You are a Canadian resident and wondering if there are online child support calculators you can use to determine how much you may be entitled to receive or obligated to pay in child support?

Don’t go very far as we’ve got what you need!

In this article, we will provide you details on online child support calculator tools applicable in most Canadian provinces.

This article is divided into the following sections:

• What is a child support calculator
• Designated provinces in Canada
• Which child support guidelines apply
• Federal child support calculator
• Quebec child support calculator
• Provincial department of justice or attorney general
• Child support lawyers
• Takeaways

Let’s get started!

What is a child support calculator

A child support calculator is a tool that can be used to calculate child support.

The child support calculator must be based on the applicable child support guidelines.

In Canada, child support may be calculated based on federal child support guidelines or provincial child support guidelines depending on the one applicable to your case.

In this article, we will go over the child support calculators that are available in Canada particularly related to the federal child support guidelines and the Quebec child support guidelines.

The online child support calculators are not official child support calculations for legal purposes, they are intended to give you a good estimate of your child support entitlement or obligation.

If you want to formalize your child support through the courts, you’ll need to ensure that a formal child support calculation document is filed in accordance with the court rules of your province.

You should consult a child support lawyer to assist you if you think you may need some legal assistance.

Designated provinces in Canada

There are three provinces in Canada that have their own unique arrangement with the federal government with respect to establishing child support.

As such, these three provinces have established their own provincial laws to calculate child support in divorce cases when both parties live in their territory.

The three designated provinces are:

1. Manitoba
2. New Brunswick
3. Quebec 

As a general rule, the other Canadian provinces apply the federal guidelines for calculating child support in a divorce case.

The provinces applying the federal guidelines in divorce cases are:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Newfoundland and Labrador
4. Northwest Territories
5. Nova Scotia
6. Nunavut
7. Ontario
8. PEI
9. Saskatchewan
10. Yukon

Are there online child support calculators that can be used to calculate child support?

We’ll look at the federal child support calculator and the Quebec child support calculator.

Which child support guidelines apply

Depending on the specifics of your case, there may be different child support guidelines that can apply.

If you are divorced or have applied for a divorce, the federal child support guidelines apply when:

1. You both live in any Canadian province other than Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec
2. You live in different provinces or territories, even if one lives in Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec
3. One of you lives in Canada and the other lives outside of Canada

The provincial child support guidelines will apply when:

1. You both live in Manitoba, New Brunswick or Quebec whether you are in a divorce case or not
2. You were never married and you both live in Canada
3. You are married or have separated but not getting a divorce and looking to establish child support
4. You had previously established child support based on a provincial guideline

Federal child support calculator 

The federal government offers and online child support calculator helping Canadians calculate child support when subject to the federal child support guidelines.

The federal child support calculator is called the 2017 Child Support Table Look-Up.

It’s a very simple child support calculator where you enter:

1. The number of children for which you are asking child support
2. The province or territory in which the paying party lives
3. The paying parent’s annual income

With this information, the federal child support calculator tool will calculate how much child support you may be required to pay under the federal child support guidelines.

The Child Support Table Look-Up tool will calculate only the base child support payment.

If you have special expenses or extraordinary expenses for your children, you should consult the federal government step-by-step child support guide offered by the federal government to determine if there are special expenses or extraordinary expenses to account for.

Special expenses or ordinary expenses, if awarded, are added to the base child support amount.

Quebec child support calculator 

The Quebec government also offers an online child support calculator.

Just like the federal child support calculator, the Quebec child support calculator is intended to give you an estimate of the amount of child support you are either entitled to or must pay.

The Quebec child support calculator should be used when both parents live in Quebec.

Since Quebec is one of the three designated provinces, it has a special arrangement with the Canadian government whereby if both parties live in Quebec, then the Quebec child support guidelines apply.

You can also consult the Quebec government’s step-by-step guide for the determination of child support for further information on how to calculate child support.

In this case, you should use the child support calculator offered by the Quebec government.

In the event that one party lives in Quebec and the paying party lives outside of Quebec, then you’ll need to use the federal child support calculator tool as the federal child support guidelines will apply.

We cover in detail how child support is calculated in Quebec if that’s of any interest to you. 

Provincial department of justice or attorney general 

You can get more information on child support calculation applicable to each specific Canadian province by consulting each of the provincial department of justice website or that of its attorney general.

Here are the relevant links to each of the provincial or territorial departments of justice:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Manitoba
4. New Brunswick
5. Newfoundland and Labrador
6. Northwest Territories
7. Nova Scotia
8. Nunavut
9. Ontario
10. Prince Edward Island
11. Quebec
12. Saskatchewan
13. Yukon

Child support lawyers

In some cases, due to the particular nature of your case, you may need to consult with a lawyer to calculate your child support.

In such cases, a child support lawyer will consider the specifics of your case to determine what should be the appropriate child support amount to be established.

In the following cases, you may need the assistance of a family law firm for child support and an experienced child support lawyer:

1. When the paying parent’s revenues are not disclosed
2. When the paying parent’s revenues are not disclosed accurately 
3. When the paying parent’s income is kept in a separate company
4. When the paying parent is a self-employed 
5. When the paying parent does not have a lot of revenues but has significant assets
6. When the children have special expenses or particular needs
7. When the child support should apply retroactively

In the above cases or other complex cases, using the online child support calculator may not adequately calculate for you the real child support amount that you may be entitled to.

If you any complexity in your case, you are better off getting a legal consultation from a child support lawyer so you know what will work best for you.

Takeaways

There are convenient tools available now to help you calculate child support online.

The Canadian government and some provinces like Quebec have developed an online child support calculation tool to help you get an estimate of your child support entitlements or obligations.

The Canada child support calculator is simple to use and applicable in most cases.

The child support calculator Quebec tool is also another new and convenient child support calculation tool allowing those subject to the Quebec child support guidelines to calculate their child support obligations. 

We hope this article was useful in guiding you and helping direct you to the right online child support calculator.

We wish you all the best in your case!

The post Child Support Calculator (How To Calculate Child Support Online) appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

You want to file for a divorce but you’re not sure what documents you need?

In this article, we will make sure you know what to do. We will go over the divorce requirements in Quebec and if those requirements are satisfied, we will outline the divorce papers you need to file to get a divorce in Quebec.

We have divided this article into the following sections for your ease of navigation:

• Divorce in Quebec
• Divorce conditions in Quebec
• Residency requirements
• Divorce grounds
• What divorce papers do you need to file
• Where to file your divorce papers
• How to file your divorce papers
• Service of divorce papers
• Takeaways

Let’s get started…

Divorce in Quebec

You’ve reached a point in your relationship that you realize a divorce may be inevitable.

Where do you start?

What do you do?

What divorce papers do you need to file?

Filing for divorce in Quebec is not that complicated.

First, you’ll need to ensure that you meet the criteria to file for a divorce in Quebec.

Then, you’ll need to file the necessary paperwork.

Divorce conditions in Quebec

To be able to file divorce papers in Quebec, you’ll need to satisfy to main conditions:

1. Residency requirement 
2. Divorce grounds

Let’s look at each of them.

Residency requirements

The first condition that must be satisfied is your residency.

Article 3 of the Divorce Act states that “a court in a province has jurisdiction to hear and determine a divorce proceeding if either spouse has been ordinarily resident in the province for at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding.”

This means that you or your spouse must have been living in the Province of Quebec for at least one year at the moment you file your divorce papers.

What is the second requirement? 

Divorce grounds

The second requirement is for you to satisfy the divorce grounds so the Quebec courts can render a divorce judgment.

