International Law

LawLINE Services are Discontinued After March 26, 2010

Posted on March 22, 2010
If you need legal advice services, please see the Links page of the LSS website for links to information about the law and legal services in British Columbia. Links to non-LSS websites are provided for the convenience of users. LSS does not create or maintain these non-LSS websites and is not responsible for their accuracy...

All i wanna do is get outta this place..

Posted on November 26, 2009
Margaret calls LawLINE as soon as it is open, following a heated discussion with her ex- husband Kyle the evening before. She is breathless and angry as she tells me her ex- husband is ?keeping her prisoner?. Alarmed, I ask her why she has not called the police...

Common-Law Relationships and Separation

Posted on January 07, 2009
Anna and Baron have been living together for 8 years. Anna works as a part time nurse, and Baron owns a successful employment agency. Baron owned a house when they initially got together but sold it and used the 75K towards a house together. Anna had no money at the time but for the first five years shared the mortgage payments with Baron...

IS TWELVE A MAGIC NUMBER?

Posted on June 04, 2008
Nope. Not when it comes to family law, anyway.There?s a popular misconception that when a child turns twelve, he or she can choose which parent he or she wants to live with.The truth is that while the preference of the child may be relevant when making custody decisions, there is no specific age at which the preference automatically decides the issue...

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Extra Money for People Looking After Children of Relatives

Posted on February 08, 2008
Sarah has been taking care of her 3 year-old nephew, Paul, for the past 4 months. Paul?s mother, Mary, had to leave the country and Sara had expected that she would be back by now. But Mary?s plans have changed, and now she is not expected back for another year...

LAST UPDATE: ONTARIO DEMAND LETTERS

Posted on January 22, 2008
Still nothing.It is nearly a year now, and the Ontario Law Society (?OLS?) has still not made a decision. In the meantime, at least one Ontario lawyer continues to crank out these letters.The official line from the OLS is that they are still ?investigating...

SHOPLIFTING AND SCARY NOTICES

Posted on December 20, 2007
From time to time we get calls from people who have been caught shoplifting. Generally, they?ve been caught red-handed by store security, and released a short time later after some paperwork.More often than not the police did not attend the scene and were informed of the incident after the fact by store security...

CHILD SUPPORT SHENANIGANS

Posted on October 16, 2007
I can hear the aggravation in her voice, tightening her throat. ?How is it fair that I?m breaking my back to bring home the bacon and make a home for the kids and he can just sit around mooching off his new girlfriend??Thelma?s common law husband of nine years, Fred, walked out on her and their two school-aged children three months ago, saying he needed to ?start over...

FALL UPDATE: ONTARIO DEMAND LETTERS (HURRY UP AND WAIT)

Posted on September 25, 2007
As promised, we followed up with the Ontario Law Society about this matter earlier this month. They say they are still investigating. It has now been seven months.... We will continue to follow up with them periodically, and will let you know once there?s any change...

Have Your Been Injured in a Accident that was not Your Fault?

Posted on September 05, 2007
While our primary role at LawLINE is giving legal advice, sometimes it?s more appropriate to give legal information or refer people to other services that are more suited to their needs.For example, from time to time we get calls from people who have recently been in a motor vehicle or some other type of accident...

UPDATE: ONTARIO DEMAND LETTERS

Posted on July 16, 2007
Back in April, we posted an item about some Ontario lawyers who are sending demand letters threatening Ontario legal proceedings in consumer disputes that have no Ontario connection. (See www.bc-lawline.blogspot.com/2007/04/consumer-alert-demand-letters...

YOU CANNOT INHERIT A DEBT

Posted on June 15, 2007
From time to time we get calls from people whose spouses have recently passed away and left a whole lot of debts. It?s an unfortunate situation, as the caller is placed under unnecessary financial worries at a time when he or she is still coming to terms with to deal with his or her bereavement...

CONSUMER ALERT! DEMAND LETTERS THREATENING LEGAL ACTION IN ONTARIO!

Posted on April 24, 2007
Over the past six months or so, several of us at the LawLINE have heard from people who have received letters from Ontario lawyers threatening to sue them in the small claims court of Ontario.Typically, the caller has an outstanding account of a few thousand dollars with a cell phone company or bank...

