Are you eligible for Bankruptcy in Edmonton, Alberta?

There might be situations where you are under financial pressure and fail to repay your bills and mortgages. Collection agencies start calling you and it might be a time of think for alternate options. One of the options can be filing for Bankruptcy. Bankruptcy filings in Edmonton, Alberta are governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Learn more about the Bankruptcy Act here.

One important qualification for filing Bankruptcy is to be an Insolvent.

To qualify as an insolvent, you must:

• Owe at least $1,000 in debt
• Unable to pay your dues, and
• Have more liabilities than assets.

 

Apart from individuals, even corporations can also be considered for Bankruptcy. These businesses can be assigned into bankruptcy at the sole discretion of their shareholders or directors or petitioned into bankruptcy by a creditor.

Also, a person must be a Canadian Resident having a registered business here or have a property in Canada in order to be considered as an Insolvent.

Learn about Asset Protection Tips in Edmonton, Alberta.

What is the role of a Trustee?

Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee can administer a bankruptcy in Canada. These professionals are federally licensed and follow a stringent code of ethics to mediate any dispute. Also, the cost of dealing with a Trustee is lesser compared to that of independent consultants as Trustees fee are regulated by the government.

Two main roles of a Trustee:

1. To sell Debtor’s assets
2. To recover and distribute money to Creditors at the end.

 

Apart from this a Trustee can also act as a debt consultant and can :

• Provide debt counseling
• Prepare proposals for creditors
• Negotiate settlements

 

Length of Bankruptcy

There are several factors that affect the length of bankruptcy in Alberta, yet most bankruptcy charges are for a minimum of nine months, except in cases where it is extended on court orders. In other cases, if your income is higher than the limit set by the government, the length of bankruptcy can be extended.

Since bankruptcy laws are confusing, you might be willing to take an expert advice to file your case. Our trusted and experienced Bankruptcy lawyers at Right Legal can help you with advice on your case.

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What should you do in case of a Sexual Assault Case

Sexual assault against women is a crime. These are cases which can leave victims under emotional and physical stress. Studies show that a number of sexual assault cases against women go unreported as the accused belongs to the family of the victim while others go unreported as the witness doesn’t wish to testify in front of court proceedings. Various sexual assault centers offer help in terms of counseling services, court support, diversity & inclusion and public education.

What is a Sexual Assault?

According to the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual contact without voluntary consent. Sexual contact here includes:

• Unwanted oral contact or “kissing”
• Unwanted touching, grabbing, groping, or sexual rubbing
• Unwanted oral-genital contact or “oral sex”
• Unwanted vaginal or anal penetration

What Should you do if you are a victim of a sexual assault case

Your first call of action should be getting in touch with Sexual Assault Centres as soon as possible. You can also choose to call police if you think the case is of a severe nature. A sexual assault center has trained volunteers who can provide you with a moral or emotional support and help you prepare to call the police.

 

Also, learn when to file a civil lawsuit in case of a sexual assault.

 

In case you need medical attention:

Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) has trained nurses who can provide you with specialized education in terms of sexual assault care. They can offer you a physical examination to look after your injuries and prepare you to take tests for pregnancy and other sexually transmitted infections. You can get in touch with SART nurses in any of the following hospitals listed below:

·     Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital (9401 86 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan, AB T8L 0C6)

·     Grey Nuns Community Hospital (1100 Youville Dr. W Northwest, Edmonton, AB T6L 5X8)

·     Leduc Community Hospital (4210 48 St, Leduc, AB T9E 5Z3)

·     Misericordia Community Hospital (16940 87 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5R 4H5)

·     Northeast Community Health Centre (14007 50 St NW, Edmonton, AB T5A 5E4)

·     Royal Alexandra Hospital (10240 Kingsway NW, Edmonton, AB T5H 3V9)

·     Strathcona Community Hospital (9000 Emerald Dr, Sherwood Park, AB T8H 0J3)

·     Sturgeon Community Hospital (201 Boudreau Rd, St. Albert, AB T8N 6C4)

·     University of Alberta Hospital (8440 112 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7)

·     Westview Health Centre (4405 S Park Dr, Stony Plain, AB T7Z 2M7)

Sexual Assault cases are of severe nature and must be acted upon.

