Good Lawyers in Injury Divorce DUI

The British Columbia government has plans to make what the Vancouver Sun calls “revolutionary changes” to family law in the province.

These changes will better reflect modern society, to update the Family Relations Act that was passed 30 years ago. The government’s proposal will revise the legal definition of a parent, and it will update property rules, children’s interests in parenting disputes, and even the terms that come with family legal issues, like “custody,” “access” and “guardianship.”

The proposed revisions will also look to change the nature of the separation process, rendering it less adversarial than it is now. The hope is that these revisions will make it easier for couples to find solutions to problems out of court. Such issues that they would like to move out of the courtroom would be matters like child custody and division of assets.

Vancouver lawyer Georgialee Lang had strong feelings about the proposed changes. “This is groundbreaking, absolutely groundbreaking,” she told the Vancouver Sun. “I think they’ve done a very comprehensive job.” She also said that herself and many other lawyers have wanted revisions like these for a long time.

Attorney-General Mike de Jong and his office released over 170 pages of changes that are recommended, so that the public can offer their reactions and their comments through October.

De Jong stressed how much families have changed since the adoption of the 30-year-old Family Relations Act. “Increasing numbers of children are living with single parents or step-parents,” he said. “The traditional family structure has changed, divorce and separation are far more common than they once were and we have a far better understanding today than perhaps we once did about the challenges associated with family violence and the impact that conflict has on children.”

De Jong went on to reiterate how the existing model was “very adversarial,” and that B.C. politicians agreed that there was a better way to deal with relationships that come apart. He said that he wanted to see couples resolve their issues without immediately going to court.

“We will always need the court,” he said, “but we do not need a system that is primarily an adversarial system.”

The new law will allow couples to show that they’ve thought about ways to resolve their issues outside of the courtroom before taking issues to a judge. The laws will also create rules that are more predictable and easier to understand when it comes to negotiated agreements.

According to the Vancouver Sun, reaction to the recommended revisions was positive right off the bat.

Tracy Porteous, the director of the Ending Violence Association, said that the government is taking a big step forward “to increase the safety of women and children with respect to enforcement of protection orders and looking at the best interest of the child.”

The revisions have been in the works for four years. Many of them will work to make rules like division of property and the guardian of children more clear, so that there is less uncertainty in the process.