Family
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October 10, 2025
SCC clarifies when Quebec 10-year ‘extinctive prescription’ period reboots for collecting on judgments
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 9-0 in a Quebec appeal that filing and serving a notice to seize property counts as a judicial application interrupting the 10-year deadline to collect payment on a judgment — thereby restarting for a further 10 years the “extinctive prescription” period (comparable to a limitation period in the common law provinces) that applies to rights resulting from most money judgments under art. 2924 of the Civil Code of Québec.
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October 10, 2025
Budget 2025 to automate tax benefits, expand school food program
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced measures from the upcoming federal budget to lower costs for Canadians, including automating federal benefits, making the school food program permanent and renewing the Canada Strong Pass.
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October 10, 2025
Future capital gains tax may assist parties when equalizing or dividing family assets on separation
No one likes income tax. However, in the context of family law property division and equalization, future capital gains tax may work to the advantage of a spouse. The British Columbia Court of Appeal decision Dignard v. Dignard, 2025 BCCA 43 highlights an important and frequently arising issue in family law: how courts account for potential future tax liabilities, in this case capital gains tax, when dividing or equalizing family property.
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October 10, 2025
Marineland belugas deserve legal protection, not posturing and politics
In 2019, Canada enacted groundbreaking federal law banning the capture and breeding of whales, dolphins and porpoises for entertainment, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, also known as the “Free Willy” bill, whereby Canadian facilities are not allowed to hold, breed or import whales and dolphins.
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October 09, 2025
The horrors of homemade wills: When good intentions go bad
It’s a story estate lawyers know all too well: someone decides to “save a few bucks” by writing their own will — only for the family to end up spending thousands in legal fees after their death. While homemade wills might seem like a simple solution, the reality is far more complicated. The law sets out strict requirements for how a will must be made, and even the smallest misstep can leave your loved ones in legal limbo.
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October 09, 2025
The case for human-centred elder justice
On a good day, 83-year-old Beatrice can still make a cup of tea and find her way to the park. But when she tries to fill out a digital form, the steps feel endless and confusing. For many people with dementia, even small hurdles can make it hard to get the help they need.
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October 08, 2025
Fraser calls provinces’ demand to scrap Ottawa’s SCC arguments on notwithstanding clause ‘untenable’
Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser has pushed back against the demands of five premiers that Ottawa should drop its novel arguments at the Supreme Court that there are substantive constraints on governments’ powers to invoke the Charter’s s. 33 “notwithstanding” clause — arguments that those five provinces contend “represent a complete disavowal of the constitutional bargain that brought the Charter into being” in 1982.
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October 07, 2025
Attorney General Sean Fraser tells SCC the law needs to protect people with ‘no voice’
There was a celebratory mood at the opening ceremony for the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2025-26 court year, but Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser and other legal leaders delivered a sober message to the Ottawa courtroom packed with lawyers and judges.
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October 07, 2025
Undermining a costs claim: Costs and conduct in the context of interim parenting litigation
In the recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision Singh v. Kaur, 2025 ONSC 4122, Justice Imran Kamal underscored that where litigation arises from the conduct of both parties and neither achieves a substantially better outcome, an award of no costs may be appropriate on account of that unreasonable conduct.
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October 07, 2025
Lawyer ordered to pay costs for non-disclosure of gen AI use and citing fake precedents in court
In a cautionary case for litigation lawyers who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for court submissions, a Federal Court associate judge recently hit an immigration lawyer with personal costs for submitting two defective AI-generated precedents and for breaching the Federal Court’s requirement to disclose any generative AI use in court filings.