News Release

New Services In Brampton And Milton Courts Helping Families

McGuinty Government Helping Families Navigate The Justice System

June 7, 2010

News

Brampton and Milton's family courts are now helping parents better understand the court system and how to help their children when going through separations or divorces.

A local team of justice partners, including judges, Legal Aid Ontario staff, lawyers, mediators and court staff are working together to:

• Provide mandatory information sessions to help families learn about the effects of separation on children and the options available to them to resolve their disputes
• Evaluate each family's situation and recommend the most appropriate services
• Offer volunteer senior lawyers, called dispute resolution officers, who will help families find less confrontational ways of resolving disputes before appearing in court
• Provide greater access to legal advice and alternatives to litigation, such as mediation.

These new services began helping families this week. As part of Ontario's family justice reforms, these two family courts were selected to be the first to help improve family justice and develop new initiatives to help reduce the stress on families. These initiatives in Brampton and Milton will help inform future improvements to court locations across the province.

Quotes

"These improvements will help families resolve difficult issues faster and with less emotional stress when their relationships break down."
- Chris Bentley, Attorney General

"Legal Aid Ontario recognizes that there is a clear need to make improvements to our system of family justice, and we are pleased to support these significant steps in family justice reform."
- John McCamus, Chair of Legal Aid Ontario

Quick Facts

• Approximately 160,000 people use family courts each year in Ontario.
• Family courts deal with matters such as child custody and restraining orders.
• Ontario's new Court Forms Assistant is an interactive website to help people fill out 11 of the most commonly-used Ontario family and small claims court forms. This tool makes it easier to understand the steps involved in starting a case in family court.

Learn More

Find out how to access the improved Brampton and Milton family court programs by calling the Brampton courthouse at 905-456-4700 or the Milton courthouse at 905-878-7281.

Find out more about family law in Ontario.

Read about how changes to Ontario's family law better protect children in custody and access court cases in times of family breakdown.

Learn about how the McGuinty government's investment of an additional $150 million in Legal Aid Ontario will help to ensure Ontarians have access to the legal services they need and drive reforms in the family and criminal courts.

Contacts

Erin Moroz
Minister's Office, 416-326-1785

Brendan Crawley
Communications Branch, 416-326-2210

Back to top