How to avoid your day in court.

AuthorAippersbach, Carole
PositionSpecial Report: Helping Yourself

When people think of needing legal help, they often think of lawyers, court forms, and court rooms. As those who have been there already know, it isn't nearly as glamorous as it seems on television, and quite to the contrary, it can be quite scary. The good news is that not every legal issue has to end up there. Think of the law as a long time-line, or "spectrum", of possibility: court is at the very end of the line. The key to maximizing your chances of not ending up there is taking a proactive approach to address the issue as soon as you catch the first glimmer of a problem (or earlier!). But where do you begin? More good news! In this day and age, there is a great deal of information available at your fingertips (or at the local library). It's just a question of knowing when you need such information and exactly how to go about getting it.

The first step in trying to avoid the courthouse is recognizing when there is a problem that needs to be addressed. This can often be much harder than it seems. After all, legal problems don't just walk into a room and identify themselves. The law, and its application, has an amazing ability to surprise. Let's look at a few examples.

We'll start with the far end of the legal spectrum: the "What do you mean the law does not cover this situation?" or "What, there's actually a law about that?" kinds of scenarios.

* You are a post-secondary student, and you move into a room in someone's home. You would think that standard landlord/tenant law (which, by the way, is sometimes called "residential tenancies") applies to your rental situation, right? Not necessarily. For example, in Alberta, it does not. Instead, the situation is governed by contract law (which is not a "law", per se, but common law). No contract can mean lots of trouble. Surprise.

* You move in with your best friend. Your children have grown and your husbands have passed on, so why not save on expenses? After all, you already do just about everything together. After three years, you might become adult interdependent partners (the Alberta version of common law). Yes, even without any conjugal relations. Surprise.

* The daycare to which you send your child has asked you to sit on its board of directors. It is such a great organization; helping out is the least you could do. While this is true, if the board does not have the right documentation in place, you, as a director, could be held personally financially liable for the mistakes of the...

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