Law Times

Law Times • June 19, 2017 Page 11 www.lawtimesnews.com Full financial disclosure a must in divorce cases BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times B alancing the financial needs of a client involved in a family law case can be a challenge when it comes to gathering and analyz- ing information provided by cli- ents with requests to keep costs down. After resolving issues around children, financial consider- ations often become the most important issue in divorce. Although compromise can be part of the process, the base point is full financial disclosure, says Russell Alexander. He is the founder of Russell Alexander Collaborative Family Lawyers, a practice consisting of five lawyers and 12 support staff based in Lindsay, Ont. "Without [full financial dis- closure], you can't make an in- formed decision," says Alexander. "So you can still make com- promises and choose to accept less than what you're entitled to pursuant to the statute. But to do that you need to know what the compromise is." Failure to provide financial details can result in delays in the case and further costs later, he says. For Alexander, a classic ex- ample involved a client who hap- pened to see his former spouse on television discussing a pen- sion plan she had, which he had not known about. The revelation resulted in the case having to be re-opened and the finances requiring further scrutiny. At the same time, Alexander says, there are limits to the re- quests. Unreasonable requests for information they aren't cer- tain exists or may offer no revela- tions are sometimes designed to lengthen the process and make it financially unfeasible for the other side to continue, he says. Continuing to ask for ad- ditional material may amount to nothing more than a time- wasting exercise, observes Neil Maisel, an accountant with Crowe Soberman LLP. He says it can be useful when clients collect specific informa- tion, such as a bank statement from an offshore account, but he dissuades them from hir- ing professionals to chase down hunches they have about hidden financial assets. "This is often a fine line," says Maisel. "Many clients would like to do a full forensic review of their spouse's financial life, but the cost to do that can be significant." Maisel points out to separat- ing partners that they are en- titled to a portion of the other's assets. But not every situation justifies the expenditure to find it. The question is whether that additional income found is suf- ficient to justify the costs. In simpler cases, financial information might be limited to three years of personal income tax returns with notices of as- sessment and re-assessment, bank, broker and credit card documents. FOCUS Brian Ludmer says tax returns can be a good starting point when it comes to fig- uring out which financial assets a person brings to a divorce process. New Edition Ontario Family Legislation 2017 Consulting Editor: Elliot S. Birnboim New in this edition • Definition of "spouse" – S.O. 2016, c. 23 amending the Family Law Act, amending the definition of "spouse" by striking out "the natural or adoptive parents of a child" and substituting "the parents of a child as set out in section 4 of the Children's Law Reform Act." • Child Support Tables for Ontario – O. Reg. 478/16 amending the Child Support Guidelines by revoking and substituting the Child Support Tables for Ontario set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulation. • Service of documents – O. Reg. 235/16, ss. 1-8 amending the Family Law Rules by revising when service of a document by courier is effective. • Definitions – S.O. 2016, c. 23 amending the Child and Family Services Act by repealing and substituting the following definitions: "extended family," "relative," "parent," "birth parents," "birth relative," and "birth sibling." • Relationships with grandparents – S.O. 2016, c. 28 amending the Children's Law Reform Act by recognizing the relationship between a child and the child's grandparents. • Parentage – S.O. 2016, c. 23 repealing and replacing Parts I and II of the Children's Law Reform Act. Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 On subscription Order # 987966-65203 $100 Softcover approx. 1060 pages May 2017 978-0-7798-7966-3 Annual volumes supplied on standing order subscription Multiple copy discounts available One-time purchase Order # 987966-65203 $110 Multiple copy discounts available Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00245EZ-A87739 © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited Fresh Ontario legal news and analysis Get More Online LawTimesNews.com See Compromise, page 12 AnyWhere AnyTime AnyDevice DM Tools Cloud for child and spousal support calculations. Pay Per Use and Annual Subscription options available. www.divorcemate.com 1.800.653.0925 Ext. 407 • sales@divorcemate.com Essential Tools for Family Law Professionals Straightforward, easy-to-understand printout. Instant, secure access to all of your client files at home, at work, at court. Untitled-6 1 2017-06-14 4:39 PM

• Cover