Goldwater Droit

Goldwater Droit represents adoptive parents, biological parents, tutors, and extended family members in contested adoption matters before the Superior Court of Quebec. From our Montreal office we handle disputes over consent and the withdrawal of consent, declarations of eligibility for adoption, files involving the Director of Youth Protection, tutorship and guardianship questions, and adoptions with an interprovincial or international dimension.

Adoption files under the Civil Code of Québec turn on the best interests of the child and on strict procedural requirements that leave little room for error. Our lawyers guide clients through each stage, from the initial application to a contested hearing, and work to resolve these matters as efficiently and constructively as the circumstances allow.

In Quebec, spousal support (pension alimentaire) is claimed by married spouses under the Divorce Act and under the Civil Code of Québec on separation from bed and board. Goldwater Droit acts for both payors and recipients in Montreal and throughout Quebec on provisional and interim support, support on divorce, variation when income or circumstances change, retroactive claims, and enforcement through Revenu Québec.

We regularly act in high income and self-employed files where the real exercise is establishing actual income, in support claims following long marriages, and in cross border matters where a Quebec judgment must be recognized abroad or a foreign order enforced here. De facto spouses in Quebec have no right to spousal support, and we advise clients in that position on the alternative claims that may be open to them.

Since 2015, article 898.1 of the Civil Code of Québec has recognized animals as sentient beings rather than ordinary property, which has changed how Quebec courts approach disputes involving them. As part of its mission to serve people in their most intimate disputes, Goldwater Droit represents and advises individuals, breeders, veterinarians, and animal welfare organizations on ownership and possession disputes, veterinary liability and negligence claims, sale and breeding contracts, and obligations under Quebec's Animal Welfare and Safety Act.

We also act on pet custody questions arising from separation and divorce, an issue that comes up with increasing frequency in family law files in Montreal and one where the Quebec analysis differs from the strictly property based approach used elsewhere in Canada.

Goldwater Droit acts for married and divorcing parents in Montreal and across Quebec on parenting time, decision making responsibility, and contact orders under the Divorce Act. We handle contested first orders, variation applications, relocation and mobility cases, and enforcement where a parent is not respecting the terms of an existing judgment.

The 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act changed both the vocabulary and the analysis, and Quebec courts now apply that framework alongside the Civil Code of Québec. Our lawyers explain in practical terms what that means for a given file, build the evidence that actually carries weight with a family judge, and represent clients in mediation, in negotiation, and at trial.

Goldwater Droit has represented spouses in divorce proceedings before the Superior Court of Quebec since 1981. We act in contested and uncontested divorces in Montreal and across the province, including files involving partition of the family patrimony, liquidation of the matrimonial regime, spousal and child support, parenting arrangements, and marriage contracts that are contested or set aside.

Quebec's rules differ from those in the rest of Canada in ways that materially affect outcomes, particularly the family patrimony, which is a matter of public order, and the treatment of pensions, the family residence, and property acquired before the marriage. Our lawyers give clients an early and candid reading of what is genuinely at stake, and represent them in mediation, in negotiation, and at trial where settlement is not achievable.

Goldwater Droit represents heirs, legatees, liquidators, and mandataries in succession and estate disputes before the Quebec courts. We act on contested wills, applications to verify holograph and witnessed wills, claims of undue influence or incapacity, disputes over a liquidator's conduct and accounting, contestation of a mandate of protection or of protective supervision, and claims brought against an estate by a surviving spouse in respect of the family patrimony or the compensatory allowance.

Estate litigation in Quebec is governed by the Civil Code of Québec rather than by the common law, and testamentary freedom here is broader than in most Canadian provinces, which changes the strategy in nearly every file. We tell clients early where a claim realistically stands, then pursue it through negotiation, mediation, or trial.

Goldwater Droit is a Montreal family law boutique founded in 1981, acting for clients throughout Quebec and internationally. Our practice covers divorce and separation, custody and parenting arrangements, child and spousal support, the family patrimony and matrimonial regimes, de facto spouse claims, marriage and cohabitation contracts, and questions of international jurisdiction and child abduction.

Family law in Quebec sits at the intersection of the federal Divorce Act and the Civil Code of Québec, and the outcome often depends on which regime governs and on how the file is framed at the outset. Quebec's parental union regime, in force since 30 June 2025, has also changed the position of de facto spouses who have a child together. Our lawyers give clients a clear reading of their position early, then pursue it through negotiation, mediation, or litigation according to what the file requires.