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Under s. 99 of the ''Family Law Act'', a party to a family law agreement about property can file a Notice of Agreement in the Land Title Office which will be registered as a charge on the title of a property under the ''Land Title Act.'' This will stop the property from transferred or mortgaged until the Notice is cancelled. Under s. 100, a party to a family law agreement about a manufactured home can file a Financing Statement in the Personal Property Registry which will be registered against the manufactured home under the ''Personal Property Security Act.'' This will stop the manufactured home from transferred until the Financing Statement is cancelled. | Under s. 99 of the ''Family Law Act'', a party to a family law agreement about property can file a Notice of Agreement in the Land Title Office which will be registered as a charge on the title of a property under the ''Land Title Act.'' This will stop the property from transferred or mortgaged until the Notice is cancelled. Under s. 100, a party to a family law agreement about a manufactured home can file a Financing Statement in the Personal Property Registry which will be registered against the manufactured home under the ''Personal Property Security Act.'' This will stop the manufactured home from transferred until the Financing Statement is cancelled. | ||
== | ==Agreements about the Care of Children== | ||
Under the federal ''Divorce Act'', married spouses have ''custody'' of their children, and the schedule of their time with the children is called ''access''. Married spouses could make an agreement talking about the care of their children in terms of custody and access, but should probably use the language used by the provincial ''Family Law Act'' because only that act provides specifically for the enforcement of agreements. | |||
Under the ''Family Law Act'', guardians, who may or may not be parents, have ''parental responsibilities'' for the raising of the children, and the schedule of their time with the children is ''parenting time''. People who are not guardians may have ''contact'' with a child. | |||
===Parental Responsibilities | |||
An agreement about parental responsibilities can be filed in court under s. 44(3) of the ''Family Law Act'' and be enforced through the act's general and extraordinary enforcement powers. | |||
===Parenting Time and Contact=== | |||
An agreement about parenting time can be filed in court under s. 44(3); an agreement about parenting time can be filed in court under s. 58(3). These agreements can be enforced through the specific enforcement powers found in ss. 61 and 63. | |||
====Denial of Parenting Time or Contact==== | |||
Under s. 61 where someone has been ''wrongfully denied'' parenting time or contact in the previous 12 months, the court can: | |||
<blockquote><tt>(a) require the parties to participate in family dispute resolution;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(b) require one or more parties or, without the consent of the child's guardian, the child, to attend counselling, specified services or programs;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(c) specify a period of time during which the applicant may exercise compensatory parenting time or contact with the child;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(d) require the guardian to reimburse the applicant for expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred by the applicant as a result of the denial, including travel expenses, lost wages and child care expenses;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(e) require that the transfer of the child from one party to another be supervised by another person named in the order;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(f) if the court is satisfied that the guardian may not comply with an order made under this section, order that guardian to</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) give security in any form the court directs, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) report to the court, or to a person named by the court, at the time and in the manner specified by the court;</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(g) require the guardian to pay</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) an amount not exceeding $5 000 to or for the benefit of the applicant or a child whose interests were affected by the denial, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a fine not exceeding $5 000.</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
The court can enforce these agreements using its extraordinary power to jail someone, as well as certain other extraordinary powers intended for problems like these. Under s. 231(4), where a guardian withholds parenting time or contact, the court can require a police officer to take the child to the person entitled to parenting time or contact. Under s. 231(5), where a person with contact refuses to return the child to his or her guardian, the court can require a police officer to take the child to his or her guardian. | |||
Under s. 62(2), the denial of parenting time or contact is not wrongful if: | |||
<blockquote><tt>(a) the guardian reasonably believed the child might suffer family violence if the parenting time or contact with the child were exercised;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(b) the guardian reasonably believed the applicant was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(c) the child was suffering from an illness when the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised and the guardian has a written statement, by a medical practitioner, indicating that it was not appropriate that the parenting time or contact with the child be exercised;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(d) in the 12-month period before the denial, the applicant failed repeatedly and without reasonable notice or excuse to exercise parenting time or contact with the child;</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(e) the applicant</tt></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) informed the guardian, before the parenting time or contact with the child was to be exercised, that it was not going to be exercised, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) did not subsequently give reasonable notice to the guardian that the applicant intended to exercise the parenting time or contact with the child after all;</tt></blockquote></blockquote> | |||
<blockquote><tt>(f) other circumstances the court considers to be sufficient justification for the denial.</tt></blockquote> | |||
Once an agreement is filed in court, | ====Failure to Exercise Parenting Time or Contact==== | ||
Under s. 63 where someone "fails repeatedly" to exercise a right of parenting time or contact under an agreement, the court can: | |||
#require the parties to attend a course of dispute resolution; | |||
#require one or more parties or the child to attend counselling; | |||
#require the transfer of the child between the parties to be supervised; | |||
#require the reimbursement of expenses incurred as a result of the failure; | |||
#require the posting of security; or, | |||
#require the breaching person to report to the court. | |||
The court can enforce these agreements using its extraordinary power to jail someone. | |||
==Agreeements for Child Support and Spousal Support== | |||
When a payor falls behind in his or her support payments or stops making them altogether, he or she is said to be in ''arrears'' of support. This is a breach of the separation agreement which requires the payor to make his or her support payments. Support is often the easiest part of an agreement to enforce. | |||
Once an agreement is filed in court, under s. 148 for child support and s. 163 for spouses support, the parts of the agreement dealing with spousal or child support can be enforced by the provincial Family Maintenance Enforcement Program. This is a free service for the party entitled to collect support and which can be very effective in forcing a payor to meet his or her obligations and monitor ongoing payments. | |||
See the chapters Child Support > Arrears of Support and Spousal Support > Arrears of Support for more information. Additional contact information for FMEP is provided in the Resources & Links section. | See the chapters Child Support > Arrears of Support and Spousal Support > Arrears of Support for more information. Additional contact information for FMEP is provided in the Resources & Links section. | ||
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==Page Resources and Links== | ==Page Resources and Links== | ||
===Legislation=== | ===Legislation=== | ||
FLA, DA, ISOA, FMEA, COEA, Land Title Act, Personal Property Registry Act, etc | |||
===Links=== | ===Links=== | ||
* <span style="color: red;">bulleted list of linked external websites referred to in page</span> | * <span style="color: red;">bulleted list of linked external websites referred to in page</span> | ||
public resources | |||
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} |