In January 2025, Shawn Philbert of SMP Law completed training in Parent-Child Contact Problems. This training provided a review the foundations of interpersonal and family dynamics, including human development, child temperament, and challenges that stem from special concerns such as family violence, substance use and misuse, and other internal and external factors.

It is becoming more and more common for parents to support married couples, either through financial assistance or helping them obtain assets such as a mortgage for a home or vehicles. Are these gifts given by the parents or is there an expectation they should be repaid or remain as possessions of the parents?

In November 2024, Shawn Philbert of SMP Law completed his training in Voice of the Child Reports. This in-depth training has provided Shawn Philbert of SMP Law significant knowledge and understanding in the complexities of obtaining the voice of the child and he will bring this newfound knowledge to the family law matters he is privileged to provide legal services.

SMP Law is on a hot streak! We have consistently received for the past 4 years the award from Canadian Business Review Board for maintaining a 4+ Star Google Rating.

As the official end of Black History Month comes to a close, SMP Law would like to remind everyone that this is not the last day of Black History. Black History should be celebrated as part of all history, every month.

SMP Law reviews some key cases for the year 2024.

SMP Law is proud to share once again, that it has been listed as one of The Top Three Best Family Lawyers in Mississauga!

We would like to take this time to wish you and yours a very Safe and Merry Christmas from all of us here at SMP Law.

SMP Law honours Remembrance Day by taking a moment of silence to remember the courage and sacrifice of those who have served and continue to serve our country.

SMP Law wishes everyone a safe and happy Halloween!

Whether representing yourself or if you hire a lawyer, you will at some point need to do some legal research into other cases. When in court, judges will sometimes ask “what cases are you relying on” with the assumption that you have done some research into other cases.

In a family law dispute involving children, there are many different people parents will talk to about their family court matter. One group in particular is their children’s teachers. Teachers can often get a one-sided interpretation from one parent of what is happening with their child and in their family law matter.

SMP Law is a proud supporter of the Terry Fox Run! The Terry Fox Run was scheduled for September 15, 2024 all across Canada.

Law firms are typically comprised of sole practitioners who tend to work alone with an administrative person or comprised of multiple practitioners working together along with various clerks and administrative personnel in small to large size firms. Should you hire two lawyers or one?

Peace bonds can be seen differently depending on the judge. For example, a peace bond can be determined that since the person did not go to trial the actual criminal issue was not determined or decided. A peace bond should not be determined an admission of guilt, unfortunately the optics of a peace bond do not sometimes play out that way.

SMP Law is proud to support Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC). Their vision is "a Canada where people with learning disabilities have equal opportunity to reach their potential and to thrive in their communities."

Parental alienation continues to be an ongoing challenge we see in family law matters. SMP Law has created several blogs on the topic of parental alienation so as a reminder, the term parental alienation references “a child is expressing extreme negative feelings about a parent that are not supported by their experiences”. 

SMP Law has donated to Robbie's Walk - a fundraiser hosted by Hemophilia Ontario. Hemophilia Ontario serves the bleeding disorder community by supporting and educating those with bleeding disorders.

When your home’s on the market, getting ready for showings can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, but it's even harder when you share your home with little ones.

ThreeBestRated honoured SMP Law by writing an excellent article about us and organizing a press release to many news outlets including “News From Canada”, “Today in Law”, “Canada News Journal” and “Canadian Reporter”.

SMP Law wishes a Happy Easter to those who are celebrating this weekend! We hope you have a safe and relaxing weekend with your loved ones. SMP Law office is open on Monday, April 1st.

In a scheduled announcement on March 6, 2024, the Bank of Canada decided to maintain its target for the overnight lending rate at 5%. This was its fifth consecutive hold after two interest rate hikes last summer.

It is a very emotional and sad situation when a parent and child have a breakdown in their relationship. This can be due to many different causes and this post is not necessarily about those causes but rather to provide you with suggestions if that breakdown occurs.

Checkout what Hi.Tech Real Estate posted in their recent newsletter about the Bank of Canada Rate update.