Bettina Ruhstein joined our firm as an articled student in August 2007. She expects to be called to the Bar in May 2008.

In September 2007, Glen Ridgway was acclaimed as the Second Vice President of the Law Society of British Columbia commencing January 2008. He will become First Vice President of the Law Society of British Columbia in January 2009 and President of the Law Society of British Columbia in January 2010.

Amendments to the Federal Child Support Guidelines

On May 1, 2006 amendments to the Federal Child Support Guidelines came into effect. Changes of significance have been made in the following areas:

Child Support Tables:

Payments under the Federal Child Support Tables have increased. The Tables have been amended to reflect changes in the federal and provincial tax regimes since the original Tables came into effect in 1997.

The new tables result in a significant increase in the monthly amount of child support payable. Here are examples of the increases in the monthly table amount of child support payable for 2 children.

Recipients of child support can apply to the court to increase the amount of support they receive to the 2006 table amount.

Definition of Extraordinary Expenses: s. 7(1)(d) and (f)

These are extraordinary expenses for primary or secondary school education or any education program that meets a child’s particular needs, and for extracurricular activities. The amendment provides for a more subjective definition of ‘extraordinary’ that takes into consideration the financial circumstances of the parties and the children as well as whether the expense is in and of itself ‘extraordinary’.

Calculation of Spouse’s annual income when the spouse is a non-resident of Canada: s. 20.

Under the old s. 20 the income of a paying spouse who did not reside in Canada could be adjusted upward if the spouse paid a lower rate of tax in the country of residence (because if they paid lower taxes then they had more money in their pocket with which to pay child support). However, the guidelines did not allow for a downward adjustment of income if the non-resident spouse had to pay a higher rate of tax in his or her country of residence (which left less money in the pocket). This amendment addresses that problem by allowing the court to adjust the spouse’s annual income to reflect the fact that the spouse resides in a country with significantly higher effective tax rates than those in Canada.

The New British Columbia Business Corporations Act

If your British Columbia Company was incorporated prior to March 29, 2004 you were required to transition it under the new British Columbia Business Corporations Act prior to March 29, 2006.
If you have missed this deadline your company is in jeopardy of being struck off of the Register of Companies and will no longer exist.

If your company has not yet been transitioned there might still be time for us to bring it into good standing. Contact our office to set an appointment, to discuss this important matter, as soon as possible.