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Unequal division of matrimonial assets

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BY: VALERIE DYE

Can a court order that upon termination of a marriage one spouse should be awarded less than half of the value of the net family assets? The answer to that is yes.

Section 5 (6) of the Family Law Act of Ontario makes provision for unequal division of assets where the court is of the opinion that equalizing the net family assets would be unconscionable.

Some of the most common reasons for the court to order an unequal division of assets  is where one spouse has intentionally or recklessly depleted the family asset; where one spouse has recklessly incurred significant debts during the marriage; where one spouse has failed to disclose significant debts he or she had at the time of marriage; or where the amount one spouse is entitled to receive is disproportionately large in relation to a cohabitation period of less than five years.

One of the many cases in which the courts in Ontario have ordered the unequal division of net family assets is the case of Dillon vs Dillon. Mr. Dillon managed his family’s finances and incurred a substantial amount of debt due to his alcoholism. His wife only became aware of the debts when creditors began pursuing him. The family’s debts led to an impoverished lifestyle. The wife also had to borrow money from relatives to pay some of the debts incurred by the husband. After the couple separated the court agreed that given the number of debts incurred by Mr. Dillon during the marriage it would be unconscionable for the family assets to be divided equally. After calculating the net family assets, the wife owed an equalization payment of $62,000 to the husband. The court reduced this amount by $50,000 and the husband only received $12,000.00.

Where cohabitation has lasted for less than five years the courts have also ruled that there should be an unequal division of net family assets. In Gomez vs McHale, the parties began dating in 2007 and began living together in September 2009 in the Respondent husband’s home. They married in June 2013 and separated in February 2014. Their period of cohabitation was less than five years. The applicant agreed that she was not entitled to the full equalization payment calculated at $288,566.61 but argued that she should receive forty percent of that amount. The court took all the circumstances into consideration (including the fact that the house was owned prior to cohabitation and that the husband made significant improvements to the house during the period of cohabitation with no contribution from the wife) and awarded the wife $60,000.00.

It should be noted that even though equalization and division of net family assets apply only to married couples, section 5(6)(e) of the Family Law Act considers the length of cohabitation and not the length of the marriage. As such, even if a marriage lasts for only one year but cohabitation began more than five years before the marriage, an unequal division of net family assets will not be justified on the basis of a short marriage.  At the same time, a period of dating will not be considered a period of cohabitation.

In determining whether or not to award an unequal division of assets the court focuses on the unconscionability of an equal division. In other words, it must shock the conscience of the court that, given the conduct of the defaulting spouse, he or she should still benefit from fifty percent of the net family assets of the other spouse.

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Legal Matters

What is the Legality of Online Gambling in Canada?

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Many legal experts describe online gambling in Canada as a grey area. That means there are no clear laws about it, which explains why some people think it’s legal and others believe it’s banned.

Does that mean the police could one day come after your laptop for playing a few rounds of poker online? It’s unlikely. In fact, the Canadian Revenue Agency might never come after you too whether you win $100 on roulette or $1 million on slots. Continue reading to find more information below.

Gambling is a Provincial Matter
Gambling is a provincial issue according to country laws. There’s no grayness around it. From Alberta to BC, Manitoba to Quebec, each jurisdiction decides whether to permit gambling businesses.

So far, nearly every province allows one or more forms of online gambling. British Columbia first legalized online lotto games and sports betting in 2004. In 2009, it permitted online poker and casino games like slots and blackjack in 2010.

Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario have similar gambling laws. In the Maritime province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edwards Island, online gambling falls under the jurisdiction of the Atlantic Lottery Corp. It permits lotto games but restricts slots and card games.

To be clear, many provincial gambling sites accept bets from local residents only. Manitoba lottery apps serve players in Manitoba and Alberta poker websites open account for people in Alberta alone.

Offshore Casinos are the Grey Area
Although Canadian laws dictate provinces are responsible for regulating gambling, they don’t talk about offshore casinos. They don’t state whether it’s legal for Canadians to accept bets at foreign betting sites. And they don’t mention whether offshore operators can welcome Canucks.

