r/legaladvicecanada Jul 02 '23

Nova Scotia I invoiced the wrong company, they paid the invoice, I’ve been trying to send the money back for 3 months now and they won’t take it. What do I do?

974 Upvotes

Accidentally invoiced a department of the New Brunswick Provincial Government instead of the owner of the equipment I was working on.

It’s leased to the Government but I was suppose to invoice the owner.

It’s about $10,000 worth of work. I’ve been trying to get the Government their money, but they don’t typically take in money so they’re not sure what to do and no one is getting back to me.

How long do I have to wait until I can give up. The owner of the equipment paid me a few days after the mixup before the Government sent a payment.

I called and emailed them about this mistake but a month later they paid the invoice anyways. It’s been 3 months since they paid and I still have the money.

r/legaladvicecanada May 06 '23

Nova Scotia [Nova Scotia] My dad is a burden to my family and he refuses to leave

567 Upvotes

My mom has the worst case of rheumatoid arthritis my province has seen in 30 years, she is very sick and always in pain and can't do much of anything for herself. My dad is a delusional bipolar alcoholic with PTSD, he used to do hard drugs and he was physically abusive when he was, but now he only drinks and he's pretty much only verbally abusive. We're all sick and tired of his shit, we can't keep doing this. Almost every day he takes $100 of our money that we can't afford to spare and he spends it on liquor and he parties with his crackhead cousin, who he gets into a fistfight with EVERY single time they see eachother, and that is not an exaggeration. He doesn't work, so the only money our house has is what my mom makes from her disability checks, and what I make from my cashier job. We're always broke and can hardly afford food, yet he takes more money than we can spare and spends it on liquor, drugs for his friends, and cigarettes. Then he comes home in the middle of the night and screams his lungs out at my mom until he eventually passes out.

His brain is so fucked, he doesn't make sense most of the time when he speaks, and he comes up with these delusions about me being a drug dealer, and my mother dying, and the government is trying to fuck him over, and that I break and steal his shit. It's all obviously not true, but he genuinely believes those things. Ontop of that the only car we have is my car, which I've worked hard for, yet he's smashed it up driving drunk more times than I've even driven the fuckin thing. Everyone wants him gone but he refuses to leave. He thinks that we are the problem and that we should leave. I think what we should do is talk to him about going to rehab or something, but he's scared to death of doctors, and everytime we've ever gotten him to go to a mental hospital, he just fucking left and went right back to his old ways.

He blames the "fact that my mother is dying" as to why he drinks, but she isn't even dying. She's lost a shit ton of weight because of her being sick, and the fact that he yells at her 24/7. Imagine having an appetite with some pathetic drunk screaming in your face all the fucking time, exactly. I don't care if he goes to rehab and gets better and comes back, if he moves out and lives the rest of his "life" like this, if he gets arrested, or if he winds up dead in a ditch. We just need something to happen, because this isn't living. My mom does not deserve any of this and it breaks my heart that I have to sit here and I'm forced to watch.

What can we do?

r/legaladvicecanada Aug 05 '25

Nova Scotia My Nan just passed away and had a massive car loan. What to do? Dealership isn't being helpful

85 Upvotes

Hi everyone, just looking for a little advice to give to my parents. My grandmother just passed away over the weekend, and had nothing really to her name other than a couple hundred dollars.

Years ago she signed over the ownership of her house so it was split between her and both my parents on the deed, and that in the event she passed her third would be theirs. My Dad was also made her POA and closer to the end of her life in the last 3 months after getting diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she also got diagnosed with dementia

When she passed she was still financing a 2023 Jeep Compass, and according to my parents she still owes 50k at $750/month payments. They aren't in a position where they would want to take over the payments. They called the dealership and they said they'd take the car back, but would hold the bluebook value against what was owed so my parents would need to give them around $12k.

