A new post from the Family Law Team discusses child support obligations when the status of one of the parents changes. In some cases, this could be due to a change in career that makes the original payments a hardship. In other cases, the circumstances of the parent originally receiving support may improve to the…

The original ruling involving a mother and her (then) 8 year old child had the potential to define the age at which children can be left at home alone but the BC Court of Appeal was very careful to confine it’s decision to the facts of this particular case and did not rule on the…

Every parent faces this question eventually. Recent debates over free range kids and the latest decision from the BC courts put the matter front and centre for BC parents. There is still no definitive age stipulation so what are parents to do? This is the question addressed in a recent post from the Watson Goepel…

Child Protection Matters Fiona Beveridge will be speaking on “Acting as Counsel for Children in Child Protection Proceedings,” as part of the faculty for CLE BC’s course Child Protection: ABCs and Best Practices on October 16, 2015. If you are interested in attending you can find course details here

The Family Law Team weighs in on how the courts in BC treat the family pet when a relationship ends. Read more…

By Ryan R. Lee, Associate, Commercial Litigation Group The Supreme Court of British Columbia has released its latest decision in an ongoing dispute that serves as a cautionary tale for those considering strata ownership. In Strata Plan NW 499 v. Kirk, 2015 BCSC 1487, the court considered cross-petitions by a small (17 unit) strata and an…

New blog post on the Vancouver Family Lawyers blog on what happens to spousal and child support if one parent is off work to care for a child from a second marriage or common law relationship:  Read more

In Do v. Nichols, 2015 BCSC 1069, Ryan R. Lee of Watson Goepel LLP represented homeowners faced with an unusual foreclosure petition. The mortgage at issue was registered against the homeowners’ residential properties but arose from an agreement for sale and subdivision of two other, nearby development properties. The petitioner agreed to purchase the development…

According to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1986, a real estate agent’s listing agreement is akin to a hunting licence. It mandates an agent to find and bag a purchaser. However, in a case decided by the SCC on June 25, 2015, depending on the terms of the listing agreement a commission may or…

This past weekend Watson Goepel Lawyer, Celso A. A. Boscariol spoke at the BC Shellfish & Seafood Expo in Comox Valley.  The talk dealt with “European Trade Policies and Seafood Business Opportunities” on the new market potential created for BC shellfish producers by the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (“ CETA”) negotiated between Canada and the…