According to Michael Lipton, a gaming law expert, Canadian players commit no crimes when they bet at offshore casinos. As such, you can find legal sites for online gambling in Canada. And you can bet on slots, blackjack or poker and you’ll be safe.

That said, online casinos based overseas can’t set up their offices on Canadian soil. Starnet Communications International, an operator based in Antigua, once opened an office in Vancouver with an attempt to operate in Canada.

 Unfortunately, the B.C. Supreme Court determined Starnet couldn’t operate in Canada and it ceased its operations in 2001. For clarity, some online casinos host their servers in the country, mainly at the Kahnawake Gaming Commission offices in Quebec. But they’re licensed elsewhere.

Online Gaming Profits are Untaxed
Because the Federal Government has not laws about online gambling, the Revenue Agency doesn’t tax iGaming profits. People have been playing online casinos for over a decade. And the Revenue Agency has never gone after anyone’s money.

The most publicized online casino win was a $7.5 million jackpot winner in 2015. It was the largest payout a Canadian has won through gambling. Naturally, the news spread tremendously throughout the county. But the winner, who chose to remain anonymous, was never taxed.

A handful of more Canucks have won $100,000 to $11 million since 2015. And barring for professional gamblers, no one has had to pay taxes on their profits. In case you’re wondering, Americans must pay taxes on their online casino profits, sometimes as much as 30%.

A Wide Range of Games Allowed
Although providences restrict some games, offshore casinos do not. They let Canadians gamble on just about anything: slots, bingo, video poker, blackjack, scratch cards, poker and baccarat. What’s more, they provide a large collection of variants.

That way, you don’t just find a handful of slots online. There are hundreds of them from classic games to jackpots, Megaways to VR slots. Likewise, you can play Texas Hold’em, Hi-Lo, Omaha, 7-Card or Caribbean poker.

Another benefit of Canadian online casinos is that they provide games from many software providers. This ensures you can evaluate the features in games offered by several developers to choose the best-quality slots or card games.

Still on games, you can play slots, poker and blackjack on your mobile devices. No longer are you limited to your workstation. Instead, you can pull out your iPhone while on the subway, beach or sofa and play a variety of games.

Sports Betting Sites a Click Away
Like online casinos, sports betting websites are always a click away. The best sportsbooks are based in the UK and Malta, licensed, safe and regulated. They provide betting markets for Canadian sports leagues, American, European and world sports.

What’s more, they provide the latest betting features to Canadians: in-play, mobile, and partial withdrawal services. On the other hand, offshore casinos allow Canucks to bet and withdraw their profits without paying taxes.

So, why don’t sportsbooks sponsor Canadian sports leagues? It is all about the laws. Sure, you can bet at a sportsbook based in London. But it has no license to operate in Ontario or Saskatchewan and therefore can’t support local leagues.

 Bonuses Lure Canadians
In Some countries, online casinos are allowed to operate without handing out bonuses, at least not large amounts. Luckily, Canadians aren’t restricted by such measures. They are welcomed with generous amounts of betting money, up to $1000 at the best casinos.

This money can be used to play a full range of games and win real money. But in many cases, there are some restrictions that guide players on how to use promotional cash. For example, there’s a betting limit, games you can’t play and the maximum you can win.

Problem Gambling Protection
One of the disadvantages of not having clear gambling laws is that it leaves some players vulnerable. In the UK, players can contact the Gambling Commission if they feel like an operator exploited them due to their addiction.

In Canada, players only hope casinos will act responsibly. Fortunately, the best casinos in Canada must protect all players by law. They must have tools to detect addicted players and stop them. Or they can let players self-examine and limit their budgets if they have to. All the same, many online casinos have a responsibility to help players play responsibly.

