The Family Court Without A Lawyer

Explaining complex family law concepts and procedures in a jargon-free style, this resource includes detailed information on how family court works, offers easily understandable case examples, and describes alternatives to litigation that are designed to help prevent families with children from entering the legal system to resolve disputes. Exploring subjects that apply to all parties involved in resolving separation, divorce, and custody conflictsjudges, lawyers, mediators, parenting coaches, psychologists, family counselors, and social workersthis reference demystifies the role of lawyers and judges, debunks the myth that parents can represent themselves in court, and examines each parents responsibility to ensure that post-separation conflicts are resolved with minimal emotional stress to children.

This title will help non-lawyers represent themselves more confidently in court when resolving disputes over finances and child contact following a divorce or separation.

Dad, Win Without a Lawyer, written by Canadian family law pioneer Carey Linde, is the undisputed bible for self-represented parents serious about being actively involved in their child's life. You wouldn't want to perform your own heart surgery but you sure can do a good job - perhaps the best - speaking from your heart on behalf of your own children in a court of law. There is no person better at any fee. You are your own best advocate. Dad, Win Without a Lawyer will help you survive the legal process and assist you in becoming a more creative, purposeful, and compassionate parent. His revealing book is primarily aimed at fathers, but Carey's work is useful for any parent - mother or father - who is being pushed out of their children's lives by the other parent. Whether you have just separated from the mother of your children and the court process is ahead of you, or you are in the court process now, or this life-changing event is behind you, the key message of Dad, Win Without a Lawyer is the same: Every misfortune is an opportunity in disguise. Dad, Win Without a Lawyer takes the reader on a journey that will not only make you a stronger person in court but a stronger person in life and a better overall parent. Contained in the pages of this insightful manual are strategies, tactics, and tips from many decades litigating in the gauntlets of court, negotiating on courthouse steps, and mediating family disputes. But success in family court requires more than a clever legal strategy. It also requires a healthy body and mind. Good parents are mentally stable and present themselves as such in court. Without emotional stability and your eye on the correct ball, the court biases against fathers and the maneuvers of opposing lawyers can keep you from your children. It's absolutely critical you bring your very best game to court. Key to being at the top of your game is emotional stability, conviction of purpose, positive energy, and a respect for the role of the mother in your child's life. When you walk into the courtroom, it must be with a mental attitude imbued with self-knowledge, enabling you to put aside the pain, losses and failures so that you can become the father your child needs. Like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Carey Linde' s inspiring book speaks to a great deal more than its title suggests, to more than people with only legal problems. It is a primer for any person with the will to rise up out of the shadows of despair however caused to higher self-awareness.

For approaching two decades, family courts have been accused of making life changing decisions about children and who they live with made in secret, away from the scrutiny of the public gaze. Recognising the force of these accusations, senior family courts judges have, over that time, implemented a raft of rule changes, pilot projects and judicial guidance aimed at making the family justice more accountable and transparent. But has any progress been made? Are there still suspicions that family judges make irrevocable, unaccountable decisions in private hearings? And if so, are those suspicions justified and what can be done to dispel them? In this important and timely new book, Clifford Bellamy, a recently retired family judge who has been at the sharp end of family justice during all these changes, attempts to answer those questions and more. He has spoken to leading journalists, judges and academic researchers to find out what the obstacles to open reporting are – be they legal, economic or cultural - and interweaves their insights with informed analysis on how the laws regulating family court reporting operate. Along the way he provides a comprehensive review of the raft of initiatives he has seen come and go, summarises the position now and uses this experience to suggest how this fundamental aspect of our justice system could adapt in the face of this criticism. Every professional working in the family justice system – lawyers, social workers, court staff and judges - as well as those who job it is to report on legal affairs, should read this informative, nuanced exposition of what open justice means and why it matters so much to those whose lives are upended by the family justice system.

For ten years, and through four editions, people have relied on the best selling Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law for straightforward advice on important decisions. Whether you are getting married, separating, divorcing, changing a family law agreement or court order, or involved with a children's aid society, knowing how the Ontario Family Law System works and how to avoid some of its dangers really helps. The expanded and updated fourth edition of the Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law, Certified Specialist in Family Law, John Schuman, provides clear explanations about the important family law issues that people face every day. A reference for anyone who needs to understand Ontario family law, the Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law helps answer questions, clarify the issues, and lessen the stress that is often associated with family law matters. Almost 600 citations show the laws and court decisions that judges, and lawyers used everyday in Family Law. John Schuman presents the basics of Ontario family law from start to finish. He reviews marriage contracts and cohabitation agreements: what they are, why you need one, and how to do them properly. He also explains what happens when couples separate, including information on getting divorced, custody, access, parenting concerns, child and spousal support and division of assets and debts. John Schuman explains all options - from negotiation to mediation to collaborative practice, to the government child support calculation service to going to court - and what to expect with each one. He even explains what to do when a Children's Aid Society calls and what to do at each step in to court.