Below is a selection of articles written by members of our firm.

Bankruptcy. This is perhaps the most frightening word a family law practitioner can hear. After all, once issues of custody and access are set aside, the remaining claims between husband and wife are all of a financial nature: alimentary support, partition of the value of the family patrimony, compensatory allowance, and last but not least, attorney’s fees.

This paper does not purport to be a comprehensive review of bankruptcy law in Canada. Yet, lawyers who specialize in bankruptcy often know little about family law; conversely, family law lawyers rarely have adequate experience dealing with bankruptcy issues. Insofar as the family law practitioner must be able effectively to execute judgments of the Superior Court against bankrupt individuals (invariably the husbands), and must at the same time have his fees paid, this paper will address the practical considerations involved in confronting the obstacles a bankruptcy may create.

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When may a custodial parent move away with the children? What constraints may be placed on such a move? Is there a difference between conventional custody–access situations and joint or shared custody arrangements?

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Parental Alienation Syndrome (P.A.S.) may be defined as the manifestation of a child’s systematic alienation from his parent, caused by any one or more of these four factors: conscious programming by the other parent (brainwashing); subconscious or unconscious programming or manipulation by the other parent; factors within the child; and situational or environmental factors. This term was coined by Dr. Richard Gardner, M.D., a clinical professor of child psychiatry at Columbia University, and author of numerous texts on custody litigation.

In his book, Family Evaluation in Child Custody Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation (1989 Creative Therapeutics), Dr. Gardner devotes a chapter to describing his clinician’s view of this disorder within the context of the psychologist’s process of evaluation, recommendation and testimony in custody litigation. This book is certainly required reading for the family practitioner and should be considered the source document on the phenomenon of parental alienation syndrome. This paper will attempt to explain the disorder Dr. Gardner has identified and labelled for us, to present a practicing attorney’s perspective of the syndrome and its recognition within the legal system in the province of Québec.

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