Although the Government of New Brunswick directives for COVID-19 change at a rapid pace, the messaging around parenting time with children has remained the same: it is still a priority.
It is a child’s right to have time with both parents as much as possible and to the extent that it is in their best interests.
Generally speaking, COVID-19 and related government restrictions are not valid reasons for one parent to deny the other parent time with the children. Children may even be entitled to cross provincial or national borders in order to see a parent.
Court orders relating to parenting time are still enforceable.
One of the few exceptions is during a period of self-isolation for either parent’s household, because of travel, exposure, or other reasons. During that time, children cannot travel back and forth between households.
Parents are encouraged to do their best to make arrangements that work best for their family and keep everyone as safe as possible. If issues arise that cannot be resolved, please call and ask to speak to one of our lawyers at Mosher Chedore.
If you have been a property owner in NB for any length of time, you are accustomed to receiving a tax bill around March 1st of each year and having a few weeks to appeal the assessment. While waiting for the assessment to happen, you would have been obligated to pay the existing bill in the event that the reassessment was not completed by May 31st – the deadline for paying the March 1st bill.
Starting in October, 2020, most property owners will now receive a property assessment notice for 2021. This is not the tax bill – but just notification of what the assessment amount will be for your property when the invoice is issued in March, 2021. If you agree with the assessment, nothing needs to be done at this time. You would wait for the normal March 1st tax bill. There will be no ability to appeal the March 1st invoice for the 2021 tax year.
If you do not agree with the assessment, you can call 1-888-762-8600; or file a Request for Review (RfR) online at www.myNBpropertyassessment.ca. You only have until Monday, November 2nd to request this review.
While most property owners will receive this notice in early October, there will be a second cycle of assessment notices that will be mailed to certain property owners in January 2021. These would be properties that have had changes such as a change in ownership (selling or buying) or new construction later in 2020. You will have 30 days to file a request for review once this assessment is received.
Monday December 23rd – 8:30 – 5:00pm
Tuesday December 24th – 8:30 – 1:00pm
Wednesday December 25th – closed
Thursday December 26th – closed
Friday December 27th – closed
Monday December 30th – 8:30 – 5:00pm
Tuesday December 31st – 8:30 – 5:00pm
Wednesday – January 1st, 2020 – closed
Thursday – January 2nd – 8:30 – 5:00pm
Friday – January 3rd – 8:30 – 5:00pm
The short answer is NO. The $2,500 cap on minor personal injuries was abolished in 2013 and was replaced with a new “cap” that changes every year based on inflation. The “cap” for minor personal injuries for 2019 is set at $8,166.67. However, the definition of minor personal injury does not include all injuries, and the cap only applies to your pain and suffering and not to all losses you may incur as a result of the accident. For this reason, it is always advisable to review your rights with a personal injury lawyer who understands what your entitlements are under the insurance laws of the Province for injuries sustained in an accident. Insurance companies employ professionals to protect their interests, you should employ a professional to protect yours! At Mosher Chedore, we offer free consultations for accident victims and take most cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you only pay us if we are successful with your claim. If you have been involved in an accident, call us to discuss your rights. Time limits apply in these cases so you should make inquiries as soon as possible before you lose the right to file a claim.
Buying a new house is an important purchase, and may be the biggest purchase you ever make. There are several things you want to consider, including legal concerns and consequences. When you purchase a house in New Brunswick not only should you contact a lawyer for advice, you will need to contact a lawyer to make it official. Once you find a house that you would like to make an offer on, you present the seller with an offer to purchase. This offer is often drafted by your real estate agent, but if you are not working with a real estate agent your lawyer can draft it. The offer can either be firm, meaning that there are no conditions to your offer that the buyers or house are bound by, or conditional meaning that the purchase depends on certain conditions. Common conditions include the ability to secure financing, well-water testing, insurability and having the property inspected. If any of the conditions are not met the sale will not take place. You should also include in the offer what items (such as appliances) you want to remain with the property. Once all conditions have been met and there are no outstanding issues, your lawyer will prepare all of the documentation required to close. The closing date is the day that the buyer takes ownership of the property being bought. This is the day you are permitted to move into the purchased property. If you have any further questions or are planning on purchasing a property, contact one of our Mosher Chedore lawyers at (506) 634-1600.
All adoptions in New Brunswick of Canadian born children are regulated by the New Brunswick Family Services Act. Under this Act the two broad categories of adoptions are private and ministerial.
- Private adoptions are where the biological parent(s) know the prospective adoptive parent(s) personally, and they arrange the adoption between themselves.
- A ministerial adoption is where a child, in the care of the Department of Social Development, is adopted by a party that is generally unknown to the biological parent(s).
