Pages

Resources

Below you will find a number of useful websites and links I have organized under the following categories: 1 - General Family Law, 2 - PA (Parental Alienation) Experts and 3 - Other.

Of course over time some links may become stale or moribund - and if anyone finds an error or new/better resource - please drop me an email to paan.alberta[at]gmail[.]com.

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1 - General Family Law

www.mysupportcalculator.ca

Provides an estimate of Canadian Child Support and/or Spousal payments according to inputs/province identical to program used by Courts. SRL's should have a print out of a few defensible scenarios in-case topic "crops up".






National Self Represented Litigants Project (Canada)

NEW guide to Canadian Court resources and procedures.  Created in 2014 by University of Windsor Law Prof Julie Macfarlane retained to advise Ontario, Alberta and B.C. Courts on issues facing both the court system and self-represented litigants (SRL's)




Not All Dads Are Deadbeats.com * Inactive Aug 2015

NADAD began as support for parents facing Family Law issues in London ON has grown to include adjacent U.S Great Lakes States. The Interactive Parenting Plan template is excellent and should be completed before meeting your lawyer or any court appearance.

* It has come to my attention that this blog is no longer available - which is too bad as it had accumulated an extensive amount of commentary for Self-Representing Litigants. [Parenting Plan above is backup copy I had downloaded a few years back.  It needs to be downloaded and opened with an Adobe Acrobat reader as it is a "editable/writable" PDF.]



CanLii

CanLii - the free online legal resource - is an indispensable for researching past precedent cases and up-to-date legislative references for every province and court up to the Supreme Court of Canada. It also has a powerful search capability.  As well it is bilingual (French/English) and includes complete official translations of all dual language cases in Federal/Quebec (which is often better than depending on Google Translate!).

https://www.canlii.org/en/

Alberta Courts

Alberta Courts is the Official Website of all Courts in Alberta - ranging from Traffic, Provincial and Federal systems of Justice.   There is a wealth of information and useful resources for Self-Represented Litigants (SRLs). Templates for various forms and useful information updates make this website a constant source of surprise.  Family Law Information Center (FLIC) and Legal Aid Alberta are also featured.

http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/

General Information about Court-sponsored courses in Alberta [directly from Alberta Courts website]

Parenting After Separation (PAS) is a six hour seminar offering information to parents about the separation and divorce process, the effects of separation and divorce on children, techniques for communication when parenting apart and legal information that affects parents and children.

[Ed: This course is required before a Divorce can be finalized by the Court in Alberta - and in fact I highly recommend that it be taken ASAP before/during or after a decision to divorce or even temporarily separate is made.   It provides much valuable information and direction on resources where one can find out or access alot of very useful advice and support.]

Parenting After Separation for Families in High Conflict (PA SHC) is a three hour seminar available to parents in Calgary and Edmonton who have already completed the six hour Parenting After Separation course. PASHC offers information about the process of separation, how to emotionally disengage from one another and how to identify and renegotiate boundaries.

[Ed: Another free Alberta Court service (although one must register far in advance) that is typically recommended for couples who are experiencing more than "normal" (which is usually already quite high) relationship discord during divorce/separation or family breakdown.   If your case has been "streamed" into "Case Management" this course is mandatory.  Of course - like all of these courses - both parties do not take it at the same time.]

Focus on Communication in Separation (FOCIS) is a six hour, skill-based course teaching parents how to communicate effectively while living apart. FOCIS aims to enhance the communication skills of parents, reduce parental conflict and improve long term outcomes for children.

[Ed: Another free course to deal with interpersonal conflict in communications - especially if either party is conflict avoidant or passive-aggressive - and may evolve towards "Parallel Parenting" childcare arrangements which are considered a fairly unique category.]

Parenting Plans

Retroactive Child Support: Benefits and Burdens
Kelley Kierstead - Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School.
March 2009 - Department of Justice Canada

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2 - PA Experts

Ludmer Law

Brian Ludmer is the leading Canadian Legal expert in litigating Parental Alienation cases and acts as a specialist resource for Client Counsel.

