With the current pandemic of COVID-19, many “normal” practices that we are accustomed to have now changed. Many businesses are closed or offering their services remotely. Some are slowly starting to reopen with new protocols to protect your safety. To adapt, the Government of Ontario has made an emergency order that wills can be executed “virtually” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada and the U.S. have been rocked by multiple racially charged deaths, most recently, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Regis Korchinski-Paquet. The common theme is that that they all involve the death of an unarmed, innocent black person at the hands of a white person exerting his or her perceived authority over the vulnerable black victim.

Anyone who has been to court will be familiar with the term “cost”. At every court appearance you are entitled to seek the amount it cost you to prepare and be at court. So if you had a lawyer representing you then you would be entitled to request your legal fees from the other party in what is called a “cost order”.

Many people are inquiring about what to do with a scheduled court date now that the courts are operating so differently due to COVID-19. What do you do in the meantime until as the courts sort out when to go back to a regular schedule? These are all important questions.

The law allows for situations that will permit an unequal division. In a recent case the Superior Court agreed with my client that it was unconscionable to award his spouse 50% of the property and assets.