Candee McCarthy Law
90 Esplanade B1P 1A1 Sydney, NS, Canada

Our best wishes for a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend to all our clients, family and friends. We are grateful to you all for your continued support and also your patience over these last 6 months of unexpected changes and uncertainty! We have the very best clients and for that we are truly thankful!

With summer here and patio beer, a friendly reminder - please don’t drink and drive. https://novascotia.ca/sns/rmv/safe/alcohol.asp

With summer here and patio beer, a friendly reminder - please don’t drink and drive. https://novascotia.ca/sns/rmv/safe/alcohol.asp

We hope you are staying safe, and are managing the challenges that come with navigating this new world. We have now re-opened our offices on a limited basis. We ask for the safety of you and those who share our work spaces that you follow our guidelines: No unscheduled appointments, no drop ins - if you feel you need to attend our office please contact us in advance to arrange a safe time and to allow us an opportunity to sanitize prior to your arrival. Our offices are sti...ll closed to the public. No unnecessary in person appointments - if we believe we can effectively accommodate your needs with a zoom or telephone appointment you will not be offered an in person appointment. In person appointments may be arranged for document execution or document exchange only. Safe in person appointments - when necessary to meet with us in person, we require you to wash or sanitize your hands upon entering the premises. There is soap in the bathroom and hand sanitizer available if you prefer to use that. You will be provided with your own sanitized pen and we will sanitize your meeting room prior to your arrival. We will be exercising social distancing measures. Do not bring unecessary third parties with you. While we will make accommodations for required support persons when necessary we ask that you leave partners, children, friends to wait outside of our building while you conduct your business with us. IF YOU HAVE A FEVER, COUGH, SYMPTOMS OF ANY KIND DO NOT ATTEND OUR OFFICES. We will make other arrangements to meet your needs or reschedule you. Please do not linger - complete your business and disburse from the building as efficiently as possible. In addition to our polices we also want to know from you what your level of comfort/needs are prior to your appointment. If you are a compromised person who isn't comfortable with an in person appointment but have been offered one, let us know. We will absolutely make other arrangements for you. We would like to work with you to meet your individual needs and we take your safety and comfort seriously. We care about the health of our clients and our community. We thank you for your cooperation in working with us to keep you all safe.

From Helen Morrison Cape Breton Transition House i there to help you! You can call us @ 902-539-2945 ör 1800-563-2945 Ör you can call the number on this post...er! You are not alone and you do not have to stay home if home i usage. We will help...reach out... Most of all be safe...let us help you!00

Parents, if you don’t want disruption of your parenting time, (not to mention adding stress, anxiety and putting your children at risk) obey the distancing rules! Parents, if your partners are obeying the distancing rules within the government prescribed guidelines (not your personally appointed ones) don’t disobey court orders or agreements - allow parenting time to proceed and avoid getting yourself in trouble later (not to mention hurting your children from unreasonably withholding them from their parent)!

From Helen Morrison Cape Breton Transition House i there to help you! You can call us @ 902-539-2945 r 1800-563-2945 r you can call the number on this post...er! You are not alone and you do not have to stay home if home i usage. We will help...reach out... Most of all be safe...let us help you!00

Parents, if you dont want disruption of your parenting time, (not to mention adding stress, anxiety and putting your children at risk) obey the distancing rules! Parents, if your partners are obeying the distancing rules within the government prescribed guidelines (not your personally appointed ones) dont disobey court orders or agreements - allow parenting time to proceed and avoid getting yourself in trouble later (not to mention hurting your children from unreasonably withholding them from their parent)!

In a vastly changing world, as a lawyer I really have to think about the way I deliver service to my family clients. Am I giving them the best of what I can offer in the most innovative and cost efficient way? Sometimes we do things a certain way so long we just accept it as the way it is, and get complacent in our thinking. We stop looking for ways to do things better and just do our best with what is already there. A disruption in court services, and an uncertain fut...ure has forced me to really consider is the way we always do things really the best? Can I do better? I think I can. I know I can. Ive always cared about my clients, and while some have considered that a weakness, I disagree. I think compassion for people is what makes me good at what I do. But still sometimes clients are left frustrated or unsatisfied. And I dont blame them. The system and tools we use doesnt always work for families, doesnt always address things like communication or the deeper issues that are barriers to peaceful resolution. Its too small a box. I took a big leap today. Because I honestly believe there is a better way and I am super excited over the next few months to roll it out. I have had the benefit of some top notch training in the last few years to develop my skills but no real opportunity to put this training to good use. Waiting for things to change isnt enough. Im going to be the change. Stay tuned. See more

On this Administrative Professionals day, we would like to give a big shout out to Sami, Gail and Norma! It takes a myriad of skills to run our operation and these ladies bring it every day. Particularly in these trying times, nothing stops them. You are all fabulous and appreciated every day!