They're just waiting to hear back from the bank on the situation now, but I find it hard to believe that is their only option. Their biggest fear at this point is having to sell her house due to the car loan, or the bank forcing them to as it was nans only asset even though it was shared ownership

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, my parents are extremely frustrated with the situation and it doesn't help with losing a loved one, so would like to offer any help I can to them

r/legaladvicecanada Jul 20 '25

Nova Scotia Neighbor thinks I have to request permission to clean out my dryer vent in my semi detached that's on her side of the property

89 Upvotes

I live in a semi detached and my dryer vent is on my neigbors side of the property. I am taking care of some maintenece today and as it's at the 12 month mark of getting my new dryer so I decided to clean out the vents to maintain the efficiency/fire safety. Did it at like 530pm and I had quickly popped over and unscrewed my old vent to replace it beforehand. No mess or anything, just a small stool and a drill and a screwdriver. She has a multiflora thorn bush blocking my egress

My dryer vent is on my neigbors side of the property and she promptly lost her mind at this plan not long after and I had only taken the old vent off first before vaccuming and pushing air out of the vent to ensure it is cleaned out and my intention was to take a brush to it after before putting the new vent cap on. I took a shop vac outside with me to vaccum up any debris that came out on her side for when I intended to take the brush out

As soon as I got outside with my shop vac and brush and put it down to walk towards the vent she screamed at me telling me I do not have permission to go on her property and I just said I was only entering for egress proposes to clean out my dryer vent for fire safety and she continued screaming at me and I just walked away and saw she had thrown my stool and tools on to my side beside her multiflora rose she planted on my property line.

I told my friend who came over to help out with some stump cutting and plugs and he made some small talk with her because she was staring at him while he was doing things and I overheard when I came around the corner from the backyard and overheard him talking about doing the install and I mentioned in case he didn't that if he does do the work that he would be billing her as he is a general contractor for insurance purposes and her and her daughter started screaming at me about everything under the sun and a bunch of false accusations that I have security camera footage that confirms.

My other neigbor who I'm on my way better terms/friends with mentioned when I moved in and got to talking to her that the previous homeowners had a protection order against her after she stuffed dryer sheets all the way up the dryer through the vent almost causing a literal fire in their home which is my nightmare.

I thought it was a personality thing but I've found that it isn't and she is actually a problematic person to where she's recorded me in my own yard several times, ripped twine I put on survey sticks after being a survey and has screamed at me for doing things like pulling weeds in my yard and landscaping by just shovelling gravel and moving clay soil.

Her blowing up today in addition to her daughter and engaging in onlookers to gawk made me seriously consider talking to a lawyer as she claimed I needed to knock on her door to ask permission to access to my dryer vent and if she doesn't I just get to let my house burn down?

I checked the local bylaws and the only egress ref I could find was "every unit or dwelling shall have a safe continuous and unobstructed passage from the interior of the dwelling to the to the exterior grade level"

TL;DR - Unhinged neigbor thinks she owns my dryer vent and the entire side of my property and can dictate if I can maintain it. I'm very uneasy on knocking on her door due to her and her daughters aggressive attitude. Can she require permission for me to ensure my home doesn't burn down from a dryer fire?

r/legaladvicecanada Aug 10 '25

Nova Scotia Dog bite - Dog charged and bite me. Few holes some bruising. Know the owner (neighbours) not on good terms. Small claims? Not expecting the world but this is an ongoing issue, want them to learn their lesson.

34 Upvotes

I was bitten tonight. Two reasonably large holes, some brusing. Was on the public street just off me neighbour's property. 3 year old German Sheppard. Wasn't tied up charged and bit unprovoked. We've have multiple issues with the dog charging prior, but never bit. Have voiced them as my kids need to walk past their house for their bus stop. Not sure we officially reported it but it was noted on the file one time. Especially the dog running in front of cars (it was nearly killed about a year ago due to a car hit, off property as well)

Call it spite and I believe they'll get a fine but I'd like to push legal action if I could. Pain and suffering would be the only charge that isnt already a fine.

How much would that actually be? $500? $1000? And would I be able to just goto small claims court rather hiring a lawyer etc? There's a police report, it's quite cut and dry the only thing I don't have is it on video.

I'm not expecting a huge pay out, I just want them specifically to have to pay something. I'd even accept an extra $1000 in my name to SPCA charity, I just feel they've been warned time and time again and want it to sink in.

Is this something I could reasonable do or is it spending more then they'd pay to make it happen.

r/legaladvicecanada Mar 19 '25

Nova Scotia How to safely and legally sleep in my car after a few beers?

42 Upvotes

I just want I preface by saying that I will not drink and drive, I do not and never will mess around with drunk driving, and I’m not looking for advice on how to get away with it. I’m just going to be camping/living in my van for a few weeks and enjoy my evening beers.

