In November 2024, Shawn Philbert of SMP Law completed his training in Voice of the Child Reports. This in-depth training has provided Shawn Philbert of SMP Law significant knowledge and understanding in the complexities of obtaining the voice of the child and he will bring this newfound knowledge to the family law matters he is privileged to provide legal services.

In a family law dispute involving children, there are many different people parents will talk to about their family court matter. One group in particular is their children’s teachers. Teachers can often get a one-sided interpretation from one parent of what is happening with their child and in their family law matter.

Peace bonds can be seen differently depending on the judge. For example, a peace bond can be determined that since the person did not go to trial the actual criminal issue was not determined or decided. A peace bond should not be determined an admission of guilt, unfortunately the optics of a peace bond do not sometimes play out that way.

Parental alienation continues to be an ongoing challenge we see in family law matters. SMP Law has created several blogs on the topic of parental alienation so as a reminder, the term parental alienation references “a child is expressing extreme negative feelings about a parent that are not supported by their experiences”. 

Recently, CBC News posted an article about a Facebook group warning women about specific men in online dating profiles. These private Facebook groups have been created as a way to share negative details about men they may have dated to help protect other women from these men.