- Whether the adoption is private or ministerial, the Department of Social Development is still involved in the process. The process includes meeting with a lawyer, taking training, having a home assessment and more. This is with the exception of a spousal adoption, where the biological parent’s spouse adopts the child. For a private adoption one of the first steps you will take is contacting a lawyer to send notice to the Department of Social Development that you plan to adopt the specific child. The biological parents will also need to send notice to the Department of Social Development that they plan to place their child for adoption. These notices initiate the Department of Social Development’s involvement in the adoption. The final step is to make an Application to the Court of Queen’s Bench for an adoption Order. The first step in a ministerial adoption is to contact the Department of Social Development to initiate their involvement. Through this type of adoption you can either opt for infant adoption (under 2 years of age), or child and youth adoption. As indicated on their website, an infant adoption has a wait that is several years long.
- If you are interested in adoption, please contact Mosher Chedore for more information.
Answer – Under current Canadian law, in most instances, your primary residence will transfer from your estate tax free while your cottage will be taxable. A cottage, or any other second piece of real estate will be subject to a capital gains tax. The tax amount would be calculated on fifty percent (50%) of the gain in value of the cottage. This is the difference between the market value at the time of your death, and the value at the time you obtained the cottage (subject to a few adjustments for certain improvements). If your intention is to treat the children equally, before making such a bequest, make sure that your estate will have other assets available to pay these capital gains taxes. It is a good idea to clearly indicate in your Last Will and Testament that it is your intention that the cottage is to be transferred with all taxes paid from your estate through other assets. If you don’t believe such funds will be available, you may want to make other arrangements for the distribution of the value in your home and cottage – if your intention is to treat your children equally.
Impaired driving is a serious offense. In December 2018, the Canadian Government passed new laws concerning driving while impaired, commonly known as DUI (driving under the influence). The amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada include new offences and new minimum sentences for driving under the influence. The prohibited blood alcohol concentration is 80 milligrams (or more) of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Upon conviction for a first offence the minimum sentence will have a fine in the range of $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 dependent upon the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). If convicted of refusing the demand for a breath test, the mandatory minimum fine is $2000.00. The Courts may levy higher fines in certain circumstances, or in circumstances where there is a combined use of marijuana and alcohol. The Court could prohibit driving privileges, which minimum order is for one (1) year and no more than three (3) years.
If you are a child support or spousal support payer or recipient, as we approach tax season you are likely wondering what the implications of your support payments are. If you are, this post is for you! It is important to keep in mind while you are reading this post that its purpose is informational only. It is for generally purposes, and does not consist of legal advice. It is also important to note that the law frequently changes, and even though this is the state of the law at the time it was written, it may not be current as you are reading it. If you require legal advice please contact Mosher Chedore to talk to one of our skilled lawyers.
It used to be that both child support and spousal support payments had tax implications for the payer and recipient. Payers were able to claim the amounts paid as a deduction, and recipients were required to claim the payments as income. However, there was a change in the Income Tax Act in May of 1997. Therefore if you have an unchanged order from prior to May 1997, and have not consented to a change, then this is still how your support payments are treated by CRA.
If you have an order after May 1997, a pre-May 1997 order that has been changed since May 1997, or you have consented to following the new tax implications with your pre-May 1997 order, CRA treats child support and child support payments differently. Spousal support payments are still claimed as a deduction for the payers, and claimed as income by the recipient, but child support is claimed by neither. Payers are not permitted to claim the deduction, and recipients do not have to claim them as income. These tax implications will have an impact on the actual cost and benefit of support payments, and should be considered when discussing support. Furthermore, it is possible to claim some of your legal fees used to obtain support. A support payer cannot claim any legal fees, but a support recipient may claim the legal fees expended in collecting late support payments, establishing the amount of support payments, trying to get an increase in support payments as tax deductible legal fees. Unfortunately legal fees for obtaining a divorce or establishing a custody or access arrangement are not tax deductible.
Those who have married or divorced may want to consider making a new Will.
Unless specifically contemplated in the Will, a previously made Will is automatically revoked upon marriage. The rationale behind this is that a deceased person is expected to provide for his or her spouse and issue, and the effect is that if no new Will is made, the deceased’s spouse and issue will be entitled to the estate due to intestate succession. To avoid an intestacy, and to ensure that your estate is distributed according to your wishes, a new Will should be executed after marriage.
A Will is not revoked, however, upon the dissolution of marriage. A testamentary gift to a spouse is assumed to refer to the person to whom the testator was married when the Will was made, unless it can be proved that a future spouse was intended. If a Will leaving a gift to a spouse is not revoked after dissolution of the marriage, or a new Will is not made, then a previous spouse may still inherit the estate. It is important in these situations to consider making a new Will to remove any gifts to previous spouses and to specify the replacing beneficiaries.