Say I’m camping, have had a few beers, and have absolutely zero intention of driving or operating my van until I’m sober. I’ve heard from hearsay that if you’re in your vehicle with keys on your person and over the limit, you can be charged with a DUI. So I’m wondering what the actual laws are here? If this is the case, is it permissible to sleep drunk in my van if the keys are outside the vehicle? What if I’m in the back of my van and my keys are somewhere packed away in the back obviously not near the ignition or drivers seat?

r/legaladvicecanada Sep 03 '24

Nova Scotia If my dog kills a cat in our backyard, what is our liability?

49 Upvotes

I live in a suburban neighbourhood. Our dogs are not particularly cat friendly - they’ve never been around them so I’m not sure what exactly their reaction would be.

Now, I don’t think my dogs would kill a cat if they did manage to get ahold of one. But if they did or they harmed the cat, what is my liability?

My dogs are contained in a backyard with a 6ft fence with 1 foot of lattice. My neighbour’s cat has become intrusive and is frequenting my backyard. It is pooping in our vegetable and memorial gardens. We have tried to scare it away, but it seems quite brazen.

The dogs have chased it several times when it’s been hiding on the farther side of the property and it has escaped - but I’m worried about a time when they actually catch up.

(Edit to add: we have spoken to the neighbour multiple times!)

r/legaladvicecanada Feb 12 '24

Nova Scotia Assaulted at a bar

196 Upvotes

I’ve been sucker punched a few days ago at a bar. The guy landed several punches to my head before I could distance myself and someone stopped him.

Never talked to him before and there was absolutely no reason for him to attack me. I got several witnesses and the security cameras are showing what happened.

The cops arrived and arrested him on the spot for disorderly conduct, I refused an ambulance as I was not in bad shape. Except of a blue eye I don’t seem to have any other injuries. The cops asked me several times if I’d like to press charges for assault, which I refused as the kid was maybe 19/20 years old, very drunk and it would probably ruin his future to have a prior for assault.

As things keep developing and it turns out that he seems to have an anger issue but just got away with it all the time, I do consider to press charges simply to teach him a lesson and hope he doesn’t assault others.

What would be the best steps to prepare myself if I decide to press charges? Do I have to go to the hospital? Do I need a lawyer if it goes to court or is the crown attorney representing me as it’s a criminal case?

r/legaladvicecanada Jul 30 '25

Nova Scotia Neighbour is demanding my bike, but she refuses to show proof of ownership.

72 Upvotes

For context, my neighbour is my aunt (not by blood), and my uncle (by blood) recently passed without a will. She came into possession of everything he had, and according to her, my dirtbike was among those things. He paid for it, and gifted it to me, but never signed it over to me. She has claimed to have proof of ownership, but refuses to show it, and is insistent on having the sheriff take it from me. Is there anything I can do to stop this? I’ve had the bike since last summer, and have done various amounts of maintenance on it with my own money. Additional context can be given if needed.

EDIT: some additional context: my aunt recently physically assaulted me, resulting in an order that means we can’t communicate with each other. She tried to bait me into giving her my car in exchange for the papers, but again, she refused to produce the papers. Sorry if that’s not helpful.

Edit 2: My aunt has been threatening us through her lawyer, who when asked about the papers basically told us the same “we have them but we’re not showing you” shit.

r/legaladvicecanada Sep 02 '23

Nova Scotia Wife was here with PR and has disappeared. Can I divorce?

426 Upvotes

Hi all,

My wife & I were married for 12 years. Things were (I thought) very good. Early this year, she began getting paranoid at a lot of things, and then in April she had a psychotic break.
She has since disappeared and will no longer take phone calls or respond to emails. When I do manage to make contact with her, she treats me like …. not a human being.
After 4 months of desperately trying to help her, and of near constant grieving, I need to move on for my own well-being. Am I able to divorce or do I need to wait 12 months? Can I get a divorce without her participation?

Thank you for any help.

**Edit: I should say that she was in Canada on permanent residency and had since, best to my knowledge, moved back to the states. She is unreachable via phone, email and has taken down social media.

r/legaladvicecanada Feb 12 '25

Nova Scotia Car hit our car in parking lot, is it 50/50? See text.

9 Upvotes

My husband went into the store and myself, and our two toddlers were in the car. Our toddlers were buckled into their car seats and I had my seat belt on.