The Divorce Act states the divorce grounds applicable in Canada and in Quebec.

The law states that a court may grant a divorce when there is a breakdown of the marriage.

There are three ways you can demonstrate that there was a breakdown of the marriage:

1. the spouses have lived separate and apart for at least one year immediately preceding the determination of the divorce proceeding and were living separate and apart at the commencement of the proceeding
2. the spouse against whom the divorce proceeding is brought has, since the celebration of the marriage, committed adultery, or
3. treated the other spouse with physical or mental cruelty of such a kind as to render intolerable the continued cohabitation of the spouses.

The simplest ground for divorce is to demonstrate that you have been living separate and apart for at least 1 year prior to the filing of the divorce papers.

The grounds for adultery and physical or mental cruelty will require additional evidence in court, so for the sake of this article, we will assume that you will invoke the simplest divorce ground which of separation for over 12 months.

You’ve met the residency requirement and you have been separate for over 12 months, what divorce papers must you file?

What divorce papers do you need to file

In Quebec, you’ll need to file certain documents and supporting exhibits to be able to get a divorce judgment.

A complete divorce application will require the following:

1. Divorce application
2. Settlement agreement
3. Sworn statement of the parties
4. Statement under article 444 of the Code of Civil Procedure
5. Child support determination form if there are children involved
6. Attestation in respect to birth registration or Form II
7. Statement of Income and Expenditures or Form III if spousal support is requested
8. Income taxes for the past year
9. Notices of assessments for the past year
10. Proof of income
11. Marriage certificate
12. Birth certificate of the parties
13. Children’s’ birth certificates

Depending on the nature of your case, additional documents and exhibits may be required.

Where to file your divorce papers

Once you’ve gathered all your divorce papers and ensured they respect the requirements of the Divorce Act and the court procedures, you’ll need to file your divorce papers at the courthouse.

To determine which courthouse will have competence to render a divorce judgment for you, you’ll need to make sure that you file your divorce papers before the courthouse in the same judicial district as your address of residence.

You can use Justice Quebec’s judicial search tool to identify the right courthouse for filing your divorce papers.

How to file your divorce papers

Now that you know with which courthouse to file your divorce papers, you’ll need to physically bring your divorce papers to there.

You’ll need to make sure your divorce papers are all signed and you have a sufficient number of certified copies.

At the courthouse, you’ll need to pay the applicable court filing fees to be able to file your divorce papers.

You can look up the applicable court fees and tariffs to file your divorce papers.

Service of divorce papers

If you are unable to file a joint divorce application where you file an amicable divorce, you’ll need to make sure you serve a copy of your divorce papers to the other party.

Service of divorce papers simply means you need to make sure your spouse gets a copy of the divorce documents.

To make sure you have no problem filing your divorce papers in court, you’ll need to make sure your spouse signs the divorce documents and is present at the courthouse when you are filing your paperwork.

If you see yourself having to serve your spouse, you may be in a situation where you are unable to reach a mutual agreement or have all the documents signed by both spouses.

Takeaways

What divorce papers do you need to get a divorce in Quebec?

In this article, we’ve outlined precisely what divorce papers you need and how to file them.

You now know what conditions you need to respect to be authorized to file your divorce papers before the courts in Quebec and you know what documents to file.

Should you need any support and assistance with your divorce papers, our divorce lawyers are here to support you.

You can reach out to our family law firm at any time!

In the meantime, we wish you the best of luck.

The post Divorce Papers To File A Divorce In Quebec (Overview) appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

You’ve heard of things like decision-making responsibility and the principle of the best interest of the child and wonder what it all means?

We have great news!

You are at the right place.

In this article, we go over the concept of parenting arrangement, decision-making responsibility, joint decision-making responsibility, divided decision-making responsibility, parenting time and more. You will understand what each concept means and how it may be applied to you.

This article is divided into the following sections:

• What Is A Parenting Arrangement?
• Best Interest of The Child
• Joint Decision-Making Responsibility
• Sole Decision-Making Responsibility
• Divided Decision-Making Responsibility
• Parenting Schedule
• Terms Used Referring to Decision-Making Responsibility
• Takeaways

Let’s get started!

What Is A Parenting Arrangement?

A parenting arrangement is the manner both parents will continue to take care of their children and split the parenting obligations between themselves.

After you separate from your spouse or get divorced, you will continue to make important decisions related to your children.

These decisions will relate to things like where the child will live, the choice of school, religious education, medical care and other things like extracurricular activities. 

Your parenting arrangement is essentially how you agree to handle these important decisions with the other parent.

When making parenting arrangements, you’ll need to make your decisions in light of what is in the best interest of your child.

This sounds easier said than done!

If you have a conflictual relationship with the other parent, you may end up in court if you cannot agree on the parenting arrangement.

If that were to happen, a family court can allocate the decision-making responsibility based on what the judge will evaluate to be the best interest of the child.

In that case, the judge may award a joint decision-making responsibility to both parents, a sole decision-making responsibility or perhaps a divided decision-making responsibility.

Best Interest of The Child

In case you are unable amicable handle the parenting arrangement amicably, you may need to go to court to have a family judge render a judgment.

You will quickly hear about the principle stating that all decisions must be made in the best interest of the child.

This means that the court will evaluate what’s a good parenting arrangement from the perspective of the child and not from the perspective of the parents.

Although a parenting arrangement may be more convenient for a parent, this does not mean that it may be in the best interest of the child.

Family laws are designed in such a way that the focus and primary attention is to protect the children in a relationship.

To decide in the best interest of the child is to decide in such a way to promote your child’s development, happiness and overall well-being. 

What’s challenging is that the best interest of one child is not the same from one child to the other.

Every family and child’s situation is different.

There are some factors you can consider in evaluating what’s in the best interest of the child such as:

1. Your child’s age
2. How your child has been developing so far
3. Your child’s special needs
4. Your child’s level of maturity
5. Your child’s relationship with siblings
6. Your child’s relationship with each parent
7. Your child’s opinion and wishes
8. The caring abilities of each parent
9. How each parent has been handling himself of herself after separation
10. The ability of the parents to cooperate
11. The ability of the parents to communicate well
12. Cultural differences
13. Religious differences
14. Language barriers 

The list can go on.

What’s very clear is that a judge will want to consider any variable that can affect a child in a divorce case or separation to come up with the best possible parenting arrangement. 

The judge will weigh the pros and cons of any possible parenting arrangement and will decide on an arrangement that will give the most benefit and the least adverse effects on the child.

Joint Decision-Making Responsibility

A joint decision-making responsibility is a parenting arrangement where both parents will have the right to make important decisions in the life of their child.

Each parent will need to consult with the other to make such decisions.

For example, if you have a joint decision-making responsibility, then you must consult the other parent should you want your child to go to private school.

If you both agree, that’s great.

If the other parent does not agree, then you can have the court render a decision based on what’s in the best interest of their child.

Sole Decision-Making Responsibility 

Sole decision-making responsibility is a type of parenting arrangement where one parent is allocated the sole right to make all important decisions in the life of the child.

Remember that decision-making responsibility and parenting time is not the same thing.

You can have parenting time with your child but not have decision-making responsibility.

This means that you are able to spend time with your child and see your child but you may not have the right to decide on medical treatments, religious teachings or education if you do not have decision-making responsibility.

We suspect that if the court were to award decision-making responsibility solely to one parent, it must result from a highly conflictual relationship or a situation where there is a critical concern for the best interest of the child or even the chid’s safety.

