Suzette Narbonne, BA (Hons), LLB

Children’s Lawyer

Narbonne Law Corporation
Box 762
Sechelt, BC V0N 3A0

E: suzette@narbonnelawoffice.com
W: www.narbonnelawoffice.com

Fees: Flexible and dependent on number of children

 

Suzette is a practicing lawyer with over 30 years of experience in family law. Since 2017, she has provided legal services to young people throughout the province of BC through her work with the Society for Children and Youth of BC, where she is the managing lawyer. Suzette is also a certified family law mediator in BC.

It can be very empowering for a child to know that they are being listened to and taken seriously, and helpful to families to hear from their children as they work through these changes in their families. Suzette has experience and training in listening to children and helping them to be heard in legal matters that affect them. Hearing from children of all ages, particularly when decisions are being made that will affect them, can lead to better outcomes for families and can help to reduce the conflict. Children have important information to share about many issues like their time with the parents and with other family members, school, and extra-curricular activities. It is not a child’s job to decide the family case, but it is important to hear their voices when decisions are being made.

Suzette is a proud member of the Hear the Child Roster and provides those services through her private law corporation.

Wayne B. Van Tassel

Lawyer, Mediator & Arbitrator

Van Tassel Law
#300 – 848 Courtney Street
Victoria, BC V8W 1C4

T: 778-678-4008
E: wayne.vantassel@mediatebc.com
W: www.wvantassel.com

Fees: Flexible and based on number of children

 

Wayne has been a lawyer for more than 25 years, practicing predominately in the area of family law. What he has learned in that quarter century is that there needs to be a better a way to resolve family law disputes. As a passionate advocate for alternative dispute resolution, Wayne believes all stakeholders in a family law dispute must be heard, and this includes the children.

Wayne is a member of the Law of Society of British Columbia. He is also admitted to practice law in the State of Minnesota. He is accredited as Family Law Mediator and Arbitrator.

Wayne lives in Victoria, but practices throughout Vancouver Island as well as the rest of the Province.

Call or email to discuss your needs.

Barbara Jones

Registered Social Worker

B. Jones Meditation
Williams Lake, BC

T: 250-305-4838
E: barb.jones@mediatebc.com
W: barbjones.ca

Fees: $120 per hour plus travel expenses if required

Registered social worker committed to supporting healthy children and families through one-on-one support and community partnerships.
Passionate for reducing the negative impacts of conflict on children by helping families work productively through their conflict.

Rebecca Stanley

Lawyer / Mediator

Renovate Family Law & Mediation
Working virtually from the Fraser Valley, with options to interview children in person in Chilliwack and Abbotsford

T: 236-566-0665 ext. 101
E: rebecca@renovatefamilylaw.com
W: www.renovatefamilylaw.com

Fees: $1,200 for one child; $2,000 for two children

 

Prior to practicing law, Rebecca worked with families in the non-profit sector and university students as a UBC chaplain. She has extensive experience working with children and teenagers, having personally raised 3 young adults, coordinated children’s sports and arts camps and teams, and volunteered as a mentor in youth groups. Although not a therapist, her Masters of Arts degree included Marriage and Family Counseling courses in family systems. When Rebecca shifted her career to law, she augmented her studies with hands-on training in mediation, worked with Provincial Court judges for a semester during law school, and spent one year as a Judicial Law Clerk working for 6 judges of the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver.

As a lawyer, Rebecca limits her practice to dispute resolution. She practices in the areas of mediation and collaborative family law, as well as drafting and negotiating separation agreements outside of court. She is a member of the Collaborative Divorce Vancouver Association, the Collaborative Roster Society of BC and the International Association of Collaborative Professionals.

Rebecca is a strong advocate of including the voice of the child in decisions related to the child, where appropriate. Children can make a healthy transition to their new reality post-separation, if parents and professionals are committed to supporting them positively and ensuring they are not silenced in the process. As adults, we can find the balance between protecting children from parental conflict while also listening to their voices during the process, and help lead our children to a better future.

Lisa Low

Clinical Counsellor
Alliance Counselling and Assessment Services

206 – 20641 Logan Ave
Langley BC

T: 778-255-8174
E: info@youralliance.ca
W: youralliance.ca

Fees: variable; dependent on number of children

As a registered clinical counsellor, I understand the challenges that families and children face during times of transition and change. My aim is to provide you with a supportive and safe space, where you feel heard.