Here is his 2013 Presentation PDF "How to prepare for a PA Case".



NEW (Sept 2014)  Association of Family & Conciliation Courts - New York Chapter "Challenges for Court Professionals in PA & Estrangement Cases"

Dr. Richard Warshak

Dr Richard Warshak.  Is a leading global authority on Parental Alienation and author of "Divorce Poison: How to Protect Your Family from Bad-mouthing and Brainwashing".  Many useful resources, links, ideas and updates.

We were fortunate to have him conduct a seminar in Calgary in Feb 2011.


Dr Craig Childress - Therapist/Expert

Dr. Craig Childress has written extensively on proper evaluation of Parental Alienation - and how to characterize it for Mental Health/ Legal  professionals.  His website has a number of useful articles, studies and templates.

http://drcachildress.com/

NEW (Sept 2014) - He has recently prepared a Diagnostic Checklist to assist therapists in their diagnosis.

http://drcraigchildressblog.com/


Dr. Amy J. L. Baker

Dr. Baker has been a prolific contributor of many popular books and guides that help children, parents and families deal with the devastating personal impacts of Parental Alienation.  Her website is the main portal for many of these resources and to contact her about personal, one-on-one/Skype coaching sessions if you are unfortunate to find yourself enmeshed in a truely corrosive PA situation.

http://www.amyjlbaker.com/


Linda Kase-Gottlieb LMFT, LCSW

Before Linda struck out on her own as a PA Therapist and GAL (Gardian Ad Litum - specialist appointed in many U.S State Courts to assist SRL's and advocate for children in Divorce cases) - she was for 24 years the Director of Foster Care Programs for Long Island County in New York. She also was aware of the life-long detrimental effects of Parental Alienation as was alienated from her own father at age 12 by her mother - although at that time no-one was calling it PAS.   As a result she is deeply empathetic to parents experiencing PA and has a long professional history to help her assist those effected.


http://www.lindagottlieb.com/

Dr. J. Micheal Bone

Dr. Bone has also written extensively on dealing with PA - most recently "The High-Conflict Custody Battle: How to Protect Yourself & Your Kids from a Toxic Divorce, False Accusations & Parental Alienation" co-authored with Amy J. L. Baker and Brian Ludmer, LLb.

His website has many helpful resources and he himself is a acknowledged expert therapist in Parental Alienation behaviour and issues - in addition to being a frequently called expert witness in the U.S and Canada.


http://www.jmichaelbone.com/







Dr.Gary Kneier Phd

Dr. Gary Kneier Phd in Calgary AB is the only professional Psychologist that I have met in Alberta who I believe has an honest appreciation of the problems associated with Parental Alienation.  Unfortunately - he is semi-retired and for that reason has been very selective in taking on new clients.

Here is one of his PA articles on his website "How the Courts might help with Alienation Reactions".

http://www.drgary.ca/

In addition to many of the Experts mentioned above - I recommend the Resource listing on the PAAO USA website here => http://www.paaousa.org/expert-references.html

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3 - Other

Equitable Child Maintenance & Access Society (of Alberta)

ECMAS is an Alberta not-for-profit helping Families through Divorce/
Parental Alienation Support Separation/ Parenting issues like PA, MEP, Equal Parenting, False DV EPO's, Court Conduct and Professional Misbehaviour. It holds a free Support Group that meets every Tuesday 7-9pm.  Currently I am (Sept 2014) a volunteer Board Member.


Parental Alienation Support

A personal resource blog created and maintained by Monika Littau Logan in TX.