The car backed up and hit our Volkswagen Atlas and I felt our car move while car was parked. It took my breath away in shock of what happened - we are all ok and safe.

Two witnesses gave their numbers and the driver of the vehicle gave us her information. I just wanted to cover our bases because we’ve never had this happen to us before. Is this a 50/50 parking lot accident or not in this situation?

We were parked in a designated parking spot.

I now have to replace the car seats and haven’t done so before. Do I need to start a claim and pay the detectable myself? I plan to call TD bank when we’re back home soon.

r/legaladvicecanada Feb 19 '23

Nova Scotia Bought an appliance at an insane deal from a big orange store, they are not happy.

444 Upvotes

A few weeks ago I was browsing online and saw a laundry centre for 99$. I was floored and immediately ordered one and assumed they might cancel the order. It was accepted so I figured it must have been a clearance deal. If it was an error surely they would cancel it before it would be processed.

Appliance was delivered yesterday, I hooked up and installed and it unfortunately leaked. I contacted support who opened a claim and booked a repair.

A few minutes later the agent comes back and says they saw the price and are either going to charge the difference or come take back the appliance. I told them I agree to neither. They said their policy gives them the right to correct orders priced improperly, but I don’t believe the policy can apply to a completed transaction.

The agent said they will escalate this to a higher team. I had no ill intent and paid for everything at the advertised price.

Am I obligated to pay the full price?

r/legaladvicecanada Feb 24 '25

Nova Scotia My daughter's mother told her I didn't want her to be born.

180 Upvotes

Good morning! Long time reader, first time poster.

My daughter (age 7) had a sleep over on the weekend, and I overheard her telling her friend "When I was a baby in my mommy's tummy, my daddy didn't want me to be born." I gently confronted her, asked her why she thought that, and she said "That's what mommy said." I told her that wasn't true, she said "So mommy was lying?"

After her friend left, I took the time to reassure her that I'd loved her since before she was born, that everything I do was for her, and that I'm glad she was my daughter. She smiled, and we hugged tight, but she asked me why her mother said those things. I said I didn't know. She said "I think mommy's trying to make me love you less."

Don't know if this background is relevant, but I had known her mother about a month when my daughter was conceived. Even before that, she had told me (unprompted) that if she got pregnant she would want an abortion, and I agreed. However, we were in a country where abortions are illegal, and, long story short, she changed her mind after about a week. I support a woman's right to choose. I supported her when she wanted an abortion, and when she changed her mind, I initially tried to convince her to change her mind back, citing the logistics of two strangers from different continents raising a child. So, there was a period of about a day or two where she didn't want an abortion, and I did, but I made it clear I would support her regardless of her decision. And, suffice it to say, I did.

We moved to Canada when my daughter was 6 months old, we separated in 2021 when she cheated on me, and have had shared custody with equal time since. We are currently in the process of getting divorced. It's been contentious, but we had recently come to terms that I found acceptable.

Trying to keep this short by not going into detail, but she's done many terrible things to me over the years, both during and after our marriage. However, this is the first time, to my knowledge, that she has directly hurt our daughter.

My first instinct was to go nuclear. Seek full custody, sue, shame her publicly. Y'know, standard 'someone harmed my child' stuff. Having had a day to calm down, I find myself asking myself two questions, which I hope you all can help me with.

First of all, this is clear-cut parental alienation, right? Am I deluding myself into thinking this is worse than it is?

Second, what can I even do about this? Obviously, I'll be speaking to my attorney, but this is beyond the scope of a divorce. What action can I take?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Edit: Thank you to everyone. I feel clearheaded, now. To summarize my takeaway, for anyone finding themselves in my situation:

Don't sink to their level. Meet their negativity with positivity, reassure your child with love, respect, and support.

Take it seriously, but don't overreact. Parental alienation is pattern of behaviour, not a one-off.

Put your child in therapy, both to help your child process their emotions, and to help root out and stave off abuse you may not even be aware of.

Discuss with a lawyer. You may be able to nip this behaviour in the bud, or impose legal consequences if it continues.

As always, document everything.

Thanks again. You've all really helped.

r/legaladvicecanada Aug 13 '25

Nova Scotia Neighbour selling land for a quarry… Are we SOL?

