Glossary
In Criminal Law
An intermittent sentence is a sentence where you serve part of your time in jail, for example, on weekends, and part of your time in the community. While in the community, you must follow the terms of a probation order. An intermittent sentence is only available if the total length of your sentence is 90 days or less.
Before you can appeal a decision about assistance from Ontario Works (OW) or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), you must ask for an internal review of the decision.
You can use this letter-writing tool to ask OW for an internal review or to ask ODSP for an internal review.
Someone in the office that made the decision reviews it and decides whether or not to change it. This is a different person than the one who made the decision you disagree with.
To qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, you must have an interruption of earnings. Your employer must fill out a Record of Employment (ROE) every time this happens.
If you’re applying for regular EI benefits, an interruption of earnings happens when you go 7 days without doing any work or getting any pay from your employer.
If you’re applying for special EI benefits, an interruption of earnings happens when your normal weekly earnings go down by more than 40%. Special benefits include sickness benefits, maternity or parental benefits, compassionate care benefits, and family caregiver benefits.
In Wills and Powers of Attorney
Intestacy rules are the legal rules that say what happens to a person’s estate if they die without a will.
In Ontario, the intestacy rules say that after all debts are paid, married partners get a share of their estate. Children may also get a share. If there’s no married partner or child, other relatives may get a share.
Married partners who are separated may get a share depending on:
- when they separated
- how long they’ve been separated for
- if they have a legal document resolving all their family law issues
The intestacy rules give nothing to common-law partners.
In Family Law
Intestacy rules are the legal rules that say who inherits property when someone dies without a valid will. Common-law partners do not get anything under these rules. A married partner does inherit property under these rules. Children and other relatives may also inherit property under these rules.
In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law
An intimate image or video is one that was taken in circumstances that give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy, and shows the person:
- naked,
- exposing their genital region, buttocks, or breasts, or
- engaged in explicit sexual activity.
It is a criminal offence to publish, distribute, share, or sell intimate images of someone without their consent. In order to be found guilty of this offence, the person in the image must continue to have a reasonable expectation of privacy at the time you commit the offence.
In Health and Disability, Mental health
You’re an involuntary patient if your doctor signs a “certificate of involuntary admission”. This can only happen after your doctor:
- examines you to confirm you currently have a mental disorder or you have a mental disorder that comes and goes, and
- believes that your mental disorder will cause serious harm to you or someone else unless you stay in a psychiatric facility.
Only an involuntary patient can be held in a psychiatric facility against their will.
In Family Law
Most court forms that start a court process have to be issued. For example, your Application form has to be issued to start a court case. Your form is issued when the court clerk gives you a court file number and signs, dates, and applies the court seal to the upper left corner of your original form.
Joint borrowers are people who sign an agreement to borrow money together. For example, a couple may jointly submit a credit card application or sign a loan agreement. Joint borrowers are equally responsible for paying back the entire amount of the loan. They are sometimes called ‘co-borrowers’. A joint borrower is not the same as a guarantor.
In Family Law
Joint custody is a type of custody where both parents must agree on important decisions that affect their child. It includes decisions about the child’s health, education, and religion. One parent cannot decide these things without the other parent agreeing.
Other people, for example, grandparents, can also apply to the court for custody.