Alberta, family lawyers will need to consider financial factors in their clients’ matters. This Webinar on Demand series explores current topics such as the intersection of bankruptcy and family law and costs. This Webinar on Demand series covers a review of recent cases regarding financial issues in separation and divorce.

Learn about the fundamentals of domestic contracts by discussing various types of documents and the situations in which each should be used. Also discuss how contracts can provide for what will happen on death, common drafting errors, and best practices. In addition to discussing recent case law, practical resources – such as sample clauses, precedents, and checklists – are also provided. This on-demand program was originally presented as an in-person program in October 2015. Total running time is 3 hours, 46 minutes.

In this presentation, Rachel Woynorowski discusses prenuptial agreements, including their benefits, restrictions, limitations, and grey areas, and tips for drafting.

The cost incurred by a client to have legal counsel negotiate a settlement under threat of pending litigation can be substantial. This paper addresses important considerations for lawyers when making applications for costs in the context of family law in Alberta. It also addresses matters involving self-represented litigants who either advance claim for costs or have costs awarded against them. This paper was presented at LESA’s Family Law Updates Part 2: Financial Affairs webinar on November 27, 2020.

This paper highlights some commonly encountered matrimonial questions or problems and discusses tips or tricks that lawyers can employ to address them. It also includes a number of precedents, such as a certificate of lis pendens, writ of enforcement, garnishee summons, and more. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Effective Legal Support: Matrimonial Property program in Edmonton on March 5, 2019 and in Calgary on March 12, 2019.

This paper provides an introduction to property considerations in matrimonial matters for lawyers new to family law or their legal support staff. It reviews common types of property, including real property, vehicles, bank accounts and investment accounts, business assets, pensions, personal possessions, and debts. It also reviews some more unusual forms of property that may be encountered in matrimonial proceedings, and discusses exempted property. Tips for eliciting property-related information from clients are integrated throughout. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Effective Legal Support: Matrimonial Property program in Edmonton on March 5, 2019 and in Calgary on March 12, 2019.  

It is becoming increasingly common to have clients who are self-employed, which comes with unique considerations when dealing with matrimonial property division. This paper explores important considerations and practical steps for family law lawyers to employ when advising clients with corporate or business interests in matrimonial property division matters. It provides an overview of business structures and steps to follow when gathering disclosure. It also highlights general principles regarding financial disclosure as well as commonly encountered issues in obtaining corporate financial disclosure. Finally, the paper discusses how to deal with financial disclosure once it is obtained, including methods for valuing a business. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Business Issues in Family Law Matters program in Calgary on January 17, 2018 and in Edmonton on January 24, 2018.

Don’t fear the prenup. Instead, see it as a means of protecting your client by ensuring that his or her intentions and desires are reduced to writing.  These authors take a look at the questions relating to these agreements, including: When can a prenup be beneficial? What are its restrictions, limitations and grey areas? What about when the parties live together before marrying? How can a prenup be challenged after the fact? This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Domestic Contracts program in October and November, 2015.