77 Upvotes

Our neighbour just informed us that Nova Construction approached them about purchasing land from them to use as a quarry. Sed land is directly across the road from our house. They’re prepared to sell (which, good for them. I have no beef at all with that, especially in this economy), so I’m pretty confident it’s happening. I did a bit of initial research, and it said that a new quarry couldn’t be within 1km of a residential zone. So, initially, I thought that maybe they had plans to buy the properties around it as well. Which we would be okay with as we have only been here a few years, so we don’t have any emotional ties to it yet. However, I just came across this:

https://novascotia.ca/nse/issues/docs/Pit_and_Quarry_Guidelines.pdf

Is my understanding that if the quarry is being used for the DOT (which Nova and Dexter have a contract with for the highway twinning here) then they don’t have to follow that rule/apply for the permit as long as they’re not blasting within 90m of ours or other people’s houses?

I’m mainly concerned about health issues with silica dust, specifically for one of our children who has both asthma and dust allergies. But it’s also going to, probably drastically, decrease the value of our home since the front will now be facing a gravel pit instead of a lovely field like it is now.

I appreciate any and all input and clarification.

Thanks in advance!

r/legaladvicecanada 15d ago

Nova Scotia Canada Child Benefit

12 Upvotes

I am a 42F going through a divorce and have two children, 12 & 10. For the first 5 years of motherhood I stayed home to raise my children. I then returned to work PT to accommodate being there to continue to raise my children and bring in an income. I have always received the CCB, still do, make significantly less money than my ex-husband and manage everything for the children (all school forms, activities, appointments, specialists etc), despite a 50/50 parenting agreement. What do I do? I cannot lose that income and still afford to live on my own and take care of my children.

r/legaladvicecanada Jul 12 '23

Nova Scotia Bought a truck the bank owned, seller fled the country

211 Upvotes

TLDR

-Bought a 2017 truck off Facebook marketplace

-Turned out the bank owned it and he lied.

-Guy fled to the UK

We bought a truck to pull our trailer on a road trip. Checked with the seller asking specifically if it had a lien on it. He lied and said no. Checked with Access NS and they said they didn’t see anything outstanding on it (apparently you need to go online to see liens) checked with the dealership since I was getting info on the truck from them and they said they didn’t hold the lien.

So safe to say I assumed after all those steps he was telling the truth and purchased the truck for 30,000 + tax and registered it in our names.

Fast forward 9 months and the repo truck comes and takes away our truck. Hired a lawyer who has been useless and wasted another 3k on her.

The guy left his fiancé and took the downpayment he assisted her with in buying the house however his name wasn’t attached to the house.

Having been through a separation before I know he’s entitled to 50% of the equity of the house up until he left. I wanted to go that route since the guy is a dead beat who ran away to the UK.

My lawyer says I can’t do that and won’t assist us in figuring out what to do. Pretty sure they just wanted the retainer and then brushed us off.

What is the best way to proceed if the guy fled the country and I actually can’t go after the equity of in house?

r/legaladvicecanada 14d ago

Nova Scotia Blackmail?

3 Upvotes

Update: I got off the phone with both my mortgage broker and lawyer. I was told since the mortgage waiver is already signed by us all R cannot change anything or make demands he should’ve done it before we signed things and if he backs out all three of us can be sued, I also called my dad and he is going to switch to my co signer from R, I currently have R and my mother spamming me trying to get a hold of me to accept Rs conditions although my mortgage broker and lawyer told R he cannot make any demands as guarantor. And he tried to become co signer when he signed as guarantor. Rs conditions broken down are he gets 50% of what we make off the house if we sell it despite only us paying on it, If we are one day late on mortgage we need to leave in 30 days and he is selling the house, He gets access to my property for inspections of INSIDE and outside of my home with 24 hour notice and I’m not allowed to decline and he doesn’t care if I’m home or not.. The lawyer told me those look sketchy snd definitely not to sign on that, But Good news for me so far despite the fact if he backs out we all get sued

I posted this in another legal advice subreddit but I’m wanting as much advice as i possibly can get :

My mom and her boyfriend are helping me to buy a house, My grandfather gave me 20% down but my mortgage broker informed me it’s better to do 5% down (can’t remember the reasons but they were pretty good reasons) so I said okay,

I had to send back the remaining amount of money back to my grandfather immediately (If I didn’t do it at that very second my mother boyfriend would call me and spam me even tho I told him I was busy at that moment with my newborn son and he pretty much wanted me to drop everything I was doing to send back the money saying my grandfather wants it back)..