Family Maintenance Orders and Multiple Jurisdictions

Posted on April 05, 2007
Canada?s huge geography and federal system of laws can make getting and changing family support orders rather challenging. But as ?Jane? discovered in a recent call to us, things have gotten a little easier since the introduction of the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act in 2003...

Immigration Sponsorship Breakdown

Posted on January 24, 2007
Sponsoring a Relative to Come to CanadaIt is common knowledge that people from all over the world immigrate to Canada. Many come to Canada as part of the ?family class? of immigrants through a process called sponsorship. What is perhaps less well understood are the strings that are attached to sponsoring a relative to come to Canada...

Internet Fraud

Posted on December 19, 2006
You know what they say, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Frankly, I think ?probably? is an understatement.IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT ALMOST DEFINITELY IS!There?s a heck of a lot of scammers out there. Police forces have whole task groups devoted to combating those who use the phone and the internet to rip people off, and I get to see some of the emotional and financial wreckage these creeps leave behind...

Legal Aid Expands Coverage in Family Cases

Posted on November 15, 2006
My first call of the day is from 33 year-old woman named Beverly who lives in a small northern community.Two weeks ago, Beverly left her husband, Kevin, after ten years of marriage, and now lives in a rented apartment. They do not have any children. While Kevin was not physically or verbally abusive of her, Beverly is worried that he may try to take financial advantage of her...

Seize or Sue

Posted on October 26, 2006
I pause for a moment and then type the final sentence of my letter. ?Accordingly, we consider this matter concluded, and trust that Ms. Wong will not be contacted again.?That?s lawyer talk for ?get lost.?Yesterday Linda Wong contacted us because some lawyer, from Ontario of all places, had sent her a letter about a car loan...

"We're Being Evicted!"

Posted on October 12, 2006
?We?re being evicted!? Olga exclaims indignantly.Sometimes they get right to the point. I quickly get a thumbnail sketch of the caller?s situation, both the background and the current crisis point she?s facing.About five years ago, Olga and her husband, Nigel, moved into their cozy, one-bedroom apartment in the West End of Vancouver...

Disability Trust Fund

Posted on September 28, 2006
Frank?s going to be getting a tidy sum of cash soon ? or will he?He received a letter from a lawyer in Ontario informing him that in a few months he will receive a cheque for about $20,000 from the estate of his old Uncle Donald, who passed away earlier this year...

Property Division After Separation

Posted on September 14, 2006
?Good afternoon, this is LawLINE. My name is Ted; I?m a Law LINE lawyer. Who?s calling, please??It?s a woman with an accent I don?t recognize. She introduces herself as ?Aysi?, and she?s originally from a country in the Middle East. She has some questions about getting separated from her husband...

Impaired Driving Charge and Driving Prohibtion

Posted on August 31, 2006
It?s Monday morning. Across the street a flag atop a neighboring office tower rolls languidly in the breeze. I log into our phone system.The first caller is ?Bob,? and it seems he got into a ?situation? over the weekend. He went out to the local pub with a few buddies Saturday for a few brews...

Family Justice Counselors

Posted on August 17, 2006
It?s Joni calling again. I spoke to her a few weeks ago about a debt collection matter. That worked out fine, she says. She?s not getting hassled anymore about that, but now she has a new problem.It seems that she and her former common law partner, Bruno, are not seeing eye to eye about their daughter, Roxanna, age eleven...

Unpaid Wages and Severance Pay

Posted on August 03, 2006
?Punjabi, please,? says the next caller.I put him on hold as I arrange for an interpreter to join us by conference call. After getting the interpreter?s name and ID number, I confirm with her that the conversation is strictly confidential and protected by lawyer / client confidentiality...

Credit Card Collection Blues

Posted on July 20, 2006
The voice on the line is that of a young woman, and a bit shaky. She?s clearly relieved to talk to someone, and her story tumbles out in a jumble. She?s being harassed by a collections agency. After she says her piece, I go through the facts with her methodically, and the full picture unfolds...

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