In most cases, both parents should have some form of decision-making responsibility.

A joint decision-making responsibility can be a good parenting arrangement when both parents have a good enough relationship allowing them to jointly decide on important aspects of their child’s life.

However, if the court takes that decision-making right away from one parent, probably the parents are highly incapable of jointly deciding on what’s good for their children or there is a safety concern for the child.

Divided Decision-Making Responsibility 

Divided decision-making responsibility is essentially allocating different components of the decision-making responsibility to each parent.

For example, one parent will have the right to make decisions about the health and medication treatment related to a child while the other will decide regarding school and religious education. 

Depending on what you consider to be in the best interest of the child, you may agree with the other parent to divide the decision-making responsibilities so each of you can make the best possible decision for your child.

You should be careful in how you divide the decision-making responsibility as a decision in the realm of one parent’s responsibility may affect the other.

This type of parenting arrangement should be considered with care to avoid future conflict.

For example, imagine if one parent can decide on medical treatments and health of the child while the other parent decides on school and education.

If the parents disagree on the proper administration of medication to the child, then the child may suffer at school.

This is a type of conflict that can arise if the parenting arrangement is divided as such.

It would be a good exercise to consider how such conflicts may be resolved so your child is not affected.

Parenting Schedule 

A parenting schedule is the actual parenting time of each parent with their child or children.

For example, two parents may choose to have a 50/50 parenting time.

This means that each parent will equally share half of the time in a period with a child.

A typical 50/50 parenting schedule is one week of parenting time for one parent and one week for the other in an alternating way.

The parenting schedule you will determine for your child will also need to be designed in the best interest of the child.

For example, if one parent lives very far from the child’s school, it would be difficult to have a lot of parenting time as it will force the child to wake up very early in the morning and commute for hours to reach go to school.

All the factors should be considered in devising a parenting schedule that makes sense for the child and the parents.

Terms Used Referring to Decision-Making Responsibility

There are many terms used to refer to decision-making responsibility, parenting time and contact.

The Divorce Act has been amended to modernize the terminology in the Act to better reflect the parenting roles and responsibilities and therefore new legal terms are now used.

Here is a list of the different terms you may encounter:

1. Custody
2. Sole custody
3. Joint custody
4. Shared custody
5. Split custody
6. Access 
7. Access rights
8. Visitation rights
9. Decision-making responsibility
10. Parenting time
11. Contact
12. Parenting orders
13. Contact orders
14. Parental responsibility
15. Guardianship
16. Tutorship
17. Parental authority 

Depending on the applicable law, each of these terms may be employed.

For example, in Quebec, if the Civil Code of Quebec applies, the terms custody and access rights will be employed.

The Civil Code also refers to the parental authority to refer to the concept of decision-making responsibility under the Divorce Act.

You will need to pay close attention to the legal foundation of your family law case so you can better grasp the actual legal significance of the terms referring to the care and parenting of your child.

Takeaways

In this article, we have looked at different types of parenting arrangements possible.

The family laws in Canada are designed to protect the children and promote their overall growth and well-being.

Having said that, the parenting arrangements should be considered in light of what works best for the child as opposed to what’s more convenient for the parents.

There are different types of arrangements you can have with respect to the decision-making responsibility such as joint decision-making responsibility, sole decision-making responsibility or even a divided decision-making responsibility.

If the parents are unable to decide what’s best for their children and agree on a parenting arrangement, the courts will do it with what they have.

We hope this article was informative.

If you need any legal support and advice from our family lawyers relating to decision-making responsibilities and the parenting arrangement, be sure to contact us as needed.

Our family law firm operates in the area of family law and our family lawyers have the experience and competence to provide you practical and useful legal advice.

We wish you all the best!

The post Different Types of Custody And Parenting Arrangement After Separation appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

The Divorce Act applies to those living in Canada for at least 12 months looking to dissolve their marriage.

Regardless of where you were married, provided you lived in Canada for at least 12 months, the Divorce Act will apply to your case.

The Divorce Act deals with all aspects of the separation of a marriage couple such as:

1. Parenting rights and obligations
2. Contact with their child
3. Child support
4. Spousal support
5. Changes to the support obligations

History of divorce law in Canada

Prior to 1968, Canada did not have a uniform divorce law applicable across the entire nation.

Each Canadian province would independently handle the divorce in accordance with their own local laws.

Interestingly, in the province of Quebec, the Civil Code of Lower Canada stated that a marriage can only be dissolved by the natural death of one of the parties. 

For so long as the couple was alive, their marriage could not be dissolved.

Divorce Act of 1968

In 1968, the Canadian government finally adopted the Divorce Act, representing a federal law applicable across the entire Canadian nation.

Every province and territory was bound to respect the terms of the Divorce Act regulating and governing the separation of married couples.

Initially, the Divorce Act provided for several grounds:

1. Acts of adultery committed by the other spouse
2. Separation for over three years due to imprisonment, addiction, disappearance, refusal to consummate the marriage or living separate and apart
3. Bigamy
4. Physical and mental cruelty 
5. Conviction of a sexual crime

Divorce Act of 1986

In 1986, the Canadian Parliament modified the Divorce Act as follows:

• Eliminated bigamy as a ground for divorce
• Reduced the separation to a period of 12 months and recognized that the demonstration of a spouse living separate and apart was sufficient as an acceptable ground for divorce 
• A divorce application can be initiated by one spouse or jointly by both spouses

Changes to the Divorce Act effective July 1, 2020

The federal government has brought important changes to the divorce act taking effect starting as of July 1, 2020.

These changes related to the language used to refer to the care of the children after the separation along with how a parent can move with or without a child.

Previously, the Divorce Act referred to children using terms like custody and access rights. 

With the changes to the Divorce Act, we are going to refer to children as decision-making responsibilities, parenting time and contact with children.

Decision-making responsibility

Decision-making responsibility is a parent’s duty to make important decisions about their child’s life such as health, education, religion, culture, medical treatment, activities and so on.

In Quebec, the Civil Code of Quebec deals with the parental authority concept having a similar definition.

The decision-making responsibilities can be shared or awarded to one spouse only.

Parenting time

Parenting time is the new concept referring to the child in the care of a spouse. 

We used to refer to this as the custodial and non-custodial parent.

The spouse with parenting time will have the ability to make the day-to-day decisions concerning the child without having to consult with the other.

Contact with child

Contact refers to the time a parent or someone like a grandparent who has the right to have contact with the child exercises that contact.

This used to be access rights.

If you are granted rights of contact with a child, you do not have the ability to make the day-to-day decisions relating to the child.

Parenting plan and orders

Parenting plan and parenting orders refers to the parenting agreement between the parents or a judgment rendered by the court relating to the parenting rights and obligations related to a child or children.

Parenting plan used to be called a custody agreement and parenting order was a custody judgment.

Best interest of the minor child

The changes to the Divorce Act establishes a list of factors the court must take into consideration when evaluating a child’s best interest.

