Canadian Lawyer

August 2009

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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Do you have clients with family business succession issues? The Succession Fund™ buys shares in private companies to support share- holder realignments and succession transactions. If you have a client who wants to buy out one or more shareholders, contact Larry Klar at (416) 867-8090 or klar@argosypartners.com www.successionfund.com "Someday, son, 50% of this will belong to your ex-wife." ™Trademark of Argosy Partners Ltd. women continue to pursue higher pro- file careers and split responsibilities with their partners. The result is often a more hotly contested battle over who would be the better parent. Still, PAS disputes are not the norm, says Bala. In the vast majority of fam- ily law cases, custody battles themselves represent the small minority of matters which occupy the courts and within that group itself, PAS is alleged in an even smaller number of disputes. Of the 145 cases looked at by Bala, 89 rulings upheld a finding of PAS with an increas- ing trend towards such rulings in the second half of the time period exam- ined. Bala also found mothers are twice as likely as fathers to alienate children from the other parent but this is consis- tent with the statistics that fathers rarely get sole custody. It is also reflected in that fathers are three times more likely to make unsubstantiated claims of alien- ation, says Bala. In the event of a finding of PAS, gosy_CL_Aug_09.indd 1 7/15/09 2:07:32 PM in just over half the cases the court reversed custody to the alienated par- ent; in 10 per cent of cases the offending parent was barred from access; and in a little more than a quarter of the cases reviewed, therapy for children, family, or both was ordered. University of British Columbia feminist legal studies professor Susan Boyd says she'd be happier if PAS would drop the "syndrome" tag and simply be known as parental alienation. She also worries the courts may have embraced it too fully and quickly. "There are often good reasons why children don't want to see one parent," she says, warning against alienation as the first conclusion. "It may be abuse, it may be violence, it may be alcohol or substance abuse in the other home." Because it is a social science, says Boyd, lawyers and courts can't claim to be experts and must be guided by those with the appropriate expertise. Even then, the draconian solution imposed by many exasperated judges to reverse cus- tody and bar the alienating parent access to the children during the "cooling- off period" may also have long-lasting social consequences. "You're completely removing the child from their main 44 A UGUST 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com hildview_CL_Aug_09.indd 1 7/2/09 2:54:34 PM

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