Goldwater, Dube

The Act to Facilitate the Payment of Support has been a godsend to women and children throughout Quebec: Since 1997, the Minister of Revenue of Quebec collects child and spousal support, without charge to the recipient. This saves a fortune in legal fees for the women and children who can least afford to hire a lawyer to collect the support they need in the first place!

Of course, this law does not detract from your right to collect support yourself, in the event the government is failing to act, or is not acting fast enough. When the debtor is about to skip the country, or is hiding assets, the rapid issuance of seizures should be undertaken by your lawyer, without delay.

Also, the government no longer has the right to make a "deal" with your debtor, without your prior approval! 

Here is the Civil Code of Quebec: Don't leave home without it!

It sets out the general rules of law for the entire province, and unlike common law jurisdictions, we turn to the Civil Code first, before referring to case law for inspiration and guidance.

For all family proceedings which are not part of a divorce file, it is the Civil Code that applies: e.g. disavowal of paternity, separation as to bed and board, nullity of marriage, etc.

The nuts and bolts of the legal profession!

The Code of Civil Procedure provides all the technical rules that apply within the province from the moment you take legal action: How to serve the defendant, where to deposit your proceedings, when time delays begin and expire, right up to how to execute seizures and appeal judgments.

Indispensable for the legal practioner.

This enactment amends the Divorce Act to introduce a new approach to parenting arrangements, based on "parental responsibilities". Rather than making custody and access orders, the court will make "parenting orders". The "parenting orders" may allocate "parenting time" as well as decision-making responsibilities regarding the child's health care, education, religion and other matters. The court will also be able to make "contact orders" governing contact between the child and persons other than the spouses. Both types of orders are based on the "best interests of the child". The "best interests of the child" are determined in the light of a non-exhaustive list of criteria that the court must consider.

The often hurtful language of "custody" vs. "taking out rights", which often made "non-custodial" parents feel relegated to second class status, will be eliminated. This does not mean that "joint custody" becomes the new religion to determine the welfare of children! Eliminating one kind of dogma to replace it with a "new" dogma would be just as harmful for children. "Parenting plans" should be formulated to bring out the best in all parents, whatever their sex and without regard to traditional biases about what roles mothers or fathers "should" fulfill. A child deserves to have both parents make their maximum efforts to fulfill their responsibilities. We have certainly come a far way from fathers being relegated to "Sunday daddies" and mothers having all the burden of child care!

If your child has been removed from the country of his habitual residence, you have recourse to have him returned to his home country, by international law rules that apply in Quebec...

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.