Kelowna General Practice Blog

Billions of people use social media. And whether you use it to connect with family around the world or to raise awareness for your business or a cause you believe in, the way you interact online can affect your life offline.

For instance, if you are going through a divorce, your social media behaviour could influence the outcomes of various divorce-related legal matters.

There is nothing worse for children than when they hear one parent putting their other parent down. Family law in British Columbia always looks to what is in the best interests of children and parental alienation is not. One family court judge recommends a three-pronged approach to prevent such alienation.

Parental alienation is a form of child abuse and should be thwarted before it damages children. This form of abuse occurs when one parent does something or says something to cause a child to reject the other parent. The first step to prevention is realizing it is happening and for the alienated parent to seek professional help. This particular judge suggests three areas of intervention to prevent or stop alienation: relationship education, public consciousness-raising and professional education.

May brought encouraging news to the province's housing sector. Analysts say recovery signs in the real estate market in British Columbia were encouraging last month, even though year-over-year numbers remained down. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) said 4,518 residential homes were sold in May, up from April's 3,284. Total sales dollar-wise grew from $2.4 billion to $3.3 billion.

Even though sales are still down significantly, that little jolt in May was enough for analysts to begin to look on the bright side. BCREA said listings started to go back to more normal levels in May as well. Active listings, however, are still down about 24% when looking year over year. In terms of residential unit sales, numbers were still down compared to 2019, however the average unit price was up by 9.6%, standing at $753,155.

Everyone makes mistakes in life. But there is no room for error when it comes to wills and estates planning. Before sitting down to write an all-encompassing estate plan, British Columbia residents would do well to know how to avoid some common pitfalls --  the first being not have an estate plan at all. Things will get tricky for the loved ones of someone who dies intestate -- meaning without a will.

Another mistake is assuming all an estate plan needs is a will. A will doesn't speak to many important issues like jointly owned properties or businesses, taxes, power or attorney or health care. Those usually need separate documents and leaving everything to a spouse might not be the best path to follow either in case the person remarries. Setting up a trust fund for children and grandchildren might be an option. Choosing the wrong executor and not using a lawyer to help in estate planning could also be errors in judgment.