The Lawyers Weekly - November 11, 2011

DONALEE MOULTON

Families are the focus of proposed changes to two pieces of legislation in Nova Scotia. The Department of Justice is consulting on possible amendments to the Maintenance and Custody Act and the Reciprocal Enforcement of Custody Orders Act.

“These changes are proposed
as part of a three-year review of
the province’s family laws that is
now under way at Justice,” said
Allyson O’Shea, a senior policy
analyst with the department. “In
keeping with the project’s goals,
these changes would update and
clarify the law, and bring Nova
Scotia more into line with the
other provinces and territories.”
Lawyers support the move to
modernization. “Practically these
changes do not affect or alter the
law as it presently stands; rather
they provide clarification and
confirmation of such law,” said
Tammy MacKenzie, a partner
with Burchell MacDougall in
Truro, N.S.

“The Maintenance and Cus-
tody Act is fairly long in the tooth
and is due for some revisions.
This is an opportunity to put in
the legislation what many of us
feel have been needed for some
time,” noted Tim Daley, a partner
with Goodman MacDonald Pat-
terson Daley in New Glasgow.

Lawddities

An oddity in Family Law Law Lawddities

Legal Oddities in (Blank) Law Lawsuit was in the cards

Suing your mom for not including money in your birthday cards seems pretty farfetched but that is exactly what two grown children did.

Steven Miner II, now 23, and his sister Kathryn, 20, of Illinois spent two years chasing their mother, Kimberly Garrity for more than $50,000 in a lawsuit claiming ‘bad mothering’. One would think such a lawsuit would include some sort of abuse or serious negligence, but the focus appears to be on what she didn’t do as opposed to what she did.

The extensive record of alleged intentional negligence includes imposing rules like a midnight curfew for Kathryn’s homecoming celebration, a lack of care packages while Steven was in college, and the list goes on.

What could be worse, you ask? Well, the lawyer representing the two was their father, and happens to be Garrity’s ex-husband, according to The Globe and Mail.

The two children lost. –Anum Lateef

There is a real need [for this] with unrepresented parties. They don’t have the experience.

“

Tim Daley, Goodman MacDonald

Patterson Daley

Daley, noting that, “We see it all
the time with young parents.
[The grandparents] are very
intimately involved in the child’s
life.”
“What I don’t want to see,” he
added, “is an automatic stand-
ing.”
The suggested changes reflect
a comprehensive look at the
issues, said O’Shea. “In proposing
these amendments, the depart-
ment reviewed custody and
access legislation from across the
country, recent family law reform
initiatives from other jurisdic-
tions, relevant literature, Nova
Scotia’s Domestic Violence
Action Plan, and Nova Scotia
case law.