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Legal Matters

Your blood relation to an individual can have an impact on you

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BY NANA ADJEI-POKU

Munira Omar, a Canadian Citizen with no criminal record obtained employment at WestJet Airlines in Toronto as a guest services ambassador. She was then promoted to customer service agent eight months thereafter. As many of us know, to perform certain duties while employed by an airline, one needs to have security clearance to access restricted areas of the airport. Ms Omar applied for this card on September 29th , 2015 (a month after she was hired) and was granted a temporary pass.

Two years after being granted the pass, Ms Omar was notified by Transport Canada about its concerns about some information obtained regarding her ability to obtain a full security clearance. Apparently, there was an RCMP check that revealed that Ms. Omar was associated with two individuals with extensive criminal record histories. Some of the charges noted were: trafficking, possession of a Schedule 1 substance, possession of a prohibited weapon, assault, and obstructing peace officers. Transport Canada mentioned a search warrant that was executed at Ms. Omar’s house back in 2013 where there were documents in the name of one individual who was known to reside with her, and another who was incarcerated at the time the search was executed. Both individuals were later found to be her brothers.

Ms. Omar was invited to respond, and advised in her response that one of the individuals was her brother who had not lived with her since 2008. She also raised the issue that she was not happy that she was being penalized for her brother’s actions. She argued that her right to procedural fairness was breached by Transport Canada.

In April 2018, her employment was terminated so she filed submissions to the Advisory Board. This was then sent to the Minister’s Delegate for review. On April 30th, 2019, the Minister’s Delegate also refused her request for review and upheld the decision to refuse the security clearance application. The reasons outlined were that her association with two immediate family members who were involved in serious criminal activities raised concerns regarding her “trustworthiness and reliability” and the potential that she could be “Influenced by her immediate family.” 

It was decided, on a balance of probabilities, that Ms Omar was prone or could be induced to: commit and act, or assist or abet any person to commit an act that would have lawfully interfered with civil aviation. It was also noted that Ms Omar failed to address the concerns presented to her adequately, and this could lead to her being influenced by her brothers to commit unlawful acts. Transport Canada also said that she did very little to alleviate their concerns that she would not be prone to any influence from her brothers.

This is an eye-opener for many out there that your blood relation to an individual can have the same impact on you even if you are a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record.

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Legal Matters

Four things that you need to know if you have a case in the Courts of Ontario

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BY NANA ANJEI-POKU

In continued efforts to provide information to the public regarding the Courts of Ontario, the following are the most recent updates.

Limitation Periods
Limitation Periods under the Re-opening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 will end, and suspended time periods will resume running as of September 14th, 2020.  For example, if you had a deadline to file a claim in Small Claims Court on April 16th, 2020, which is thirty days after the original limitation suspension date back on March 16th, 2020, you will have to now file it by October 14th, 2020, which is thirty days from the date the limitation period was lifted. This will apply to all deadlines attributable to all courts and tribunals in Ontario.

Provincial Offences Court
Limitation periods under the Provincial Offences Act will be lifted on September 11th, 2020. Beginning September 28th, 2020, Provincial Offences Act will be expanded to include non-trial matters remotely. These matters will include guilty pleas, withdrawals, judgment delivery, first appearances and adjournments.  No in-person Provincial Offences Act proceedings will be conducted until at least Monday, October 19th, 2020.  As previously mentioned, all matters scheduled between March 16th, and October 16th, are still being adjourned and rescheduled. Information concerning POA appeals will be updated at a later date.

Small Claims Court Proceedings
Small Claims Court matters continue in the same manner as the previous update with motions, and urgent garnishment hearings being heard via telephone or videoconference.  Settlement conferences continue to be held remotely with the consent of both parties.

Criminal Court Proceedings
Starting September 8th, 2020, virtual criminal case management courts will be starting in: Barrie, Brantford, Brockville, Chatham, Cornwall, Lindsay, London, Milton, Niagara (St. Catharines/Welland/Fort Erie), North Bay, Parry Sound, Perth, Peterborough, Sarnia, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Toronto North (1000 Finch) and Toronto West (2201 Finch). If you have any criminal matters, please contact the courthouse directly for information specific to your matter.

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