It'll be okay.

It'll Be Okay.

It'll be okay.

Welcome to Purdon Family Law. Whether you are facing a separation, co-parenting tensions, or a financial disagreement – it can be daunting to navigate our family legal system on top of big changes to your family. We’re here to help.

Family Law Services

01

Parenting Time and Decision-Making Responsibility

If you are a parent and going through a separation, you will be faced with difficult decisions about your children, including questions like:

    1. Who will make major decisions about your children and how will those decisions be made?
    2. Will your children live with you and how much time will your children spend with each parent?

Formerly referred to as “custody” and “access”, decision making-responsibility and parenting time are not easy issues to resolve. Dylan can assist you reach a resolution that is in your children’s best interests, while approaching your family’s situation with sensitivity, respect, and pragmatism.

02

Child Support

In Ontario, all parents are legally obligated to financially support their children in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines or the Federal Child Support Guidelines. Dylan can help you ensure that your child is receiving proper child support. If you are a support payor, Dylan can help ensure that your support obligations are properly determined. In some cases, your family’s support payments will be collected and administered by the Family Responsibility Office (FRO). Dylan can help you register support payments with FRO. Alternatively, Dylan can provide you with representation if FRO has initiated proceedings against you because you are in arrears.

03

Spousal Support

In some cases, a person may be required to pay spousal support after separation. Although the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines provide some guidance, spousal support is not a straight-forward legal issue. If your case involves questions about whether a spouse is entitled to support or how much support should be paid, Dylan can assist you.

04

Asset & Property Division

In Ontario, married spouses must equalize their assets following a separation. Equalization is more complicated than simply splitting your wealth 50-50. Dylan can help you navigate this legal aspect of your separation in a way that is sensitive to your family’s financial future and your financial goals.

05

Divorce

Sometimes, spouses resolve most of their legal issues on their own – they just require assistance applying for a divorce order. This is called a simple divorce. 

Dylan can help you determine whether you meet the requirements for a simple divorce and help you prepare and submit your divorce application. If you and your former spouse want a divorce but have outstanding parenting or financial issues, Dylan can help you obtain your divorce as part of your overall case.

06

Marriage and Separation Agreements

Domestic contracts and agreements ensure that legal solutions are tailored to your family’s needs. Some examples of domestic contracts include:

  • Marriage Contracts (“pre-nups”)
  • Cohabitation Agreements
  • Interim and Final Separation Agreements
  • Parenting Agreements

Domestic contracts can include agreements about the value and division of assets, support arrangements, and parenting issues. Every family is different, and so is every contract. Dylan can assist you negotiate or mediate a contract that will provide your family with robust and binding solutions.

07

Adoptions and Openness

Adoption is a profound experience – both for children being adopted and adoptive parents. Dylan understands the significance of expanding your family or securing the legal status of you and your children in a blended family. Dylan can help you navigate family and stepparent adoptions, private adoptions, or adoptions through a Children’s Aid Society. 

Ontario has also implemented open adoptions in certain circumstances. Openness refers to the right of ongoing contact with a child post-adoption. The right to apply or seek openness is very specific and subject to strict timelines. If you are planning to seek openness to a child placed for adoption or you do not know if this option is available to you, you should seek legal advice right away.

08

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Dylan understands that most individuals want to avoid the court process, with good reason: litigation can put incredible strain on you and your family, both financially and emotionally. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes provide families with constructive and efficient pathways for resolving post-separation issues.  With ADR, you have the option to craft solutions outside of the courtroom, preserving your time, emotions, and resources.  

There are several different types of ADR, such mediation or arbitration, and you can tailor the ADR process to meet your family’s needs. Dylan will discuss different ADR options with you and whether ADR would be appropriate in your case. 

Meet Dylan

As an advocate and a parent, Dylan understands the profound impact that the law can have on you, your children, and your financial future. With extensive experience advocating at the Ontario Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal, Dylan is an assertive advocate in the courtroom with a keen eye for problem solving.

In general, Dylan would prefer to reach an out of court solution that is responsive to your family’s needs. He is highly skilled at representing clients in alternative dispute resolution processes, including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.

Experience

Prior to starting his own firm, Dylan practiced at a boutique family law firm in Toronto and gained experience dealing with complex financial and parenting issues. Dylan’s wide range of experience provides Dylan creativity and insight into his advocacy.

Dylan has been a panel member for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer since 2017 and he regularly represents children in family law and child protection matters. In addition to Dylan’s deep commitment to supporting children and families, Dylan’s experience as a children’s lawyer has assisted him in developing a truly child-focused approach to family law.

Dylan is also a member of the AFCC-O and co-chair of the Walsh Family Negotiation Competition Committee. He is a also member of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), Hamilton branch, and sits on the national LEAF Public Legal Education Committee.

Reported Decisions
  • Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto v. R.M., 2017 ONCJ 661
  • Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto v. R.M., 2017 ONCJ 762
  • Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto v. R.M., 2017 ONCJ 784
  • C.C. v. J.B., 2021 ONCA 363
  •  C.C. v. J.B., 2021 ONSC 2174 (Div Ct)
  •  C.C. v. J.B., 2021 ONSC 2891
  •  D.C. v. A.B., 2022 ONSC 198
  • Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region v. J.L.S., 2018 ONSC 7412
  • Marsden v. Marsden, 2020 ONSC 1166
  • V.L.M. v. M.M.R., 2018 ONCJ 637

Contact Dylan

Purdon Family Law
*Purdon Family Law Professional Corporation

261 Main St, W.
Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 1J5

T: 905 – 538 – 9922
F: 905 – 538 – 9925
E: office@purdonfamilylaw.com