The concept of legal aid is one of the best ideas in the legal sphere for people with low or no income. While the law of Canada grants equal rights to every citizen the financial situation can sometimes limit the possibilities of the people who are in need of legal help. That’s why Canada has a developed system of Legal Aid offices, which provide some level of legal aid to people who are unable to afford legal representation due to financial difficulties.

British Columbia has established a Legal Air program in 1979. This system in the province is administered by Legal Services Society and regulated by the Legal Services Society Act (Chapter 30 of the 2002 Statutes of British Columbia). Legal Services Society is an independent, non-profit organization acting under the laws of British Columbia. It is funded mostly by provincial government, but also receives funds from federal government and various law organizations. As in the other provinces before a person receives legal aid, he or she must pass qualification. The Legal Services Society Act states that legal aid is available to individuals with low income or no income in following situations. When the individual is a defendant in criminal proceedings and the verdict can lead to the individual’s imprisonment. When the individual can be imprisoned or confined through civil proceedings. If the individual’s physical or mental safety or health or that of the individual’s children is or may be affected by domestic dispute, where the individual represents one of the sides. Also legal aid can be provided if the individual has a legal problem that threatens his or her family’s physical or mental safety or health, ability to feed, clothe and provide shelter for himself or herself and the individual’s dependents, or livelihood. So as you see legal aid is provided generally in most serious cases, when the individual faces such serious thing as imprisonment for example. Due to the changes in the economical situation the defining the low income also varies from time to time.

Despite of the great idea of the Legal Aid system, in Canada it has a number of problems that eventually ended up as a crisis of this system. The main problem of legal aid is underfunding. The salaries of professional attorneys are usually high, so there is actually a very small percentage of attorneys willing to work for small government set salaries. Mostly people who spent serious amounts of money on education are not willing to start their career as a public lawyer. Another problem of this system is uneven coverage, it actually varies from province to province. Legal aid is available only for certain types of problems and procedures so at some points it proves to be inefficient. The three main problems – underfunding, coverage and effectiveness lead to the fourth problem – disappointment of the people. The whole system turns out to be not very helpful in some of the cases, so basically people loose faith in legal aid.

While mostly weddings are considered to be the alliances of hearts and souls, every wedding also has a legal background, changes in rights and most important changes in property. In Canada the Matrimonial Property is described as property owned by one or both of married spouses. Needles to say that property and child support are the two most argued problems during a usual divorce so in this article we will write about Matrimonial Property Law in Canada. It was initially established that after the marriage the property becomes common, but during a long period of the development and creation if the Common Law only the husband had the rights to manage the matrimonial property. But with time, when the legal definition and status of the family changed, women also obtained the right to manage property and naturally that brought in some additional legal rules.

While there are numerous differences Matrimonial property law in each province and territory has some general things in common. This law defines what things are considered matrimonial property, applies to spouses automatically upon marriage, says whether or not matrimonial property rights apply to common-law couples in the same way as married couples, describes rights and interests during marriage (or a common-law relationship, depending on the province or territory), describes how to divide matrimonial property upon marriage breakdown, provides for the enforcement of agreements regarding matrimonial property, provides special rights in regard to the family home. Also in different cases the spouses can ask the court for following matrimonial property decisions and protections: an order for temporary or permanent possession of the family home, permission to sell the family home in order to divide the sale price between the spouses, an order preventing the sale of the family home without the consent of both spouses, protection against a spouse unreasonably disposing matrimonial property, such as cash in a joint bank account.

The four western Canadian provinces still keep the Dower Act, this act is a very old spouse protection mechanism. It guarantees the widow a third of the matrimonial property, if no adultery was committed by her during the marriage. Also the western provinces keep the “homestead legislation”, it prohibits the sale of the family home without the consent of the wife and a number of other acts that protect the family home. So as you see the joint property is a very serious thing and it is accordingly regulated by various laws. Various provinces have various laws and legislations concerning this type of property and there are numerous cases that can be examined during the case when the property is divided. There is a good movie The War of The Roses that shows a huge complexity of the Matrimonial Property during a divorce. There is a spectacular scene, when Danny De Vito (who plays the family lawyer) throws a huge book on the table, with the words “I found a similar case”. So if you need to solve a property issue with your ex-wife don’t even start discussing it without a lawyer. Also a marriage contract that regulates the property in case of a divorce is a good solution, we already wrote about these documents so you can just search our blog for all the details.

