Fans of CBC’s Air Farce will recall the comedy troupe’s delight in mimicking the unique pronunciation of the Reform Party’s first leader. Just recently, the gang at 22 Minutes had fun imagining the shock of two British Columbia roommates learning of the province’s family law reforms: After two years of cohabitation, unmarried couples automatically acquire the same property rights as married couples-for better or for worse.

To date, Nova Scotia has not adopted these provisions. But this province’s Law Reform Commission has undertaken a review of the Matrimonial Property Act that will include consideration doing exactly that. Is it time to remove the distinction we now make between “family” and “business” assets?  To allow people to exempt the assets they bring into a marriage from division? Or, as BC has done, include common law couples under the legislation, thus subjecting their property to a presumed equal division when the relationship ends? You can express your opinion on these or other property law issues here, where you will find one survey for lawyers and another for non-lawyers.

And property law is not the only family law area under discussion. Word recently leaked out about the family law reform paper being prepared by the Supreme Court of Canada, being written by Justice Thomas Cromwell (formerly of the NS Court of Appeal and Dalhousie Law School) by way of an article in the Globe & Mail (March 27, 2013). Among other things, the paper apparently supports a streamlined court process, reducing conflict and assigning one specialized Judge to shepherd each case through the system. All good ideas. And if the final report helps goad the federal government into creating a unified family court system throughout Nova Scotia, rather than just in Halifax and Cape Breton, it will be well worth waiting for it.