A few people have contacted us concerning estate planning (as this virus has caused many of us to worry about not having a Last Will and Testament or other estate documents). If you qualify, we are offering a special for single persons or couples on standard wills, power of attorney and personal directives. We are set up to do this remotely, without person to person contact but you must have access to a computer with camera or mobile phone with camera and internet to qual...ify. We reserve the right to limit clients for this promotion, subject to our availability and we reserve the right to end this promotion at any time at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to refuse to act for any client at our sole discretion. Complicated estate planning that involves trusts or anything else we deem in our sole discretion does not fall under "standard" will not qualify, but we will let you know in advance if you do qualify and we wont charge you if you do not. If you do qualify, we will provide you with a Standard Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney, and Personal Directive: $350.00 all in (taxes, fees, disbursements) for a single person $500.00 all in (taxes, fees, disbursements) for a couple IF doing mirror wills You must pay the full fee into trust after your intake call but before any documents are drafted on your behalf. You will be billed after your original documents are provided to you, and your trust funds will be applied to the bill at that time. For more information please contact Sami at 902-595-2623 during regular business hours or email [email protected] or [email protected] and someone will contact you at our earliest opportunity.

While we are governed by different rules and laws that the UK, some of the comments from the UK Judiciary would apply here in Canada as well. Communicate. Act reasonably and sensibly. https://www.judiciary.uk//coronavirus-crisis-guidance-on-/

Here is the official order - please ensure you follow it, for your safety, the safety of others and its now the law dudes... https://novascotia.ca//COVID-19-Global-Order-2020-03-23.PDF

Update from the family court.

In an effort to reduce exposure for me and our staff, please note that we will only be picking up/delivering mail to the courthouse and the post office once a week. This may result in some delays in responding to regular/courthouse mail and for this we apologize for any inconvenience. To avoid delay, you can still send a fax (as it comes to our email) or email us. If you put something of urgency at the courthouse for us, please email us and let us know. Thank you.

Dear family clients: For some of you this is proving to be a stressful time of confusion when dealing with access issues. This is an unprecedented situation and we struggle to find the "right" answer, but here is some general information that I hope helps guide you in your decision making. Remember a few guidelines: ...Continue reading

The state of emergency doesnt really affect our current plan for our clients as we have been social distancing since it was first recommended. We are still available by email and phone during regular office hours and of course, remain closed to the public. We have measures for document execution if required and continue to work to progress your files remotely.

From the courts: COVID-19: SUPREME COURT ADOPTS ESSENTIAL SERVICES MODEL... Thursday, March 19, 2020 (Halifax, NS) To help address the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the province, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court (including the Family Division) is adopting an essential services model. Unless ordered otherwise by the trial judge, any trials that are currently underway will continue until they conclude. All other proceedings will be limited to those deemed urgent or essential by the presiding justice. In relation to urgent or essential matters, judges will consider whether alternative measures, such as telephone or videoconferencing, may be used to hear those matters. Counsel are encouraged to do the same to reduce the number of people who need to appear in court in person. Social distancing measures will be practiced for all court matters that proceed in person. These measures will remain in place until further notice. There are now three confirmed cases and nine presumptive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Nova Scotia. These preventative measures are in line with the advice of public health officials regarding social distancing and avoiding public gatherings of more than 50 people. Counsel and members of the public are reminded you should not visit a courthouse if: You have travelled outside Canada in the past 14 days; You are experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus; or You have been directed by public health officials, 811 or your doctor to self-isolate. If any of these criteria apply to you, and you are scheduled to be in court, contact your lawyer or the Court immediately to seek instructions from the presiding judge in your case. Contact information for all courthouses can be found on the Courts of Nova Scotia website.