Article 16(3) of the Divorce Act lists the factors the court must consider to evaluate a child’s best interest:  

1. the child’s needs, given the child’s age and stage of development, such as the child’s need for stability;
2. the nature and strength of the child’s relationship with each spouse, each of the child’s siblings and grandparents and any other person who plays an important role in the child’s life;
3. each spouse’s willingness to support the development and maintenance of the child’s relationship with the other spouse;
4. the history of care of the child;
5. the child’s views and preferences, giving due weight to the child’s age and maturity, unless they cannot be ascertained;
6. the child’s cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage, including Indigenous upbringing and heritage;
7. any plans for the child’s care;
8. the ability and willingness of each person in respect of whom the order would apply to care for and meet the needs of the child;
9. the ability and willingness of each person in respect of whom the order would apply to communicate and cooperate, in particular with one another, on matters affecting the child;
10. any family violence and its impact on, among other things,
    1. the ability and willingness of any person who engaged in the family violence to care for and meet the needs of the child, and
    2.  the appropriateness of making an order that would require persons in respect of whom the order would apply to cooperate on issues affecting the child; and
11. any civil or criminal proceeding, order, condition, or measure that is relevant to the safety, security and well-being of the child.

Family violence

The court must also consider the impact of family violence when rendering a judgment impacting a child.

The court must evaluate a parent’s ability and willingness to care for his or her child.

Many children are victims of family violence during and after separation and the Divorce Act is now empowering the courts to make the most appropriate decision related to the child. 

The Divorce Act sets out the factors that the court must consider in article 16(4):

1. the nature, seriousness and frequency of the family violence and when it occurred;
2. whether there is a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour in relation to a family member;
3. whether the family violence is directed toward the child or whether the child is directly or indirectly exposed to the family violence;
4. the physical, emotional and psychological harm or risk of harm to the child;
5. any compromise to the safety of the child or other family member;
6. whether the family violence causes the child or other family member to fear for their own safety or for that of another person;
7. any steps taken by the person engaging in the family violence to prevent further family violence from occurring and improve their ability to care for and meet the needs of the child; and
8. any other relevant factor.

Relocation and change of residence

The changes to the Divorce Act also deals with the relocation of a parent with a child.

The relocation with a child after separation is a highly disputed topic between parents resulting in legal battles before the court.

Relocation under the Divorce Act means a change in the home of a child or person with parenting time or decision-making responsibilities affecting those with parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact with the child.

The Divorce Act now provides for a process that parents must follow should they wish to relocate.

The person who wants to move must give a 60 day prior notice of their intention to move giving details about the relocation.

The other parent or person with parenting time ie decision-making responsibility will have 30 days to object to the relocation.

People with contact rights will not have the right to object to the relocation.

If there is an objection, the court will ultimately decision to approve or not the relocation by analysing some factors:

1. Reasons for the move
2. Impact on the child
3. Past judgments 
4. Reasonable plan on how parenting time, decision-making responsibility and contact will be handled after the move 

Legal resources

Here are some useful links for legal resources to help you in your research:

1. Divorce Act
2. Strengthening and modernizing Canada’s family justice system by the Canadian Department of Justice
3. Legislative background from the Canadian Department of Justice

Conclusion

The Divorce Act has been adopted since 1968 and has gone through several important changes. 

In 2020, the Canadian government brought about important changes to the Divorce Act to keep up with the societal and cultural changes that have taken place.

It may take some time before the legal system, judges, lawyers and legal officers fully shift their mindset and adopt the new principles outlined in the Divorce Act.

This is a normal and natural evolution of the laws.

Time will tell how the new principles of the Divorce Act will be interpreted by the Courts.

The post Divorce Act of Canada appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

Perhaps you are involved in a divorce case and you are looking to educate yourself on the topic?

No matter the reason, we have a great article for you on divorce.

In this article, we will discuss things like what is a divorce, the law in Canada that governs the divorce, the divorce grounds, the objective of the Divorce Act, difference between a divorce and a legal separation or a marriage annulment, contested divorce, at-fault divorce, summary divorce, amicable divorce and more. After reading this article, you will know a lot more about divorce!

This article is divided as follows:

1. What is a divorce?
2. What laws govern divorce in Canada?
3. What court has jurisdiction on divorce matters in Quebec?
4. What is the alternative to a divorce?
5. What are the divorce objectives?
6. What are the 3 grounds for divorce?
7. What is the difference between divorce and annulment?
8. What is the difference between divorce and legal separation?
9. Why file a legal separation file instead of a divorce?
10. What is a contested divorce?
11. What is an at-fault divorce?
12. What is a summary divorce?
13. What is a no-fault divorce?
14. What is an uncontested divorce?
15. What is a collaborative divorce?
16. What is an electronic divorce?
17. What is an online divorce?
18. Divorce Takeaways

Let’s get started!!

1- What is a divorce?

It’s a dissolution of the marriage

A divorce is the legal dissolution of the marriage.

In other words, a married couple looking to terminate or dissolve their marriage will seek a divorce from the local Courts in the Province where they live.

By way of a divorce, once the marital union is dissolved, the formerly married couple will no longer have any legal obligations towards one another.

Typically, married couples are required to adhere to certain obligations such as cohabitation obligations, mutual support and assistance, along with other matrimonial obligations.

Divorce judgment dissolves the marriage

When the divorce courts render a divorce judgment, such obligations are dissolved and so the couple can move on with their lives.

Only married couples are able to ask for a divorce and the divorce judgment can only be rendered by the competent Court.

2- What laws govern divorce in Canada?

Divoce is governed by the Divorce Act in Canada

In Canada, the divorce institution is governed by the Divorce Act.

Under the terms of the Divorce Act, the divorce must be rendered by the competent Provincial Court.

The law outlines several requirements to be met authorizing the Court to render a divorce judgment.

The Divorce Act is a federal law that applies in all Provinces and Territories in Canada.

The provincial and territorial laws will apply with respect to the Court procedures on how to effectively file for divorce along with matters such as the division of marital property.

Legal matters governed by the Divorce Act

Some of these requirements are as follows:

1. Court jurisdiction
2. Residency requirements
3. Divorce grounds
4. Calculation of separation period
5. Duty of a legal advisor
6. Duty of the Court
7. Corollary relief
8. Child support orders
9. Spousal support orders
10. Parenting orders (formerly custody orders)

The Divorce Act is a comprehensive set of legal provisions where the Canadian legislator attempts to deal with the separation of a Canadian couple in a fair and equitable way.

3- What court has jurisdiction on divorce matters in Quebec?

Superior Court of Quebec has jurisdiction over divorce in Quebec

In Quebec, the Provincial Court dealing with family law matters and divorce is the Superior Court of Quebec.

In rendering a divorce judgment, the Court must observe the requirements of the Divorce Act.

Each Province will have its own local court rules of procedure 

The procedure governing the format and content of a divorce application along with any supporting legal forms and documents are determined by the Quebec Province.

Each Province in Canada adopts its own court rules of procedure to handle family matters including divorce.

For instance, the Regulation of the Superior Court of Québec in family matters Code of Civil Procedure outlines the procedural requirements for engaging with the Superior Court of Quebec in family matters.

When the Superior Court of Quebec renders a divorce judgment, the judge will apply the same principles derived from the Divorce Act just like how any other judge in any other Canadian Province of Territory would.

Quebec laws are influenced by the civil law tradition

The main difference in the Quebec system is that the partition of the assets and some other elements are handled by the civil legal system in Quebec.

The Court in Quebec will be influenced by the civil tradition of the Quebec laws and the principles contained in the Civil Code of Quebec when applying the terms of the Divorce Act.

An underlying objective of the Civil Code is to ensure that the principles surrounding the best interest of children or others remain consistently applied.

All other Provinces and Territories operate under a common-law regime and thus will consider jurisprudence differently.

Notably, considering the Divorce Act is a federal law binding upon all provinces and territories, the Courts of each province will also attempt to remain consistent in their application of the law.

The rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada will have a direct impact on how each province will interpret and apply the terms of the Divorce Act.

4- What is the alternative to a divorce?

