Watson Goepel is proud to announce that eight of our lawyers have been recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada™ 2025 and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch™ in 2025 for their outstanding achievements in their practice area.
Jonathan Lazar, a partner in the Family Law Group here at Watson Goepel LLP, is no stranger to tough questions like this one when people find out he’s been practicing family law for the last 20 years.
In Strata Plan V1S114 v John Doe the BC Supreme Court considered amendments to the Strata Property Act which came into effect in 2013. At issue, was the ability of the Strata Council to impose a special levy to fund the cost of extraordinary repairs.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is expected to implement changes to three of the federal economic immigration programs on January 1, 2015, which may make the process of obtaining permanent resident status in Canada significantly more difficult for some applicants.
The BC Court of Appeal recently dealt with the legal nature of survivor pension benefits and how they may be effectively waived in a separation agreement between spouses in Tarr Estate v. Tarr, 2014 BCCA 315.
If your relationship has unfortunately come to an end and a separation or divorce is being contemplated, you likely have a host of questions regarding your personal finances and how they may change once the separation is finalized. In this blog post we’ll explore the “Canada Child Tax Benefit” and discuss who gets to claim this benefit in the event of a separation or divorce.
After the introduction of the Family Law Act last year, Part 4, Division 6 of the FLA introduced new obligations for guardians seeking to relocate where there is an existing (final) order or agreement respecting parenting arrangements or contact with a child. The legislation was also supposed to clarify the factors that a court must take into account when considering relocation applications.
Family lawyer Craig Neville reviews parenting concepts that came into effect with the enactment of BC’s Family Law Act and the interpretation assistance offered by the BC Supreme Court in Hansen v. Mantei-Hansen, 2013 BCSC 876.
In M.H. v. C.S., 2013 BCSC 2232, the BC Supreme Court reviews the threshold test for firing a parenting coordinator and addresses a number of other parenting issues.
This week, one of the family lawyers in our office was inquiring about the availability of judges at the New Westminster registry of the BC Supreme Court. He needed a one day hearing on a family law matter and he was advised that for the last five months of 2013 there were only two days available!
