The Matrimonial Property Act: A Case Law Review (October 2010)

A research paper for the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI)

Written by Jonnette Watson Hamilton and Annie Voss-Altman

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) proposed the legislation that became the Matrimonial Property Act (MPA) more than 30 years ago and there has been no substantive amendment to the MPA since then. ALRI has received suggestions that the legislation is in need of revision but there was little consensus as to which areas were in need of review. In order to advance the research, ALRI financed the work of Annie Voss-Altman, a student at the Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, under the supervision of Professor Jonnette Watson Hamilton to conduct a 10 year review of judicial decisions in order to identify any areas where reform would clarify policy or resolve problematic issues. The Research Paper is available from the ALRI web site.

The 270-page, 1,279 issue case law database on which the paper was based is available in PDF format (below) or as a Excel spreadsheet by contacting Professor Watson Hamilton.

Database sorted by issue (PDF - 3,782 KB)

Database sorted by case name (PDF - 3,782 KB)