It is exceptional in having numerous articles and links - but it may not be as up-to-date as it was in the past (pre-2012?) but is still excellent.

http://parentalalienationsupport.com/
  • Parental Alienation Help:  Support and Resources for Alienated Parents, Family Members, and Professionals. Dr. Kathleen Reay wrote Toxic Divorce: A Workbook for Alienated Parents and is also the Founder and Clinical Director of the Family Reflections Reunification Program based in Penticton B.C.

www.OurFamilyWizard.com

This software allows divorced and separated families to continue communications and schedule-sharing.  It has become a popular tool in some courtrooms to "corral" many of the communications devices now in use so that Court Orders are being abided by.


http://www.ourfamilywizard.com/



Tuum Est

Tuum Est is NOT a Family Law resource.  I have listed it as a potential guide/resource for self-represented litigants who may have a medical malpractice issue or related health incapacitation in their case they wish to pursue.  In particular Tuum Est has a very complete listing and organization of many legal precedents related to Medical Malpractice.  [Personally I see many parallels in this type of litigation when considering moving beyond a formal complaint of Professional Misbehavior/Misconduct about a Lawyer to the Law Society of Alberta. ]

http://tuum-est.com/


InjusticeBusters.org



Again NOT a typical Family Law resource site, InjusticeBusters.org is actually an recovered, archived website that was created by Saskatoon native Sheila Steele but who passed away in 2006.

It was primarily as a research support tool when Ms Steele was covering the litigation of Richard Klassen in the unfortunate 1991 Martensville Satanic Sex Crime Hoax that was treated as a real crime for 6 years before sanity prevailed in the Justice system of nearby Saskatoon SK. Yet Canada was not unique in being gripped by such  hysteria.  It occurred around the world in the late 1980's and early 1990's. 

It is quite a historical record but also holds some shocking lessons of the extent of institutional inertia and un-examined status-quo bias in our Justice system (Law Enforcement, Law Society, Court and Ministry of Justice).


Canada Court Watch.com

CanadaCourtWatch.com has been around for about 20 years - and is well known in Ontario where it is based as a tireless defender of parents and childrens rights against heavy-handed Government intrusion - especially the Children's Aid Societies (CAS) which have VERY broad powers to interdict in cases they believe children are at risk.

Another similarly named website CanadaCourtWatch.org (companion?) has many excellent resources and supporting links for anyone dealing with a Family Law case.



Law Times

Launched in 1980 as Law Times Newspaper, a Thomson Reuters business, Law Times is published 40 times a year in print and every Monday online, providing the latest news, analysis, and other developments in Ontario’s legal scene.









University of Alberta - Faculty of Law Blog

A respected and well attended legal issues blog of interest to Albertans.














Ideology and Dysfuncton in Family Law - How Courts disenfranchise Fathers by Grant Brown
eBook: Canadian Constitution Foundation and Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
May 6, 2014: For several decades now, fathers have faced significant, widespread bias in family courts across Canada. But as author Grant Brown shows in this free e-book, many of the popular prejudices behind this bias simply have no basis in law or fact. In Ideology And Dysfunction In Family Law – How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers, Brown shows us why dads are getting such a raw deal – and what can be done about it.

www.theccf.ca










Tom James Law Blog


Tom James is a Minnesota Lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property and Family Law.  He has written a couple of books - notably one on  Domestic Violence and another on The History of Custody Law. While his blog focuses on both specialties, his Family Law section addresses a number of questions on how to improve Family Law. (Although he is obviously a U.S Attorney, it is still possible to see how his theories apply in many Common Law contexts.)

Highly Recommended as starting point for ideas on Reforming Family Law in Canada.

Joel Miller - Family Law Resource Centre

Joel Miller had a long law career as a Family Lawyer in Ontario before joining Ricketts, Harris in Toronto - but upon leaving in May 2009 his web resource site had a vast amount of useful info on many Family Law topics.

He has since relocated to a private practice offering unbundled services called Miller Family Law Services.

All provide alot of background info on Family Law issues.


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Last Update: Sept 12, 2014  Initial materials
                        Aug 20, 2015  Revised NotAllDadsAreDeadbeats link/parenting plan
                        Aug 27, 2015  Added 2 new weblinks.
                        Aug 31, 2015  Added 3 new weblinks.
                        Sept 17, 2015 Added Joel Miller Family Law Resource Center link