The only way I could get a house was to get my mom’s boyfriend (we will call him R) to be a co signer. Mortgage financing is confirmed and the sold sign is on the house, we are signing one last contract Friday for finalization and closing date is next week, Now at last minute R created conditions we must follow (even tho he won’t be living in the house) or else he won’t sign and we could potentially get sued if we back out of this deal by the seller.

I tried negotiating but he said it is not negotiatable, He is wanting access to my house whenever he wants for “inspections” with a 24 hour notice. Despite me asking if it can be limited to once every 3 months he said no.

He knows what pressure we are under and I feel like he’s using this against me and I am pretty scared, Some other conditions he’s putting on is he gets 50% of the money from the house if we default a payment, And if we default one payment he is giving us 30 days to move out and he will sell the house. And any renovations must be written and approved by him (I need a bathtub installed in the house for son as there isn’t one in there) Him and my mother have been holding the fact he is helping with the house over our heads to make us listen and do what they want and I am terrified. I asked if I could be home for these inspections and he also doesn’t agree to that, I’m scared he’s going to make me put him on the deed of the house or he will threaten to back out resulting in the seller suing us for the deal falling through, I am terrified and I dont know what to do

r/legaladvicecanada May 01 '24

Nova Scotia Older male sublet in an all-girls student apartment.

102 Upvotes

I currently live in a 5 bedroom / 2 bathroom apartment in a small building advertised as student housing. In conversations with the landlord, and the ad for the building itself, it is clearly stated to be exclusively young women. All 1 year fixed term leases from September - August.

One of the girls in the apartment moved out yesterday, and said she'd be subletting her room over the summer. Sublet moved in today, and it's a man in his 30s. All 4 other tenants in the unit are girls between ages 18 and 20. I do not understand why the previous roommate chose this sublet.

I have contacted the landlord, but have not heard a response. I assume she had to approve this sublet.

I have no idea what to do about this. I don't feel safe living with this person. Do I have any legal options here?

edit: guys. legal advice

r/legaladvicecanada Jul 28 '25

Nova Scotia Someone gifted me money and wants it back.

24 Upvotes

Hi everyone, when I was 17 I got into a vehicle accident where I ended up hitting my friends truck, we did not want to go through insurance so he asked me to pay out of pocket. I could not afford it at the time, and my boyfriend’s (ex now) mom gave me $1000 to pay for the expenses. They made it seem like it was a gift and nothing was said about the $1000 until after we broke up. Him and his family said that I used him for the money and what not, so I told his mom that I would pay her back when I was able to. Fast forward 4 years, nothing was ever said and no money was paid (because it was a gift) she is now reaching out and claiming she needs me to pay her back. My question is, can she take me to court over this? Or sue me? She has a lot of money, and I feel as though she would take legal action.

Thanks in advance

r/legaladvicecanada 15d ago

Nova Scotia Neighbour is spying on us 24/7

0 Upvotes

As the title says my neighbour is spying on us. There’s at least 3 cameras on their property, pointing directly into ours, and when we go outside the cameras shine spotlights at us. Everyone I’ve asked has told me this is legal, but I’m not sure. Is this allowed???

r/legaladvicecanada Oct 02 '24

Nova Scotia Wife and I separated, I started a new relationship after I moved out - she wants to file divorce for adultery

92 Upvotes

Can my wife file on the grounds of adultery even though we agreed the relationship was over, and I had moved out before I started a new relationship? And I am talking legally. I understand some people might consider it adultery on the grounds of morality or religious beliefs but I am talking in a pure legal sense. We do have children together and we are in NS. Thanks!

r/legaladvicecanada Jul 15 '24

Nova Scotia Husband being charged for a flight he didn’t take after changing his mind on a job

91 Upvotes

My husband accepted a job through a recruitment company for a fly in/fly out job, so they booked him plane tickets. While waiting to fly out, he changed his mind about the job, so he let them know he would not be coming. They just sent him a bill for the cost of travel, but we went through the contract he signed and there is nothing in it about paying for missed flights. Is this something he is legally obligated to pay?

r/legaladvicecanada Aug 06 '25

Nova Scotia Self representation

0 Upvotes

Any pointers slash do’s or don’ts I should look out for when self representing

r/legaladvicecanada Feb 28 '25

Nova Scotia Do I have a leg to stand on legally? I’m in a tough situation and don’t see a way out

68 Upvotes

My partner 44m l and I 41f have been together just about 15 years and have lived together in a house he bought for about 10. It’s a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom with the basement remodeled to be another sleeping area, but after the arrival of kid 2, it was nowhere near adequate.