An alternative to a divorce for married couples is a legal separation

If a married couple does not intend to formally dissolve their marriage and wants to separate from one another, they can file for a separation as to bed and board application, more commonly referred to as ‘legal separation’.

The laws in the Province of Quebec regarding legal separation do not apply for a divorce or unmarried couples.

The consequences of a legal separation is similar to a divorce

The legal separation regime involves handling nearly the same matters as in a divorce case, such as:

1. Court jurisdiction
2. Residency requirements
3. Divorce grounds
4. Corollary relief
5. Child support orders
6. Spousal support orders
7. Parenting orders and child custody

Residency requirement differs

For the Superior Court of Quebec to be legally enabled to render a divorce judgment, one both couples will need to have resided in the Province of Quebec for at least twelve months.

With regards to a legal separation, it’s only required to show that the filing party was residing in the Province of Quebec at the moment of the filing of the application. 

Marriage is not dissolved

The other notable difference is that a Court will not dissolve the marital bond when rendering a judgment with regards to separation as to bed and board.

5- What are the divorce objectives?

The objective of the Divorce Act is to provide in an equitable breakup between the married couple by applying legal standards to the following:

1. Division of assets and distribution of the couple’s property
2. Division of debts and liabilities
3. Child support and expenses
4. Parenting obligations and parenting time also custody and access rights
5. Spousal support and alimony

The Divorce Act provides the rules and parameters to help couples separate should they fail to mutually agree on their own.

Typically, a settlement agreement, although it may not be perfect, will be advisable as opposed to having a judge render a divorce judgment in a contested and adversarial trial.

6- What are the 3 grounds for divorce?

Under the Divorce Act in Canada, there are three divorce grounds: 

1. Separation for over twelve months
2. Adultery
3. Physical or mental cruelty

Twelve month separation

The first ground is the separation of over twelve months.

Essentially, the married couple informs the court that they have been living separate and apart for more than twelve months and asks the court to render a divorce judgment.

This requirement must be satisfied on the day the judge is rendering the divorce judgment.

You do not have to wait twelve months before starting or applying for a divorce.

Adultery

As for adultery, it’s pretty self-explanatory.

There needs to be a sexual act committed by the other spouse and that such act has not been condoned.

The spouse who commits the act of adultery cannot invoke his or her own act of adultery as a ground for divorce.

This divorce ground must be proven in court.

So the spouse invoking adultery as a ground must bring evidence to demonstrate the infidelity of the other spouse. 

Physical and mental cruelty

Finally, physical and mental cruelty is the third ground for divorce under the Divorce Act.

This divorce ground can cover an important range of situations that the Courts may consider to grant a divorce.

If the Court considers that the actions of a spouse has resulted in a physical or mental cruelty rendering the cohabitation intolerable, then the Courts will accept to grant a divorce on this ground.

Some examples of behaviours that could lead to physical and mental cruelty are the following:

1. Sexual harassment
2. Alcoholism
3. Disability
4. Desertion
5. Physical violence
6. Psychological harassment
7. Domestic violence towards the spouse, children or other family members

7- What is the difference between divorce and marriage annulment?

Getting a divorce or seeking the annulment of the marriage are two very unique and different legal demands with very different legal foundations.

Your marriage is assumed as valid in a divorce proceeding

Where in the context of divorce, we assume that the marriage was valid and we determine the most appropriate and equitable distribution of assets and handling of other obligations for dissolving the marriage.

In an annulment proceeding, you attack the validity of your marriage

For an annulment, you are essentially attacking the validity of the marriage retroactively to the date of the marriage.

The annulment is essentially requesting the cancellation of the marriage.

If an annulment order is granted, the law will cancel the marriage and the marriage will be deemed as if it had never happened.

As a result, the Court will attempt to make the parties whole and restitute what the parties have brought into the marriage.

The annulment procedure is exceptional and, in Quebec, requires that the action be instituted within a certain timeline.

Be sure to read our article on marriage annulment vs divorce where we cover the topic in more detail.

8- What is the difference between divorce and legal separation?

Married couples can get divorced or legally separate

Married couples have essentially two options, they can get divorced or legally separate from one another.

A divorce is a definitive dissolution of the marriage

If the married couple wishes to live separate and apart, in a definitive and permanent way, and dissolve their marital bond, then they should ask for a divorce.

By asking for a divorce, the Courts will render a divorce judgment dealing with all the consequences of the separation, such as dividing of the assets and debts, spousal support, child support, parenting rights and time and any other important matter for the couple.

The divorce judgment dissolves the marriage forever

In addition to that, by issuing the divorce judgment, under the Canadian law, thirty one days after the judgment has been rendered, the marriage is formally dissolved and the divorce takes effect.

The couple will then receive a divorce certificate issued by the Court establishing the termination of the marriage.

Once the marriage union is dissolved, then the couple will have the legal rights to get married again if they choose to do so.

Legal separation preserves the marital bond

A legal separation is where, similar to a divorce, the married couple wish separate and apart, in a definitive and permanent way, but they do not wish to dissolve their marital bond.

Therefore, by filing a legal separation application, the couple will need to manage the consequences of their separation in nearly the same way as a divorce, such as dealing with their assets, financial support, children and so on.

The consequences of legal separation are similar to a divorce 

Considering that the Court does not dissolve the marital bond, the couple formally remain married although they do not have an obligation to cohabitate and provide one another with mutual assistance and support.

They can lead a fully independent life and their life decisions will no longer have an impact on the other spouse.

9- Why file a legal separation file instead of a divorce?

There may be many reasons why a couple may decide to ask for a legal separation as opposed to a divorce.

Legal separation is preferred to divorce for religious reasons

The reason may be religious.

In other words, if the dissolution of the marriage is not an option they can entertain from a religious point of view, then, the couple will go for a legal separation.

Legal separation is preferred to a divorce for some tax benefits

Other reasons may be to continue benefiting from some tax or benefits that the couple would want to protect.

File a legal separation to bridge a residence gap

Alternatively, it could also be merely to bridge the residency gap for seeking a divorce.

What do we mean by that?

Well, under the Divorce Act, to ask for a divorce in the Court of your Province, you must have lived in that province for at least twelve months.

However, to file a legal separation, you must be living in the province as of the moment of the filing.

So you may want to immediately start the legal proceedings against your spouse by filing a legal separation application and when you complete your twelve months residence requirements, file a divorce application thus superseding the legal separation file.

You can ask for a divorce at any time after a legal separation judgment is rendered

You can ask for a divorce at any time after the legal separation judgment has been issued.

In other words, at any point in time that you wish to dissolve your marital bond, even after the issuance of a legal separation judgment, you can file for a divorce application and indicate to the Court that the consequences of the divorce were already dealt with during your legal separation file.

The Court will then render a divorce judgment and reconfirm the partition of the assets and terms of your legal separation.

Of course, certain things may be modified having to do with children and child support as these subject matters evolve over time, but the actual partition of the family patrimony, assets and liabilities will tend to be what was decided under the legal separation file.

10- What is a contested divorce?

A divorce case that is submitted to a trial judge

A contested divorce is one where due to disagreements between the couple in how to handle the consequences of their marriage will be submitted to a trial judge for a hearing.

At the trial level, a divorce judge will hear the parties, the representations made by their attorneys and will consider the evidence to render a judgment on the contested issues.

A contested divorce is very expensive

It goes without saying that a contested divorce is a very expensive venture.

