Screening for Financial Abuse

Prepare early and strengthen your case

This session will provide you with important tools and skills to assist in financial abuse cases in the critical period before and immediately after separation. Intentional planning and action can greatly impact outcomes for clients who experience financial abuse.

verified1.5 CPD Credit - Eligible for 0.5 Ethics/Practice Management
play_lesson 1.5 hours
local_offer CA$200

You will learn:

• How to screen for financial abuse both pre and post separation, including unique examples of financial abuse that we have seen on the front-lines.

• Takeaway questions for clients to help identify next steps.

• How to create an evidentiary record to demonstrate financial abuse.

• How to draft clear, concise, and enforceable financial disclosure and support orders.

Sign up today and learn how to handle financial abuse cases with confidence.

“Knowing how to screen for financial abuse, how to create an evidentiary record, and what steps to take before separation can have a lasting impact on a client’s financial security and legal outcomes. This session helps lawyers develop a proactive approach to protecting and advancing their clients’ economic interests.”

— Vicky Law, co-instructor.

• Course Curriculum

  1. Financial Abuse: Review

  2. Screening for Financial Abuse

  3. Assessing Client’s Current Financial Situation

  4. Preparing Finances for Separation

  5. Evidentiary Record & Enforceability

  6. Additional Resources

• Learning Objectives

  1. Identify financial abuse at different stages in a family law matter

  2. Ways to screen for financial abuse

  3. Develop skills to discuss experiences of financial abuse with clients

  4. Gain tools to build evidentiary record about financial abuse

• About the Instructors

  Vicky Law (she/her) is the Executive Director of Rise Women’s Legal Centre, where she leads a team providing legal services to over 2,000 women and gender-diverse people in British Columbia each year. She delivers training for lawyers and support workers across the province on working with clients who have experienced violence and contributes to systemic legal reform through policy development and litigation.

  She continues to provide mentorship and support to the next generation of lawyers through Rise’s student legal clinic, articling students, and junior lawyer programs.

  Samantha Clarke - Sammy (she/her) is a Family Law Advocate with the Virtual Legal Clinic at Rise. In this role, she supports women and gender diverse people around BC, outside of the lower mainland. The majority of the clients she works with are navigating complex family law matters and continue to be impacted by past on ongoing family violence.

  Sammy has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of British Columbia and has worked in various sectors, supporting clients who face social, societal, and economic barriers to navigate systems and find ways forward. While supporting clients in communities all around BC, Sammy is privileged to live on the traditional territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

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We offer special student and group pricing to support your learning.
Reach out to education@womenslegalcentre.ca to find out more.

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