Master high-stakes divorce finance with advanced strategies for accurate business valuation, hidden income discovery, and strategic tax planning.
Family law disputes involving businesses, professional corporations, farms, trusts, and self-employment income frequently introduce legal and financial issues that extend well beyond conventional property division analysis. Determining income, valuing assets, assessing retained earnings, identifying non-arm’s-length arrangements, and addressing tax consequences can significantly affect negotiation strategy and litigation outcomes. Small assumptions regarding structure, compensation, or valuation methodology can materially alter support obligations and property calculations.
This session examines advanced financial issues in family law from a practical legal perspective. The course explores business valuation principles, income determination challenges, tax considerations, and strategic issues arising in complex family law matters. Participants will gain practical insight into assessing financial evidence, identifying risk areas, and developing approaches for negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation environments.
Key Topics Discussed
Partner | BARR LLP
Ken is an award-winning lawyer and arbitrator. He leads BARR LLP’s Business/Farm Divorce practice group. As a lawyer, he can be hired to assist in divorces and separations involving businesses, farms, self-employment, professional corporations, complex property, or tax implications. He can also be hired to draft pre-nuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements. As an Arbitrator, he can be hired as a private court to make a decision in order to arrive at a resolution much faster and often in more detail than through public courts. Ken uses his negotiation training from Harvard University to negotiate resolutions to complex disputes. When appropriate, he is also no stranger to court, having experience in hundreds of court hearings, using his training at the Advocates’ Society’s Civil Trial Advocacy College. He has also maintained an A+ Better Business Bureau rating since the early years of his practice. Coming from a family of teachers, he also regularly trains other lawyers and students. Ken teaches the Advanced Family Law course at the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, and also teaches at MacEwan University’s School of Business. He has taught hundreds of lawyers at dozens of seminars. He is the author of several reference guides used by the legal community, such as the Guideline Income Manual for Legal and Accounting Professionals, the Guide to Addressing Challenging Negotiation Behaviours, and the Chambers Practice Manual.
Tax and Corporate/Commercial Lawyer | BARR LLP
Pam is a tax lawyer at BARR LLP, where she advises individuals, families, and businesses on a full range of Canadian and international tax matters. Her practice includes tax planning, corporate reorganizations, CRA disputes and appeals, trust and estate planning, and Tax Court of Canada litigation. Pam brings a distinctly real-world perspective to her tax practice, shaped by nearly two decades of prior experience in business ownership, operations management, and healthcare leadership before becoming a lawyer. Having worked as a Registered Nurse, Chief Operations Officer, entrepreneur, and property owner, Pam understands the practical pressures her clients face: cash flow, deadlines, employee relationships, and risk. This background gives her an instinct for solutions that work in practice, not just on paper. Her advice balances technical precision with business reality, helping clients implement tax strategies that make sense in the real world. Pam holds a Juris Doctor (JD) and an MBA from the University of Alberta, along with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN). She has also graduated from the CPA Canada In-Depth Tax Program, the country’s leading advanced tax training program for professionals.