Considering that your case will go to trial, your divorce lawyer will need to spend time preparing for the case, meeting with the witnesses, prepare you for your case, review the law, doctrine and jurisprudence and spend several days in Court making the necessary representations for you.

You will also need to take time off from your work and regular life to go through this very stressful and adversarial process.

There are certain points in a divorce that may result in a dispute between the parties and that could be the division of the assets or more importantly the parenting time and custody with the children.

11- What is an at-fault divorce?

A type of divorce where a spouse invokes a fault against the other

An ‘at-fault divorce’ or a ‘fault divorce’ is one where a spouse establishes a marital fault against the other as a ground for seeking a divorce.

In Canada, the fault can be categorized in acts of adultery or acts of physical or mental cruelty.

In such cases, the spouse filing for a divorce will need to factually demonstrate and prove the fault on the basis of which the divorce is being requested.

The acts in question will need to have occurred during the marriage and not pardoned or condoned.

For example, invoking the infidelity of your spouse for acts that had occurred prior to the marriage will not be considered by the Court as a ground for divorce.

When invoking a fault by the other spouse, you’ll need to demonstrate to the Court that the acts in question have resulted in the marriage and relationship to be intolerable for you.

The actions and behaviours can also take the form of collusion, connivance or provocation.

Also, the evidence will need to be persuasive and clearly establish the behaviour and fault in question.

The fault of a spouse will not result in a legal benefit of any kind

In Canada and in Quebec, the fault and behaviour of the spouse during the marriage will generally not affect the division of property, child support, parenting orders and so on.

However, there may be instances that the Courts may consider the behaviour and take that into consideration in the divorce judgment.

Fault-based divorce can of course be contested by the other spouse.

12- What is a summary divorce?

Simple divorce cases can proceed in a summary fashion

A summary divorce or a summary dissolution of marriage is a process by which highly simple cases will proceed with less formality and paperwork at the Court level to obtain a divorce judgment.

In jurisdictions where a summary divorce is offered, typically, you’ll see the following requirements:

• No children natural or adopted
• Short marriage duration
• No family residence, mortgage or real property
• No spousal support demands
• Certain value threshold of individual and marital assets
• No substantial joint debts

Summary process not available in Quebec

Although this process is not available in the Province of Quebec under the civil regime, there are more and more online summary service offerings provided by the Quebec government.

In Quebec, if a couple asking for a divorce has no children, little assets and no demands for spousal support and the like, the couple could file a joint divorce application where they can ask the Court to be exempt from the rules of the family patrimony.

Typically, in such cases, the Courts will authorize such an exemption unless there may be special circumstances that could prevent such an order to be rendered.

SARPA program in Quebec

For instance, the SARPA service allows parents to modify child support obligations through a summary process.

13- What is a no-fault divorce?

This is where the divorce ground does not invoke a fault of any kind

The no-fault divorce is the simplest and least adversarial type of divorce ground that you can invoke when filing for a divorce.

Separation for over 12 months is a no-fault divorce ground

In Quebec and in Canada, the no-fault ground is essentially the separation for over twelve months.

Proving that you have lived separate and apart from your spouse and you have no longer presented yourself as a couple for at least a year will be sufficient to satisfy the divorce ground requirement.

No-fault ground is easiest to prove in court

This is the simplest way of satisfying the divorce ground as you will not need to prove acts of behaviour that would demonstrate wrongdoing by your spouse.

The proof of having lived separate and apart is also much easier to make.

Typically, this evidence boils down to when you and your spouse have stopped living together in your family residence and have adopted a more independent life.

In some cases, although you may continue to live in the same house, you can nonetheless invoke separation over twelve months as you decided to stay in the same house due to financial constraints or you could not make the move in the best interest of your children.

The Courts will need to consider your reasons for not leaving the matrimonial home and decide if you have demonstrated that you have been living separate from one another although not apart.

14- What is an uncontested divorce?

Spouses have mutually agreed on all aspects of their divorce

An uncontested divorce is a divorce process where you and your spouse mutually seek a divorce as you have both agreed on all aspects of your divorce.

Joint divorce application in Quebec

In Quebec, we typically file a ‘joint divorce application’ when it comes to an uncontested divorce.

The joint divorce application is an application that is signed by both spouses.

In other words, there is one legal demand made to the Court and it is requested by both spouses.

An uncontested divorce is synonymous with an amicable divorce

When we say uncontested divorce, we can also say amicable divorce where the parties have reached an amicable settlement.

Where a joint divorce application is filed, it means that the spouses are in agreement to get a divorce and in agreement on all divorce terms right from the initial filing at Court.

The terms of the divorce are typically the division of property, children parenting time and arrangement, previously referred to as custody and access rights, alimony, child support among other things.

If the uncontested divorce presents a fair and equitable divorce terms, the Courts will most likely not intervene.

However, although you may file a joint divorce application, if the Court considers that there appears to be a lack of equity or an unbalanced division of assets and liability, the Court may request that the spouses come and testify to explain why such an arrangement was made.

The Court has a duty to ensure that the consequences of a divorce are fair and equitable and will have discretion in modifying terms of your mutual agreement if it does not consider it appropriate.

15- What is a collaborative divorce?

Alternative dispute resolution method for getting divorced

The collaborative divorce is an alternative dispute resolution method that couples can use in an attempt to reach an agreement on any contentious points in their divorce.

Mediation is the alternative process in Quebec

In Quebec, this collaboration is offered through mediators and a process called mediation.

In common-law jurisdictions, the collaborative divorce will be performed by trained lawyers in the collaborative approach and they will sign a statement whereby if the matter becomes disputed, they will not represent either party in Court.

Their objective is purely to support the couple to reach an agreement in a collaborative way.

Mediation process in Quebec

Now, in Quebec, in the course of mediation, you and your spouse will be making the decisions by yourselves.

Mediators by law are not authorized to represent anyone in Court.

Thus, by default, if mediation fails, then the couple will need to hire a divorce lawyer to assist them in the Court process.

The mediators or any other professionals involved in your collaborative divorce process, such as a social worker, financial specialist or anyone else, will not make any decisions for you but will guide and advise you.

Success of mediation depends on your willingness to make concessions

The success of mediation as a dispute resolution method relies on your willingness and openness to reach an agreement by being able to make concessions.

You will not be able to get the ‘perfect divorce’ but you will need to make decisions as to what’s the minimum viable solution that you can live with.

The mediation process is purely voluntary and you are not obligated to go through with it.

However, if you are able to consider an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to help untangle some legal disagreements, then it may be well worth a try.

Mediators are trained professionals in dispute resolution

The mediators are well trained to help the couple focus on what’s important.

They are trained to:

• Help couples find creative ways to reach an agreement
• Focus on the solution as opposed to the problem
• Help the couple speak their mind openly
• Ensure that the couple share adequate levels of information to make sound decisions

The collaborative divorce or mediation process is a cost-effective way to agree on the terms of your divorce and should be strongly considered.

Also referred to as mediated divorce

A mediated divorce is one where the couple have chosen mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method for reaching an agreement on their divorce terms.

In mediation, the mediator will act as a facilitator.

The mediator will help the couple share what’s on their mind and how they feel they can reach an agreement.

Every mediation session may be different as every couple is different.

In some cases, the mediator will guide the couple or suggest things for the couple to consider as an alternative option in reaching an agreement.

The mediator does not have authority to render binding decisions

The mediator however will never impose any decisions, it is always up to the couple to decide on the terms of their divorce.

Also, the mediation process is voluntary.

As a result, you cannot be forced to pursue mediation if you do not believe that you can reach an agreement or that it may be the best path for you.