You can always connect with one of our Edmonton based criminal lawyers at Right Legal who can help with your case.

 

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Obtaining Power of Attorney for your parents

Your parents might need more assistance as they are getting old. By taking care of their daily lives to managing their financials, you can ensure that they can lead a healthy life. It is always advisable to obtain a Power of Attorney on behalf of your parents at an early stage.

The process of obtaining a Power of Attorney can be difficult to navigate, hence it is essential to know the details of it.

What is Power of Attorney?

Power of Attorney is a process of obtaining a nomination on behalf of someone to manage their livelihood and finances when the person is not capable of handling it themselves. The tasks may include dealing with finances such as Banks, revenue agencies, Insurance, Investments and other legal matters involving personal life choices and health.

There are specific guidelines that must be followed by the agent when it comes to the principal they are looking after.

Read about the differences between Personal Directive and a Power of Attorney.

Why Would Your Parents Need One?

It is unfortunate that one in eight-person, over the age of 65 years suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. Click here to read more about the statistics. Given their inability to make right choices, legally, a person suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s cannot consent to have a Power of Attorney. Therefore, it of prime importance to obtain a legally binding Power of Attorney at the right time.

How do You Go About Obtaining Power of Attorney?

Discuss it with Your Parents

The first step is to have an agreement with your parents regarding their wish and your roles and responsibilities. It might be unclear at the start, yet having an informal agreement is advisable. You must ensure they are in a healthy state of mind to agree on things.

Determine the Type of Power of Attorney

Various types of Power of Attorney in Edmonton, Alberta:

1. General Power of Attorney
2. Special or Limited Power of Attorney
3. Springing Power of Attorney
4. Durable Power of Attorney

Choosing the right Power of Attorney for your needs is extremely important. It can vary from case to case basis. For example, a Springing Power of Attorney comes into effect only after a certain qualification is met, whereas an intermediate Power of Attorney effective immediately. Hence hiring an agent at this stage would be helpful to know the best possible type that suits you.

Understanding Requirements for Obtaining Power of Attorney in Alberta

A powerful document such as “Power of Attorney” is extremely important in one’s life. Each province in Canada has its own rules while documenting Power of Attorney and hence it becomes essential to hire a lawyer to document your case, who can ensure all the details are available. Our Edmonton, Alberta based Estate Lawyers at Right Legal can help you to create a Power of Attorney.

Get your documents Notarized

Once you or your lawyer have drafted the Power of Attorney, you must get it notarized with the registry in Alberta. You can use multiple copies to present the same to financial institutions such as Insurance, Revenue, Banks etc. However, it must be noted that you should obtain a true copy for Alberta Lands.

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Sexual harassment: When to file a Civil Harassment Lawsuit

According to Alberta Human Rights Act, Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual behavior that adversely affects, or threatens to affect, directly or indirectly, a person’s job security, working conditions or prospects for promotion or earnings; or prevents a person from getting a job, living accommodations or any kind of public service.

Cases of sexual harassment have been rising and it is time for you to be aware of the laws in place. As a human, it’s your right to feel safe in your society and at the workplace. Although it is easy to file a lawsuit under sexual harassment in Canada, you must know few important points before starting the process.

Various types of sexual harassment:

According to Alberta Human Rights Commission, following acts qualify for sexual harassment :

• suggestive remarks, sexual jokes or compromising invitations;
• verbal abuse;
• visual display of suggestive sexual images;
• leering or whistling;
• patting, rubbing or another unwanted physical contact;
• outright demands for sexual favors; and
• physical assault.

 

You may also refer to your employee manual for more details as most of the employers maintain a separate sexual harassment manual, under OHS Act, Regulation, and Code. In case of any confusion, you may always consult to your HR department or the grievance officer before approaching a lawyer.

