Family Law I

What is “marriage”? What is a “spouse”? Who is a “parent”? Who is a “child”? What is a “family”? Does it matter? The answers to these questions, and many others, are no longer as obvious as they may once have seemed to be.
Family law is a dynamic and ever-changing area of the law. Analyzing legislation (including recent  amendments to the Children’s Law Reform Act and the Divorce Act), the common law and public policy, and drawing on the practical experience of the instructors and occasional guest speakers, this course offers an introduction to the regulation of the “family” under Ontario and Canadian law. The course will focus on the rights and obligations between spouses, children, parents and third parties upon the creation of the family unit; and upon family breakdown. In examining these issues, the course will examine the legalities surrounding the formation and dissolution of marriage and common law relationships, child and spousal support; parenting, property division, reproductive technology; the role and consideration of family violence and the private ordering of family rights and obligations through Domestic Contracts. The course will have a practical bent, taught from the point of view of family law practitioners.