Provincial Attorney General Chris Bentley today announced improved access to the family justice system.
The reforms are intended to:
- Provide more information to families up front about the steps they need to take and the impact on children when relationships break down;
- Enhance opportunities to identify issues, ensure early disclosure and provide community referrals to better support families in reaching resolutions;
- Improve access to legal advice as well as less adversarial means of resolving issues such as mediation and collaborative family law; and,
- Streamline and simplify the steps involved for those cases that must go to court
As of 1st March 2010, the reforms provide that:
- Every person applying for custody of or access to a child will complete a sworn statement, setting out the facts and circumstances that relate to the child’s best interests.
- Financial information relating to child support payments will be required to be disclosed on an annual basis.
- A parent whose name was left off their child’s birth certificate will be able to apply to a court to have their surname added to the child’s surname when the court grants a declaration of parentage.
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