 

Your First Step – Warning the Harasser

In case, you feel uncomfortable with any of the above-mentioned acts by someone, you may first choose to speak to the individual in order to let them know about the unwanted behavior. If you feel the case needs attention you may speak to the management of the organization and let them know about the act.

Organizations have this duty towards building commitment of a safe workplace. They must ensure measures are taken to prevent Sexual Harassment, yet they must have proper policies in place to punish the offender.

 

Filing a civil Harassment Lawsuit

You can choose to file a civil harassment lawsuit if you feel it’s the best way to remediate the act. Filing a civil harassment lawsuit is not similar to the one against a criminal suit. It gives you more control over the case. You can get in touch with of our Civil Litigation Lawyers at Right Legal to know more.

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Regular Divorce with dependent children – Everything you need to know in Alberta.

Divorce is officially an end to a legal marriage. There are various reasons for divorce and Alberta has outlined few rules that must be followed to file a case here. You can refer to more details here.

One type of divorce is – Regular Divorce with dependent children. Here, one spouse does all the paper work i.e., prepares the forms, files the forms and serves the forms whereas the other spouse receives paperwork and cannot do anything unless they wish to contest. These forms that you need are available at Alberta courts.

Grounds of divorce in Canada:

 

Separation for more than one year

If you are separated for more than a year and one of you intends to be separated. The divorce law attempts to reconcile for upto 90 days without having to start the year over again. For instance, you got separated in August and then got back in January next year, and again got separated in February, you date of separation is still August. It is advisable to start the divorce process almost towards the close of an year. Also, according to the divorce law in Alberta, either of the spouse must be a resident in Alberta for one full year before filing a divorce case.

Mental of physical cruelty (by your spouse)

A spouse may choose to file a divorce in cases, they experience either a Mental or physical spouse from their partner. In these cases an evidence needs to prepared before moving to the court.

 

If you think that your relationship has problems and you fail to sustain it, you can prepare yourself to file a divorce case. Before that you must be aware of major documents that are required to file a divorce case.

 

Major documents required to file a Divorce case in Alberta :

1. Marriage Certificate:If married in Alberta, you can order a marriage certificate from the registry office. Marriage certificates from other provinces and countries are also valid.
2. Written Agreements:You are required to collect any formal agreement that you and your spouse had, as a support to the evidence.
3. Court orders:You will be required to produce a certified copy of any court orders, either from the court of Alberta or courts outside that deals with spousal support, child support or custody.
4. Photo: You will need a recognizable photo of your spouse. Incase you have a family photo, you can use that by clearly marking your spouse.

 

Steps in Desk Divorce Process:

1. Complete your statement of claim: This is the court form that informs the court and your spouse what is your intent out of the divorce. It mentions what you expect of the divorce.
2. File your statement of claim: File the statement of claim with the court of Queen’s Bench along with the filing fees.
3. Have the statement of claim served on your spouse: You must ensure that the statement of claim reaches your spouse. At this stage no formal agreement is required, unless they accept everything mentioned in the document. In case they don’t agree to some specific points, they can file for a contested divorce.
4. Set time for contested divorce: A specific time should be provided to the spouse so that they can file the forms.
5. Complete the Deck Divorce package: This includes the following :
   1. Noting in Default
   2. Request for Divorce
   3. Parenting after separation certificate
   4. Affidavit of applicant
   5. Child support calculation
   6. Divorce judgement
   7. Two stamped envelopes
6. File the Desk Divorce package : Once you have all the above documents in place, you can place each document in proper order and submit the package.
7. Clerks review documents: A designated clerk reviews all the documents before forwarding it to the judge. If there are any missing documents, you will be notified here.
8. Judge signs: Judge receives all the documents and makes the final decision for the overall case. Once the judge gives the decision, you can receive the judgement in the mail.
9. Get your certificate of Divorce: You can officially collect the certificate of divorce from any of the registry offices in Alberta.