16- What is an electronic divorce?

Divorce application filed electronically to court

With the evolution of technology, we are seeing more and more jurisdictions offer the possibility to their residents to file a divorce electronically with the Court, the ‘electronic divorce’.

This is not yet possible in the Province of Quebec but sooner or later, it will surely be a possibility.

Electronic divorce is offered in some countries like Portugal

For instance, Portugal currently offers two persons to file an electronic divorce when it meets certain conditions.

If the divorce is no-fault, uncontested, couple having no real property or children nor asking for support or alimony, then they offer an electronic and administrative method for filing the divorce application.

17- What is an online divorce?

Services offered by vendors to prepare your divorce papers online

Where in the past you needed to hire a divorce lawyer to prepare your divorce papers and application, today, many offer online divorce services where they will assist you in drafting your legal documentation at a fraction of the cost of a divorce lawyer.

Online divorce service offerings are becoming more and more popular as we tend to perform more and more activities online.

Can by a do-it-yourself type of service to prepare your divorce papers

A significant portion of the adult population in Canada and Quebec have access to the Internet either through their mobile phone or home desktop computers.

As a result, completing your own divorce papers and application through the use of an online service provider can help simplify your divorce application paperwork significantly.

If you have an uncontested divorce or an amicable divorce, you are a good candidate to consider the online divorce service offerings.

18- Divorce Takeaways

In Canada, the divorce is governed by the Divorce Act, a federal law applicable across the entire nation.

Each Province will have the powers to adopt their own divorce rules for managing the divorce court proceedings.

In the Province of Quebec, the Superior Court of Quebec is the court given legal jurisdiction to deal with family law and divorce in the Province.

In this article, we have looked at what is a divorce, the grounds of divorce, difference between a divorce and annulment, difference between divorce and legal separation in Quebec and also covered different type of divorce such as at-fault divorce, no-fault divorce, contested divorce, amicable divorce and so on.

Should you need any legal services with regards to your divorce, reach out to our divorce lawyers who are competent to support you. 

Our family law firm is well-positioned in family law to provide you a full range of legal services that you may need.

Be sure to read other related articles that we have written:

1. how is child support calculated in Quebec
2. safeguard orders in Quebec
3. property division in Quebec
4. parenting plans in Quebec
5. compensatory allowance and unjust enrichment in Quebec
6. child custody in Quebec
7. Child support in Quebec
8. family law in Quebec

And more…

In the meantime, we wish you the best of luck in your divorce case!

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Are you involved in a family law situation and need legal advice?

Perhaps you are dealing with a family law case and need legal representation before the family courts.

Wait, don’t go…

You are at the right place!!

Our family law firm provides legal services, consultation and representation with respect to all areas of family law in Quebec. Our family law lawyers can support you with respect to divorce, legal separation, common-law spouse disputes, civil union, child custody disputes, child support requests, spousal support claims, court judgments and representation, amicable settlements, negotiations and more.

This article is divided into the following sections:

1. The expertise of a family law lawyer
2. Legal services by our family law lawyers
3. Why work with our family law firm?
4. Best pricing offered by our family law lawyers
5. About our family law firm

Let’s see how we can help you!!

1- The expertise of a family law lawyer

A family law lawyer has extensive expertise in family laws, understands the family court, the  rules of procedures applicable to the family courts and has unique skills to deal with a family law clientele.

In Canada, family law is governed by both Provincial and Federal laws dealing with family related issues such as marriage, separation, divorce, custody, access rights, children, partition of assets, family patrimony and all other facets of family related matters.

A family law lawyer has a unique ability in successfully negotiating out-of-court and in the context of legal proceedings.

Family law is a very special segment of the practice of law as it deals with people’s personal lives, their property and children.

These things are highly private and sensitive aspects of people’s lives.

A family law lawyer must have great communication skills to present your case in the best possible light.

The best family law lawyer must also have an outstanding ability to listen and understand your family issue and source of dispute.

By nailing the true source of the dispute between a couple or spouses, the family law lawyer can exercise negotiation tactics and legal prouesse to resolve and de-escalate the matter.

A family lawyer is not only a lawyer but also someone who can understand how you feel, sympathize with your cause and fight vigorously for you.

2- Legal services by our family law lawyers

Our family law lawyers offer you legal services in all areas of family law, such as:

1. Divorce
2. Separation
3. Child custody
4. Child support
5. Spousal support
6. Division of assets
7. Family patrimony
8. Inheritances
9. Gifts
10. Amicable settlements
11. negotiations
12. Court disputes

And more….

Our family law lawyers have a profound understanding of the Divorce Act, the Civil Code of Quebec and the Code of Civil Procedures enabling them to handle all types of family law cases and disputes.

Whether you have a complex family situation, international assets, dealing with business or money offshore, high net worth couples, cross-border dispute, international dispute and more, our family law lawyer is here to support you.

3- Why work with our family law firm?

Working with our family law firm will bring you much greater value than mere legal services.

Working with a good family lawyer is working with someone who will handle your divorce papers, give you some legal advice, prepare your court documentation, explain to you the law and try to defend you in court.

Working with the best family lawyer is working with a lawyer who will first want to get to know you, learn about your culture, understand your desires, your objectives and see what legal vehicles can allow you to achieve your goals while at the same time giving you strategic and tactical legal advice.

The objective of a great family lawyer is not to fight unnecessarily but rather to find the best result, as soon as possible and with the least amount of financial expense to you.

With the help of our family law firm, we will get your family law case back on track.

We will fight for you relentlessly and with force.

We love family law and we are passionate about it, so we will never get tired of pursuing your goals until we achieve it!

4- Best pricing offered by our family law lawyers

Our law firm is dedicated to family law legal services, divorce and family law in Quebec.

There are many options out there, many lawyers and many law firms but there are no other law firms as motivated, eager and passionate about family law looking to serve you.

We want to be very honest with you, we want your business.

When you contact us, we will assess your case and structure a fee arrangement with you in such a way that you can benefit from our services while not being worried about your legal fees going through the roof!

We understand that you never budget paying for lawyers although you need the services of a lawyer.

With this in mind, we will work with you to ensure we find the best possible solution and fee arrangement, you can count on that!

5- About our family law firm

Our family law firm is located in the City of Montreal and we are well-positioned to provide you with legal advice relating to your family law case, consultation services and court representation.

We are not like the other family law firms giving you a scripted message suggesting that we can do everything under the sun and more.

We are the real deal, no marketing talk track, not hidden agendas…

With us, you will get what we say you will get and that’s a high level quality of legal services consistent with our brand’s mission.

Our mission statement is simple: give you the best family law legal advice concerning your child custody orders in Quebec at the best and most affordable price. Period.

If you need to speak to a lawyer, our experienced family law lawyers are sitting on the bench to help you.

Don’t hesitate to reach out, it will be our pleasure to serve.

We love what we do and we will passionately execute our mandate for you, that’s our commitment. 

We hope you enjoyed this article!

Best of luck!

FamilyLawyer.Zone

The post Family Law Lawyer appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

Are you involved in a divorce case before the family court and looking for legal representation?

Perhaps you are looking to get the best legal advice from a divorce lawyer regarding your personal situation?

We have great news for you!

You have found the right family law firm!

We will quickly present to you why we are the best family law firm offering you the best divorce lawyers to handle your case. We’ll discuss how our divorce lawyer can provide you with legal assistance, how you can find the best divorce lawyer and why our law firm is well-positioned to provide you with legal services.

