One of the hottest topics in Family Law and Divorce Law is how to hear what the children want. Ontario Family Law says that children must be heard in proceedings that affect them. This episode of the Family Law Podcast was recorded live at lecture that John Schuman gave to a group of legal professionals on how to give children a voice in child custody and access proceedings. John goes over the latest research on whether children should be heard in those cases, and if, so what role they should play. He then, discusses in detail, the various ways that a judge, family arbitrator or mediator can hear from the child. This podcast also gives the legal authority for each of those methods for hearing the child’s views and preferences and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each. It explains when putting a child’s voice before a court is a good idea, and when it may get a parent into trouble.
This special edition of the podcast is a rare, complete, discussion of hearing children in custody/access and divorce cases. It provides indispensable information and advice for anyone who thinks that a child should be heard in those proceedings.
This podcast is a recording of a lecture that John Schuman gave to legal professionals on how to hear the voice of the child. That lecture also featured slides, which provided additional information, including the citations for may of the authorities mentioned in this podcast. Those slides will appear on screen.
The Ontario Family Law Podcast is a companion to the book, Guide to the Basics of Ontario Family Law, which is available as an e-book for Amazon Kindle or Kobo, and as an iBook for iPad, iPhone and Mac, or as a paperback for $25.00 (or less) from Amazon and other fine book sellers. Anyone who has to deal with issues related to child custody, child access or parenting after separation should rely on them for give easy-to-understand information and advice about how the law applies to their case and what are the best ways to address their concerns. It even has a special section on hearing from children in custody and access cases. The book also covers all the other related family law issues, such as child support, spousal support, property division and restraining orders. To get your copy of the click on the picture of it to the left.
