Trials are expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. If you hire an experienced, effective lawyer with the right intentions, they can help you negotiate a separation agreement that can protect your rights and liabilities. Once a separation agreement is signed by both parties, it becomes legally binding and enforceable. Our lawyers will handle the difficulty of filing the separation agreement with the court and will ensure all processes are properly filed. Once your separation agreement is filed with the court, it effectively resolves any issues that are addressed within the separation agreement, thus avoiding a contested hearing.
In Alberta, the breakdown of a common law relationship has many of the same implications as the breakdown of a marriage. For this reason, having a separation agreement negotiated after the breakdown of a common law relationship is as just as important.
The Divorce Act in Canada is federal and obtaining a divorce order is generally the same process here in Alberta as it is in each of the other provinces (other than Quebec). The first and most cumbersome step to getting a divorce is negotiating a separation agreement between the two spouses. After a separation agreement is signed by both parties, obtaining a divorce is very simple. The documents required to be filed are completed within a matter of hours and can be filed with the court thereafter. The courts throughout Alberta generally issue a divorce order within a month after the documents are filed with the court. If the two parties do not want to follow the signing of their separation agreement by seeking a divorce, they do not need to. However, a separation agreement remains important even if you do not want a divorce as it ensures that the rights and liabilities of each party are protected.
Upon separation, each spouse will have either rights or liabilities. For example, the higher-income earner will be obligated to support the lower-income earner and the primary caregiver will be entitled to child support. The rights and liabilities upon separation can be categorized as follows:
When negotiating the signing of a separation agreement, any of the lawyers we would match you with has the same general approach.
Step one: Free consultation - At Alberta Separation we provide a free consultation so that we can understand what issues we need to address in your separation agreement. Determining whether you will seek primary care for the children, exclusive possession of the home or spousal support are examples of issues that need to be discussed. On the other hand, if you are the higher income earner, minimizing your obligations should be a goal of your lawyer when drafting your separation agreement.
Step two: Preparation for drafting - Before drafting your separation agreement, your lawyer needs to obtain the information from you that is required to draft your separation agreement. Financial documents are required to help determine your rights and liabilities in terms of spousal support and child support. Understanding your status quo and goals with respect to your children is important. Getting a full understanding of your property holdings, investments and debts is important as well. In addition to discussing your circumstances to understand the issues that we need to address and the factors that support our position, we need to demand financial and other information from your spouse.
Step three: Drafting your separation agreement - Not all separation agreements are created equal. An experienced lawyer is required to ensure that all of the proper provisions of the provincial and federal legislation are addressed in your separation agreement. Drafting a proper separation agreement is not as simple as filling in the blanks of a document. Every separation agreement is different depending on the legal issues that require resolution.
Some factors that can affect what is required to be addressed in your separation agreement include the following:
Step four: Negotiating a separation agreement with the other party (ex-spouse) – Our lawyers were chosen because in addition to being knowledgeable of the law, they are also excellent at legal drafting and negotiating.
Negotiating a separation agreement involves using various factors that increase your bargaining power to persuade an opposing party to come to terms with agreeing to settle on the terms that we
propose. For example: If we know you are entitled to many years of spousal support and you are willing to negotiate the amount that you are entitled to, we can explain to the opposing party that we would settle for less than the amount that you would seek at a hearing if the other terms of the proposed separation agreement are agreed to. The courts expect spouses to negotiate in good faith. We, therefore, explain to the opposing party that if they decline reasonable opportunities to settle, after a contested hearing, we could seek costs, because the losing party has to pay all of their expenses and a portion of the winning party’s legal fees.
Step five: Filing the separation agreement with the court – After our lawyers file the separation agreement with the court, it becomes enforceable by both parties.