Just an update folks, we have been keeping up to date on measures to implement document execution remotely, so we will be contacting those of you who need documents signed with instructions shortly. We are prioritizing all files with court dates (and cancelled/adjourned court dates) to ensure we have your matter diarized and we get you a new date as soon as we can (if settlement isnt a viable option). We have some orders that we are finishing up and we thank you for your p...atience as our last few days have been a little preoccupied figuring out a new way to work for you and best meet your needs in these challenging times! Follow @CourtsNS_News on Twitter for all the latest on the Nova Scotia Courts. WE ARE STILL CLOSING REAL ESTATE DEALS and real estate clients are the only new clients we are accepting at this time. We are offering video and/or appointments for all new real estate clients. See more

We have been busy trying to meet the immediate needs of our clients while also planning a social distancing strategy on very short notice! We appreciate your patience and understanding as its been a very stressful unplanned transition and we will continue to update you as we work out the kinks. Current clients: Anyone with appointments in the next few weeks will be contacted for alternate arrangements if that can be accommodated. If in person meetings are essential, (suc...h as document execution) appropriate safety precautions will be put in place. Please refrain from attending at our offices if you have been exposed to the virus, or have been out of the country within the last 14 days. If you have any cold symptoms, please do not attend at our office in person. If either of the above apply to you and you are scheduled for court, please contact us asap as we must advise our presiding Justice to see if alternate arrangements must be/can be made. Everyone: please do not attend at our offices without an appointment to ensure that someone is here, as we will be mainly working from home and limiting our office hours. Our phone and email will remain active and we will be monitoring them as per our regular work day. Business as usual! Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate new clients at this time but will advise as soon as we have a better handle on what the future holds! We believe its important to keep our staff and community safe and will do our part, though we appreciate this may mean inconveniences for some of you. Again, thank you for your understanding and we will keep you updated here! Stay safe, and stay kind folks. -Candee

https://www.google.ca///how-legal-fees-work/article626802/

Dear family clients: For some of you this is proving to be a stressful time of confusion when dealing with access issues. This is an unprecedented situation and we struggle to find the "right" answer, but here is some general information that I hope helps guide you in your decision making. Remember a few guidelines: ...Continue reading

The state of emergency doesn't really affect our current plan for our clients as we have been social distancing since it was first recommended. We are still available by email and phone during regular office hours and of course, remain closed to the public. We have measures for document execution if required and continue to work to progress your files remotely.

https://www.cbc.ca//apps-make-it-easier-for-couples-to-sep

Our offices are closed today to ensure the safety of our staff. I will continue to be available by email/working from home & we will reschedule todays appointments ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience.Our offices are closed today to ensure the safety of our staff. I will continue to be available by email/working from home & we will reschedule todays appointments ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Karla and her family in Halifax Supreme Court for Karlas call the bar ceremony.

It was so nice to see our former articled clerk, Nadia Asim get her call to the bar! Congratulations, Nadia!!

Congratulations to our associate Karla Bray on her call to the bar today!!! Wish we were in Halifax with you! Enjoy your big day, Karla! We are all so proud and happy for you!Congratulations to our associate Karla Bray on her call to the bar today!!! Wish we were in Halifax with you! Enjoy your big day, Karla! We are all so proud and happy for you!

People of GB and specifically Table Head - if someone contacts you about transferring the honey lane adjacent to your property to you, give us a call! 902-595-2623People of GB and specifically Table Head - if someone contacts you about transferring the honey lane adjacent to your property to you, give us a call! 902-595-2623

Huge congratulations to our articling clerk, Karla Bray on passing her bar exam! We are so happy and proud to have Karla as part of our team!Huge congratulations to our articling clerk, Karla Bray on passing her bar exam! We are so happy and proud to have Karla as part of our team!

The future of the firm is looking bright

Are you buying or selling a home? Call us! We will take care of your real property law needs with experience and professionalism!Are you buying or selling a home? Call us! We will take care of your real property law needs with experience and professionalism!

Jain sporting the gear.

Someone got a fancy new sign

Karla, Sami and I enjoyed the excellent event put on by the Chamber this morning and were inspired by guest speaker Laurel Broten, president and CEO of NSBI

Dear clients: Tax time - Support recipients - you can deduct legal and accounting fees (or that portion of them that is attributed) for: establishing the amount of child support and spousal support payable;... applying to increase the amount of support payable; defending against an application to reduce the amount of support payable; applying to collect arrears of support; and, applying to make pre-Guidelines child support payments non-taxable. This does not apply for payors, only for recipients. Your fees must be paid (you cant deduct unpaid invoices). If this applies to you, and I did not send you a letter for Revenue Canada please contact me.

Great information from Legal Information Society of NS regarding how lawyers charge for their work. This society (and its website) has a lot a great information available for free! Check it out! https://www.legalinfo.org/lawyers-legal-help/lawyers-fees

Happy Cape Breton Pride Week, everyone. Did you hear that? EVERYONE! When we unite for the rights of some, we respect the rights of all. Get out there and show humanity we respect human rights. And also, its a REALLY FUN time!