Province to pilot family law reforms

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This article was published 13/03/2019 (2400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pallister government is modernizing the family law system to make it less complex and adversarial, allowing for matters such as child custody and support to be settled outside of court.

On Tuesday, it introduced first-of-its-kind legislation in Canada that would result in a three-year pilot project created in Winnipeg to test a new family dispute resolution model, to be launched early next year.

The Family Law Modernization Act (Bill 9) would create a new dispute-resolution process, in which a resolution officer would work with families to sort out property, custody and child support issues.

Disputes that cannot be resolved through this process would proceed to a second phase, in which an adjudicator holds a hearing and makes a recommended order. The recommended order would be deemed to be a court order if neither party objected to it within 35 days. If an objection was filed, the court would resolve the dispute by confirming the adjudicator’s recommended order or making another order.

“Our current family system is failing too many families and children,” Justice Minister Cliff Cullen told a news conference. “The traditional court-based system is complex, it’s adversarial, it’s expensive and ultimately damaging to many Manitoba families.”

Assuming Bill 9 is passed this spring, the reforms would begin to be instituted this fall, with child support matters being handled administratively. That would immediately ease the pressure on a clogged court system.

Once the dispute-resolution pilot project is established in Winnipeg next year, the new administrative process will be mandatory for most types of family disputes, including disputes involving property, child and spousal support, child custody and access.

Exceptions to this process would include where a court order is needed on an expedited basis (for example, where there is risk of a parent removing a child from the province without the other parent’s consent), or where an existing order prevents the parties from communicating with one another due to domestic violence.

Another exception would be couples undergoing divorce proceedings under federal law. However, couples going through a divorce may still use the dispute-resolution mechanism to work out several issues they could bring before a judge.

The Progressive Conservatives announced their intentions to reform the family law system 17 months ago. An advisory committee comprising judges, lawyers and community leaders helped drive the process.

Allan Fineblit, the lawyer who chaired the advisory committee, said he was “very pleased” with the proposed legislation. “It looks like it captured what we recommended.”

In rolling out the reforms, the province has hired local company North Forge Technology Exchange to help it design the new programs.

It is estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Manitoba families are affected by separation or divorce each year. Most currently rely on the courts to resolve child custody, support and property matters.

If the system operates as envisioned, family disputes will be dealt with more quickly and collaboratively, while helping clear court backlogs.

Divorce proceedings can be especially expensive. According to a 2015 survey by Canadian Lawyer magazine, the average cost of a contested divorce in Western Canada was more than $18,000.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca