Divorce Act Amendments: Separating Families have new duties to try to resolve out of court

All Canadian divorcing families are now subject to the new amendments to the Divorce Act which came into effect on March 1, 2021.

Most family law lawyers are delighted with the changes to the Divorce Act. I will break down some of the changes in small parts through a series of blog articles.

The new Divorce Act places new and important duties to people who are separating.   It states:  

7.3 To the extent that it is appropriate to do so, the parties to a proceeding shall try to resolve the matters that may be the subject of an order under this Act through a family dispute resolution process.

A “family dispute resolution process” means an out of court dispute resolution process, including negotiation, collaborative negotiation and mediation and arbitration.

You are encouraged to contact lawyers who practice in collaborative negotiation or who support mediation to explore if it might be appropriate to move your case away from Court towards some of these fantastic non-court solutions.