Family

Whether you are a married couple or common law partners, we would assist you with all your legal matters and resolve your family disputes by way of negotiation or litigation within the public court system or the private system owned and operated by legal professionals such as lawyers, mediators and arbitrators. The private system is much more efficient than the public system, but both parties have to agree to use this option.

PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT

You can decide many issues, such as property division and spousal support in a marriage contract. However, some things such as custody and child support cannot be legally decided before a separation. Furthermore, any provision purporting to limit a spouse’s right to possession of the matrimonial home is unenforceable under Part II of the Family Law Act. Most importantly, there is always the possibility that your agreement, no matter how well drafted, may be set aside at some future point under certain circumstances. For instance, if your marriage lasts 20 years and your spouse is ill and cannot work after the marriage is over, a court may decide that even if he or she waived the right to spousal support, it should still be provided. In Ontario a prenuptial agreement can be set aside if the agreement is unconscionable. Ontario courts have recently been more open to setting aside prenuptial agreements that they feel are substantially unfair. In Rick v. Brandsema the husband failed to make full disclosure of his assets to his mentally unstable wife, and the prenuptial agreement was held to be unconscionable and set aside. However, typically the courts uphold most contracts, especially if both spouses had competent legal advisers.

MAKE DIVORCE SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE!

Separation agreement is a domestic contract which may cover various issues such as child custody, spousal support, property, RRPS, etc and supersede or alter the legal rights of the spouses. A separation agreement is not required to get a divorce in Ontario. However, rather than going to court and potentially spending thousands of dollars in legal fees to resolve your issues, a separation agreement is a fairly affordable method of resolving your issues. Once executed by the parties, a separation agreement is treated as a court order, which may then be enforced later on if one of the spouses fails to abide by its terms.