Family Law

J.L.A. Horna taught in the Department of Sociology, University of Calgary.

Written by a barrister and solicitor who is a member of the Bar of Ontario, this slim book explains in simple, lay language the basic points of family law and its terminology. Each of its eight chapters addresses an important aspect of the law as it pertains to the family: marriage and annulment, divorce, financial matters, child custody and maintenance, domestic contracts, protection of children, adoption, and the family property. M.M. Crystal raises the most typical and frequent questions — for example, how to get married, how annulments differ from divorce, what are the grounds for divorce and the rules for separation, whether or not an officer of a child welfare agency can enter the home by force and take the child by force, and several others — and answers them briefly and clearly. For his answers, Crystal overviews the federal and/or provincial laws, pointing out the similarities and differences across Canada. In addition, he presents hypothetical “cases” or cites actual court rulings in order to further clarify the matter. In those instances where the lay public is prone to confusion with regard to the terminology, or where a special emphasis is required, the author puts his “Point of Law” in a special box (for example, on page 13: “A divorce ends a marriage. An annulment is a statement by the court that a marriage never existed”; or on page 42: “A court must always make its order in the child’s best interest, even if such an order is against the interest of one or both of the parents”). The book is complemented by a table showing the family law system governing the division of the family property upon marriage breakdown for each province except Quebec. It concludes with the glossary, which gives definitions of the basic legal terms related to family law.