Family Law Arbitration: Difference between revisions
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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC}} | ||
In arbitration, the parties hire a neutral third party, a family law arbitrator, to decide how their dispute should be resolved. While the job of a mediator is to help two people work towards a solution that they make for themselves, the arbitrator's job is to act like a judge and impose a resolution, after hearing evidence and listening to the arguments of each party. | |||
This | This page provides an introduction to arbitration and discusses when to use arbitration in a family law dispute. This page also provides some suggestions about how to find a family law arbitrator. | ||
JP not done. No glossary tags to be added. Internal and external links to be added. | |||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
Arbitration | Arbitration has rarely used been in family law matters in British Columbia, probably because most lawyers weren't used to it and probably because many lawyers figured that if they have to have somebody impose a decision in a case, it might as well be a judge. In British Columbia, arbitration was most often used in a labour law context. The new ''Family Law Act'', however, makes a number of changes to the provincial law that emphasize and highlight the importance of arbitration in family law disputes. | ||
Arbitration has a number of advantages for family law problems: | Arbitration has a number of advantages for family law problems: | ||
#it allows a couple to hand-pick the particular person who will make decisions about the issues they cannot agree on, which means that they might pick an arbitrator who has a special expertise in, for example, children, tax problems or property issue; | |||
#it allows the couple to pick the particular rules that will apply to the arbitration process and the arbitrator's decision, providing that the rules aren't too different from the usual rules of family law; | |||
#the arbitration process is private and shielded from public scrutiny; and, | |||
#the result of of the process is an award that is just as binding as a court order and can be enforced just like a court order. | |||
As well it is often faster to arrange a date for an arbitration than for a court hearing. Although short trials of two or three days can be booked within six or eight months, it can take a year or longer to get a date for longer trials because the court is so busy. An arbitration can be booked as soon as everyone has the free time in their calendars. | |||
===The Process=== | ===The Arbitration Process=== | ||
When a couple | When a couple agrees to arbitrate their dispute — you can't force someone into arbitration, it has to be voluntary — they first pick their arbitrator and then they pick their rules. Most of the time, the rules people select are the more important parts of the Supreme Court Family Rules relating to evidence, the discovery process and proceedings at trial. | ||
Next, the | Next, the parties will exchange the documents and information that are relevant to their dispute. If child support is an issue, for example, Financial Statements might be prepared and documents like income tax returns, T4 slips and paystubs might be exchanged. If the parties cannot agree on how a child should be cared for, they might hire a psychologist to prepare a report on the parenting arrangements that will work best for the child, called a ''needs of the child assessment'', or they might hire a third party lawyer or a social worker to talk to the child and prepare a ''views of the child report''. The nature of the documents that are important and the extent of the disclosure which is required | ||
Once the documents have been exchanged and the experts' reports prepared, the parties then attend one or more meetings with the arbitrator. These meetings are usually a lot less formal that court hearings, and there can be as much flexibility to the process as the parties will agree to. The meetings are sort of a cross between the informality of the mediation process and the rigid formality of the litigation process, and each party essentially attempts to convince the arbitrator and the other side that their proposed way of settling the dispute is the best solution for everyone. | Once the documents have been exchanged and the experts' reports prepared, the parties then attend one or more meetings with the arbitrator. These meetings are usually a lot less formal that court hearings, and there can be as much flexibility to the process as the parties will agree to. The meetings are sort of a cross between the informality of the mediation process and the rigid formality of the litigation process, and each party essentially attempts to convince the arbitrator and the other side that their proposed way of settling the dispute is the best solution for everyone. |