I specialize in the areas of family conflict and high conflict separation/divorce. I have worked in child protective services and mental health for over 20 years. I often work with resistant clients who are involved in high conflict and emotionally charged situations. I have assisted individuals and families who are struggling with parenting issues, communication skills, substance abuse, domestic violence, child welfare matters, and family conflict.

I have my undergraduate degree in Child and Youth Care and my Masters degree in Counselling Psychology. I have extensive experience and training in interviewing children and assessing their social/emotional needs. I have been called to court on many occasions to present my observations and findings.

Working with families who are involved in the court process and who are dealing with custody and access issues is the primary focus of my practice. I have received additional training, focusing on Custody and Access Reports. I believe that we need to support opportunities for children to share their views and be heard when their best interests are being determined. Everyone deserves to be heard.

There are many issues, concerns, and logistics to work out when a separation or divorce has occurred. We will work together to figure this out and find practical and child centered solutions that work for your family.

Pamela J. Rowlands

Family Law Lawyer
Pamela J Rowlands Law Corporation
218 – 6820 188 Street
Surrey BC V4N 3G6

T: 604-372-1050
E: pamela@rowlandslaw.ca
W: www.rowlandslaw.ca

Fees: Variable depending on the circumstances

 

Pamela has been a family lawyer since 2000. She has extensive experience working with families as they deal with separation and divorce. Pamela has specific experience and training with high conflict matters involving children. She is committed to giving children the opportunity to have their views heard in a safe and respectful environment.

Pamela offers reduced fee billing for those with a low income.

Dr. Ellie Bolgar Psy.D. R.C.C.

Psychotherapist

Dr. Ellie Bolgar & Associates Counselling and Family Mediation

T: (604) 371-0198
F: (604) 371-2281

E: info@drbolgar.com
W: www.drbolgar.com

Fee:  $200 per hour

Dr. Ellie Bolgar has started her career as a teacher, but she was more interested in how people learn than what they learn and how early relational experiences impact the development of personalities. Her passion to understand human behavior inspired her to pursue her Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology and her Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology. She has done excessive research on attachment and presented in several conferences including the World Congress of Positive Psychology. Her area of specialty is focused on the parent-child attachment and the impact of stress on child development and learning.

Dr. Bolgar has worked in Child Protection and Child and Youth Mental Health Services for 20 years where she provided assessments and reports for court. She was a clinical supervisor and consultant to programs that offered services to families where child protection was a concern.

Dr. Bolgar started her private practice in 2006 and she provides therapy for families, couples and children. Over the years her interest grew towards working with parents whose attachment relationship with their children has fractured or deteriorated. She is assisting families in the process of uncoupling with the least conflict and creating a healthy co-parenting relationship for their children.

Dr. Bolgar has trained in Collaborative Divorce, The Family Law Act for non-lawyers, Family Mediation, Arbitration and Child Interviewing. She has extensive experience interviewing children and assessing their social/emotional needs.

Dr. Bolgar is an Adjunct Faculty Member at Adler University where she teaches Family Therapy and Couples Counselling to Master’s Students.

A.J.B. v. J.M., 2019 BCSC 2335

The narrow issue in this case was whether a s. 211 report or a Hear the Child report should be prepared.  The parents had shared equal parenting time until the father relocated from the Lower Mainland to Victoria.  The 13-year old child had been objecting to travelling to Victoria.  The father attributed that to the mother’s alienation, which was why he thought a s. 211 report was necessary.  The judge reviewed case law about when s. 211 reports would be ordered, noting that the court must strike a balance between the usefulness of the information contained in s. 211 reports, and the countervailing interests of time and delay, intrusion into the child’s life, and cost.  The judge rejected the father’s contention that the mother was alienating the child.  She held that a s. 211 report was unnecessary because there was no evidence that her needs were not being met, and it would be disruptive to her.  The judge granted an order that a Hear the Child report be prepared because, given the father’s suspicion that the child’s views were being influenced by the mother, it was important to obtain a neutral, objective recitation of the child’s wishes.