Advanced Financial Issues in Family Law 2022

Course Chairs
Todd R. Bell — Basran Robin & Bell, Vancouver
Scott L. Booth, KC — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Todd Bell is an experienced, effective litigator and trial lawyer. He also mediates, arbitrates and settles matters through various forms of agreement. Todd has wide-ranging courtroom experience spanning all levels of court in BC.

Todd's practice areas include the division of high net worth assets including complex corporate structures, trusts, real estate, and pensions. He also does income determination often in complex financial circumstances for the purposes of child and spousal support. He practices in all manner of parenting and custody litigation including relocation and Hague Convention matters, adoption litigation, and emergency protection from family violence.

Todd received his LLB in 2007 and was called to the bar in 2008. Todd has served as adjunct faculty at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC, was co-chair of the CBA Family Law Subsection after several years on the executive, has been a member of the Editorial Board of the Family Law Practice Manual (CLEBC) since 2012, and chairs conferences or presents legal papers on family law issues several times every year for organizations such as CLEBC, TLABC, LSS, CBA (Okanagan), and the Access Pro Bono Court of Appeal program.

In his personal life, Todd is an enthusiastic canoeist, having done several hundred kilometers in each Ontario, the Yukon, BC, and northern Saskatchewan. He lives in Vancouver with his spouse, son, and two terribly behaved Labrador Retrievers.

Scott Booth is a partner at Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, managing the family law practice of the firm.  Scott was called to the BC bar in 1994 and has focused his practice exclusively on family law matters since 2006. His practice includes litigation and mediation, both as counsel and as mediator. He has appeared before all levels of court in BC. Scott was awarded the QC designation in 2021. He has been a Lexpert ranked leading lawyer in family law in BC for many years. He is also recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada in the family law practice area. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.

Throughout his career, Scott has made significant contributions to legal education. He is a frequently invited speaker at family law conferences in BC. In 2017, CLEBC recognized him as one of its top contributors to family law continuing legal education over the preceding decade. Scott is currently on the organizing committee for, and has presented several times at, the Federation of Law Societies' National Family Law Conference. He has previously presented to the National Judicial Institutes' Family Law Program. In 2020, he taught family law as an adjunct professor at UBC's Peter A. Allard School of Law.

Scott has also been a contributing author to numerous books on family law topics, including the British Columbia Family Law Sourcebook—a leading treatise on family law in the province, and the property division section of the transition guide published by the BC Ministry of the Attorney General when the Family Law Act was introduced in 2013.  A number of his papers have been published in the Canadian Family Law Quarterly.

Scott has been qualified as an expert witness on BC family law before the Superior Court of California, US.

Faculty
Nikki L. Charlton — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Patti Daum, CPA, CA, CBV — Daum Valuation and Financial Services Ltd., Vancouver
Kiu Ghanavizchian, CPA, CA, CBV, MBA — Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., Vancouver
Ian B. Hayward — Hayward Sheppard, Vancouver
Morag M.J. MacLeod, KC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver
Jacqueline G. McQueen, KC — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger LLP, Vancouver
Jane M. Reid — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver
Lucas Terpkosh, CPA, CA, CBV — Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., Vancouver
Eli C. Walker — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger LLP, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributors
Shannon Beebe — Schuman Basran Robin & Bell, Vancouver
Kristina Heinrichs — Articled Student, Farris LLP, Vancouver
Caitlin Heit — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver
Chelsea Szafranski — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger LLP, Vancouver

Click here for full faculty bios

Welcome and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:10)

Todd R. Bell — Basran Robin & Bell, Vancouver
Scott L. Booth, KC — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver

Distributive Taxes (9:10 – 10:15)

• where do distributive taxes stand since Mahmoud v. Sanai
• the effect of the valuator's conclusions in calculation of distributive taxes
• the effect of assumptions in calculation of distributive taxes

Kiu Ghanavizchian, CPA, CA, CBV, MBA — Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., Vancouver
Eli C. Walker — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger LLP, Vancouver

BREAK (10:15 – 10:30)

Minority Report: Nuanced Issues Relating to Minority Discounts (10:30 – 11:35)

• national review of the treatment of minority discounts by provincial Courts of Appeal
• the limits: where the CBV stops, and the judge must begin
• issues arising in family run businesses with multiple shareholders and/or several generations 
• where the shareholder has a minority interest in an individual corporation but exerts control over the larger organization of related companies 
• how to attack/defend the CBV's findings 

Todd R. Bell — Basran Robin & Bell, Vancouver
Jane M. Reid — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver
Lucas Terpkosh, CPA, CA, CBV — Blair Mackay Mynett Valuations Inc., Vancouver

BREAK (11:35 – 11:50)

Unusual Forms of Income (11:50 – 12:55)

• deferred income
• grants
• restricted share units
• forgivable loans

Ian B. Hayward — Hayward Sheppard, Vancouver

LUNCH (12:55 – 1:35)

Judicial Time Travel: Adjusting Valuation Date for Fairness (1:35 – 2:40)

• fairness in a red hot real estate market
• dispute resolution and reduced judicial resources
• the personal and financial cost of delay
• impacts on children
• the evolving law on adjusted valuation dates

Nikki L. Charlton — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Morag M.J. MacLeod, KC — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver

BREAK (2:40 – 2:55)

Advanced Issues with Guideline Income Reports (2:55 – 3:55)

• what is the evidentiary status of a guideline income report
• when should a guideline income report be obtained
• giving instructions to the expert—managing factual assumptions and cost
• s. 18 adjustments and availability of funds
• accounting for minority interests
• dealing with personal expenses
• s. 19 imputation of income

Patti Daum, CPA, CA, CBV — Daum Valuation and Financial Services Ltd., Vancouver
Jacqueline G. McQueen, KC — Aaron Gordon Daykin Nordlinger LLP, Vancouver

Closing Remarks (3:55 – 4:00)

Todd R. Bell — Basran Robin & Bell, Vancouver
Scott L. Booth, KC — Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP, Vancouver