 

As you might expect the divorce is exhausting process and can be emotionally disturbing as well. To avoid confusion and smoothly get through the divorce process, we strongly recommend you to connect with one of the divorce lawyers at Right Legal, in Edmonton, Alberta. Your lawyers can help you with right consultation and much needed support during the entire process.

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Spousal Support: Important things you must consider

Under the Federal Divorce Act, a spousal support is most likely to be effective when there is a difference between the incomes of two spouses’ after they separate from each other. However, there might be cases when a court may decide against this. In those cases, the spouse with the lower income will not be entitled to support. These may arise in case that spouse possesses a lot of assets or the difference in their incomes cannot be traced during their relationship.

Under the provincial law, in Edmonton, Alberta, a common-law partner may be eligible for spousal support from the other partner. This depends on the duration for which the couple lived together before getting separated. For example, a common-law couple must live together for two or three years before either partner for being eligible for spousal support.

Factors judges consider

It is an extremely important decision from the standpoint of both the partners. Therefore, Judges must consider a number of factors when deciding if a spouse should get support after a divorce. These factors include:

1. the financial means and needs of both spouses;
2. the duration of the marriage;
3. the roles of each spouse during their marriage;
4. the effect of the decision on both the spouses’ current financial positions;
5. the care of the children;
6. the goal of encouraging a spouse who receives support to be self-sufficient in a reasonable period of time; and
7. any orders, agreements or arrangements already made about spousal support.

Judges must also consider whether spousal support would meet the following purposes:

1. to compensate the spouse with the lower income for sacrificing some power to earn income during the marriage;
2. to compensate the spouse with the lower income for ongoing care of children; or
3. to help a spouse who is in financial need if the other spouse has the ability to pay.

 

At the same time, the judge must consider that a spouse who receives support has an obligation to become self-supporting, where reasonable.

More details can be found here.

Spousal Misconduct

There is no-fault divorce law in Edmonton, Alberta. This means the reasons for ending the marriage does not affect a spouse’s legal obligation to support the other spouse following a divorce.

 

Payment of both Child and Spousal Support

If either spouse is paying child support, the judge must also determine how a requirement to pay spousal support would affect child support payments. The Divorce Act clearly states that a judge must give priority to child support when a person applies for both child and spousal support. Both parents have an obligation to support their children.

You can connect one of our divorce lawyers now.

Our Divorce Lawyers at Right Legal in Edmonton, Alberta can help learn more.

 

 

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Why You Need Estate Planning in Edmonton, Alberta

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789.

Death in some, if not all cases, is very uncertain. Few people plan their life for next 5 years, 10 years and some for life, even after death. Of all the things that go into planning is your real estate. Estate planning in Edmonton is about planning the distribution of your owned property among your heirs, caretakers and third party, at the end of your life. Estate planning can be done either by creating a will or a trust.

A Will is a document that :

1. Directs how your property will be distributed,
2. Appoints a legal representative to carry out your wishes, and
3. Names a guardian for children who are minors at the time of death.

 

A Will doesn’t stand in all cases such as :

1. Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship
2. Life Insurance Proceeds
3. Bank Accounts
4. Retirement Plans

 

A trust, on the other hand, is a legal arrangement through which a person or an institution often called a “trustee,” holds legal title to property for another person, called a “beneficiary.”

Unlike, a will, trust can be exercised as soon as it is created (before death), at death or after death.

A will covers any property that is only in your name when you die. It does not cover property held in joint tenancy or in a trust.

A trust, on the other hand, covers only property that has been transferred to the trust.

Another difference between a will and a trust is that a will passes through probate. That means a court oversees the administration of the will and ensures the will is valid and the property gets distributed the way the deceased wanted. A trust passes outside of probate, so a court does not need to oversee the process, which can save time and money. Unlike a will, which becomes part of the public record, a trust can remain private.

What happens if you die without a Will?  If you die without a will, the Wills and Succession Act entail how the property will be distributed.

A properly documented Estate plan ensures, the lesser stress of confusion and legal follow-ups for the family and loved ones after your death.

Your Edmonton based legal pro can guide you how best to use a will and a trust in your estate plan.

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