Pension division committee considers responses to public consultation at October 2020 meeting

Last month, the Pension Division Review Project Committee met after a hiatus in which it held a public consultation on tentative recommendations for reform of part 6 of the Family Law Act. The focus of this meeting was a consideration of the responses that the committee received in that public consultation. The committee received 12 responses to its consultation paper. These responses were noteworthy for their thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and high level of engagement Read more…

Spotlight on child protection: Definitions and terms—“family violence”

This post is the first in a series that spotlights issues discussed in the Consultation Paper on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act. To read other posts in the series please click here. Brief description of the issue The Child, Family and Community Service Act employs the expression domestic violence, most notably in a key provision of the Act setting out the grounds for determining when a child needs protection. But the Act Read more…

Have your say on proposals to reform the Child, Family and Community Service Act

Today the British Columbia Law Institute published its Child Protection Project Committee’s Consultation Paper on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act. In this consultation paper the committee is asking for public comment on its proposals to government to reform British Columbia’s main child protection law. The consultation paper contains 38 tentative recommendations for reform. These tentative recommendations address the following subjects. Definitions and terms. Should terms such as custody and domestic violence that Read more…

Undue Influence and Financial Abuse

Introduction October 4-10, 2020 is Make-a-Will Week to encourage people to make or update their will. When people are making or changing a will there is the possibility for abuse or undue influence. Professionals drafting wills must be aware of the signs of undue influence and what steps can be taken if a wills practitioner or others suspect the will-maker is being unduly influenced. This blog will describe what undue influence is, identify some of Read more…

Discovering the Travelling Wills Clinic

As this is Make a Will Week, I was asked to let you know about an exciting possible initiative for delivering personal planning documents such as wills to low income adults living outside the lower mainland, the “Travelling Wills Clinic.” The Travelling Wills Clinic would serve those in remote, isolated, and underserved areas of BC – including members of First Nations living on and off reserve. Why outside the lower mainland? A number of resources Read more…