Criminal defence lawyers offer legal services to individuals charged of criminal offences. In general, there are two sets of lawyers for fighting cases in courts of law: Criminal lawyers and civil lawyers. The first set of lawyers represents individuals charged of criminal offences in courts of law.

Finding a good lawyer for fighting criminal cases is important for discovering possibilities of defence in criminal cases. A professional criminal lawyer will offer legal services in representation and legal assistance to persons charged of criminal offences inclusive of Impaired Driving, DUI cases, Fraud, Theft, Robbery, Drug abuse, Production of Marijuana and other drugs etc.

In Vancouver, one can easily find lawyers to fight their criminal cases. Especially in case of criminal offences like impaired driving, drug abuse etc, there are lawyers who fight for criminal cases under the Criminal Code of Canada and other provincial offences. Some of the checkpoints for the selection of a good criminal lawyer are listed below:

Set Your Priorities
Before selecting a defence attorney, remember to set your priorities. One should be clear about the qualities one wants in a defence lawyer. One can either go for a young and energetic defence full of potential or settle for an experienced and veteran criminal law expert. One’s priorities help one make a sound decision.

Expertise Matters
Most defence attorney focus on a particular criminal offence and a very few practice law for routine criminal cases. One needs to understand the importance of expertise and look out for lawyers who can offer expert advice and consultation for a criminal offence one wants to defend.

Legal Firms
Before judging a lawyer’s reputation or blindly appreciating his experience, one needs to make a careful research of the legal firm he is associated with. Fellow colleagues and bar council members can give a fair idea about the lawyer’s reputation and track record of past criminal cases.

Position in Legal Community
A defence attorney who is respected across the legal community is at a better position to offer his experience and services for a criminal case. A good lawyer will be a good legal advocate, legal advisor and probably a good writer about legal matters or hold a position of worth in the legal community.

Budget Defence is good!
A public defender can offer you years of experience and more legal exposure than a private attorney. Public attorneys have more exposure to criminal cases and have handled more cases than a private attorney and are affordable too!

Members of the MacDonnell’s Law Wills and Estates lawyer team act in the administration of deceased estates in accordance with the deceased’s will. This may involve obtaining probate where it is required and transferring property, shares and other assets to beneficiaries.

The MacDonnell’s Law Wills and Estates lawyer team is also experienced in complex estate dispute matters, including when the deceased person died intestate.

Ms. MacDonnell is a frequent speaker on employment tax matters for Littler, California and American Bar Association meetings, as well as professional and industry educational forums.

We understand that having to contact a foreign lawyer with a legal issue in a foreign country can be a daunting experience for some and we seek to ensure that your experience is made as pleasant as possible. More importantly, we will provide you with the necessary information to allow you to make sound decisions under Australian law. Our free initial consultation policy applies to all international enquiries. Our fees are competitive and where possible, we will provide you with a fixed cost quotation.

Given the very private, personal and financial nature of issues involving family law, choosing the right family lawyer for your needs is important. In family law, confidentiality and trust are vital. You are entitled to have your lawyer (solicitor) listen carefully to the issues as you see them, provide objective legal advice, and ensure your legal needs are met.

The Family Law team has expertise in all areas of family law and they take pride in providing prompt and reliable legal services to all clients, helping to reduce the stress in these difficult times.

MacDonnell’s Law has offices in Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville and is one of Queensland’s largest independent law firms. It is a full service legal firm with specialist lawyers practicing in specific areas of law. It has a long history as a respected institution and celebrates its 126th Anniversary in 2010. MacDonnell’s Law is also a member of the international alliance of commercial law firms, Meritas. Meritas operates on alliances between firms in more than 60 countries working across jurisdictions to provide clients the best of both worlds: a local legal partner with full service capabilities and the cost efficiency and personal attention unmatched by mega law firms. Each member law firm is required to adhere to rigorous and specific service standards.

The Bill will impact the 2010 valuations and therefore the changes to the definition of the “unimproved value” of land will apply to this round. However, the Government has committed to reviewing the state valuation system prior to the 2011 round of valuations, at which point a simpler method of “site valuations” will be introduced (except for property in rural areas).

How much TV are we really watching?

If you are a male over 65 with a high school education, then the answer is… that you’re not reading this article because you are watching TV right now.