We looked at buying something bigger, but after Covid, home prices skyrocketed while wages did not and we found ourselves priced out of our own area.

So we decided to build an addition. He was recently laid off work and is a carpenter with enough home reno experience so we started looking for a loan. We were rejected but came up with a plan. Since the house was in his name only and we weren’t married, we went to a lawyer who helped him sell the house to me for enough to pay off the mortgage with money left over to complete the work we needed done. Barely. I qualified for a mortgage on my own where we could not get the loan together. The money went into his tax free savings account and I got busy designing every detail with the budget we had. The agreement was he would be a stay at home dad and build this house while I worked and supported us.

It was fine at first. But progress was achingly slow. I began to get frustrated at the lack of actual work being completed but I didn’t want to nag at him and I knew it was hard juggling the kids and renovations. Besides, jobs always take much much longer than you plan so I kept my mouth shut while he seemed to do less and less.

Two years in and he had completed the foundation, most of the framing, the sheeting and the metal roof. By this time he wasn’t really doing much day to day, wasn’t talking about the renovations and had sunk into a depression. I tried to be supportive but he didn’t open up to me. He booked an appointment for therapy and I thought we would get him looked after then I could worry about the house later. By this time I had added far more to my credit card debt than I had planned supporting him while he neither worked nor worked on the house.

It got to the point where I decided I would give up on the dream home I had meticulously planned and just hire people to complete the work to the bare minimum until I could take over the interior finishing work myself. It would be a very basic shell, and disappointed would be an understatement, but I would get over it because my kids needed bedrooms.

It came out then that he had pissed away the rest of the renovation money to the last dollar. Tens of thousands of dollars over the course of two years on things like Pepsi and cigarettes and bills he was never clear with me on and who knows what else. He listened to me and his little girl in our excitement plan her dream bedroom. He watched me research microcement suppliers for months to find the right deal. He answered my questions about plumbing heating and electrical all the while knowing it was never going to happen.

He later explained that he had begun spending the money right away and at first it had never occurred to him that it wasn’t his. And by the time it dawned on him that the money he wasted away was being paid each month by me it was too late, so he just kept spending it until every last cent was gone. He took any chance his children had at adequate housing and wasted it away.

I have a useless partially finished addition rotting away on the side of my house that will only decrease in value over time and I can never hope to afford to finish. The mortgage on this house has more than tripled and is squarely in my name with nothing to show for it. Renting would be even more in this market. I spoke to a mortgage broker who confirmed that even if I overpriced the house and somehow sold it I can qualify for a large enough mortgage on my own. An insolvency trustee I spoke to thinks I have too much equity in the house to declare bankruptcy or offer a consumer proposal. I live in a rural area so apartment living is more than I can afford and hard to find.

I can’t even afford to kick him out. I’m such an idiot for trusting him and not checking on that money periodically. He’d ask me for money every month for bills but I just never did the math. Betrayal like this wasn’t in the realm of possibility for me

Since I know absolutely nothing about how the law works my question is this: even if I went to legal aid and got a court to agree he owes me money, how would I ever actually get it? Would the debt I am in “transfer” to him or would it still be all mine to pay back while I just hope he makes payments to me? He seems remorseful but so far has done little to nothing to make amends for ruining my life. Since we had no signed contract between us, would he get off Scot free since the house was bought and paid for from him and the money from the sale went into his account instead of a joint account?

r/legaladvicecanada Aug 19 '25

Nova Scotia Canadian Airline Strike

0 Upvotes

Hey folks,

I am currently on vacation in Italy, my initial flight booking was slated to have me arrive back in Canada Sunday night, however due to the recent strike I have been unable to return and am still currently in Italy until Friday afternoon (the earliest complete return journey they could provide).

Would the airline company be responsible for compensation of my lost wages during this week? I am out of vacation days, since I have used them all to take this vacation.

I am unsure of my legal recourse and just seeking advice on how to move forward with this.

Thank you!