This article is divided in the following parts:

1. How can the best divorce lawyer help you?
2. How to find the best divorce lawyer?
3. Our law firm will provide you with best possible legal fees
4. About our divorce law firm

Let’s get started…

1- How can the best divorce lawyer help you?

The best divorce lawyer can help you successfully navigate your divorce case so you can achieve the best possible result, quickly and at the most affordable price.

You can find a good divorce lawyer by calling a few divorce lawyers.

But you need to work with the best divorce lawyer so you can truly see real benefits in the handling of your divorce case.

Great legal advice regarding your divorce case

A great divorce lawyer can help you by advising you on all aspects of a divorce such as:

1. Divorce consequences
2. Divorce strategy
3. Asset division
4. Family patrimony
5. Child custody 
6. Child support
7. Spousal support
8. Compensatory allowance
9. Provisions for cost
10. Amicable settlements
11. Out-of-court negotiations
12. Mediation 
13. Dispute resolution techniques
14. Litigation strategy

And more…

Great divorce case legal strategy

The best divorce lawyers will find clever ways to present your case in the best possible manner before the court while finding concrete strategies in dealing with your case weaknesses.

At the end of the day, the role of a divorce lawyer is to fight really hard for your best interest, your children and your family.

Great court representation

How the best divorce lawyer can help you in your legal case is with regards to your representation before the family court.

It’s one thing to say that I’ll go to court and explain to the judge my case than to say that I’ll go to the court to win my case!

Complex divorce cases require the best divorce lawyer

We understand that many of you strongly consider representing yourself in court and we respect that.

A word of advice.

If you have a complex divorce, lots of assets, complex custody situation, undisclosed revenues, spouses owning businesses, international exposure, you will most definitely stand to gain by having the best divorce lawyer represent you in court.

Let’s face it.

A divorce lawyer is trained to handle divorce cases

A divorce lawyer is trained and groomed to only handle divorce cases, manage evidence, manage witnesses and present your case to court.

It takes years of formal legal education and on-the-job training to achieve a level of experience and mastery of the law to successfully represent clients before the Superior Court of Quebec.

Unless your case is very straightforward or fully amicable, we urge you to consult with a divorce lawyer to see how you can benefit from their services.

Our family law firm offers a full range of legal services regarding divorce and separation. Don’t hesitate to contact us so we can put our experience to work for you!

2- How to find the best divorce lawyer?

Now that you’ve determined that you need a divorce lawyer, how do you find the best divorce lawyer?

There are a few objective and universal factors that can help you find the best divorce lawyer to represent you. 

We have defined a short non-exhaustive list of what you should look for when you are looking for a divorce lawyer. 

This is a subjective list but quite helpful!

What the best divorce lawyer should know how to do

The best divorce lawyer should be able to:

• Accurately tell you about your rights;
• Guide you in dealing with your obligations;
• Fight as hard as he or she can for your best interest;
• Be available to give your advice and guidance by phone or email;
• Understand your challenges deeply to convey that to the judge;
• Have lots of experience in dealing with cases like yours;
• Be prepared and battle-ready at all time;
• Be clear as to what he or she needs from you;
• Only render the right amount of legal services to limit your costs;
• Don’t steer you in the wrong direction so you pay tons to get yourself out of the hole;
• Be fair in his pricing and charge competitive rates;
• Offer you flexibility on payment terms; and,
• Be a super nice person so you enjoy working with him or her!

There may be other points or there may be too many here, that’s up to you to define what’s right for you.

Now, for the million-dollar question…

Assess what you need from your divorce lawyer

Can you find the diamond in the rough, the best lawyer at the greatest rate possible!

Let’s see…

It’s difficult to say that you will find ‘the’ perfect divorce lawyer to represent you who has all the experience, who fully understands you, who fully understands the law, who masters court procedures, has the best price and so on.

Just like anything you buy, you will need to determine what’s your baseline requirement and then make concessions.

For example, if you need a lawyer to be fairly priced, then, you will evidently look for a divorce lawyer who can provide you with the best legal rates. 

You must acknowledge that you may or may not get the greatest quality of legal services if you are looking for just the best fees out there. 

If legal competence and strategy is a key element for you, then, you’ll need to make concessions and accept to pay a little more.

The best divorce lawyers will potentially come with a price tag.

Our divorce lawyers are great at what they do and are affordable

The good news is that at our law firm, we have the best divorce lawyers at the best market rates. 

We are so confident that we can not only provide you with the best possible legal services at the best possible price, you will be stunned!

Contact us to explore the possibilities with us.

3- Our law firm will provide you with best possible legal fees

Our law firm is dedicated to family law legal services, divorce and family law.

There are many options out there, many lawyers and many law firms but there are no other law firms as motivated, eager and passionate about family law looking to serve you.

We want to be very honest with you, we want your business.

When you contact us, we will assess your case and structure a fee arrangement with you in such a way that you can benefit from our services while not being worried about your legal fees going through the roof!

We understand that you never budget paying for lawyers although you need the services of a lawyer.

With this in mind, we will work with you to ensure we find the best possible solution and fee arrangement, you can count on that!

4- About our divorce law firm

Our family law firm is located in the City of Montreal and well-positioned to provide you with legal advice relating to your divorce case, advice, consultation and court representation.

We are not like the other family law firms giving you a scripted message suggesting that we can do everything under the sun and more.

We are the real deal, no marketing talk track, not hidden agendas…

With us, you will get what we say you will get and that’s a high level quality of legal services consistent with our brand’s mission.

Our mission statement is simple: give you the best family law legal services concerning your divorce at the best and most affordable price. Period.

If you need to speak to a lawyer, our experienced divorce lawyer is sitting on the bench to help you.

Don’t hesitate to reach out, it will be our pleasure to serve.

We love what we do and we will passionately execute our mandate for you, that’s our commitment. 

We hope you enjoyed this article!

Best of luck!

FamilyLawyer.Zone

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Ever wondered what are the different stages in a family law court proceeding like a divorce case, dissolution of legal proceeding or legal separation?

You’ve filed for a divorce or got served with court papers and now wondering what are the next steps in your family law legal journey?

In this article, we will look over the different stages in a family law court proceeding from the filing of a court application all the way to the rendering of a final judgment.

A typical family law court proceeding will generally involve nine steps or milestones to achieve a final judgment and these steps are:

1. Filing of the court demand
2. Service of legal papers to defendant
3. Initial presentation of the case at court
4. Filing of a case protocol
5. Safeguard orders
6. Provisional orders
7. Declaration of file readiness for trial
8. Trial on merits
9. Judgment from the court
10. Conclusion on family court proceedings

Keep reading as we will go into each of these steps in more detail.

1. Filing of the court demand

The first step in a family law court case is the filing of a demand. 

In Quebec, in legal jargon, we refer to this as a “demand originating proceedings”. 

For example, if you intend on filing a divorce application, then you must draft a divorce application in accordance with the rules of procedure if the Court.

When your divorce application is ready, it must be “filed in court”.

Filing in court is simply depositing the original version of your divorce application in the records of the court and getting a court file number attributed to your case.

The final formality in the initial filing of your court application is to pay a court filing fee, or court costs, associated with the type of application you are filing.

The court cost will be confirmed to you by the court clerk situated at your local courthouse.

Generally speaking, the above process applies to most legal applications or demands filed before the courts in Quebec in family law, such as legal separation, dissolution of a civil union, child support or child custody applications.

2. Service of legal papers to defendant

Once you have deposited the original of your court application in the record of the court, paid your court stamp and obtained your court file number, or docket number, you are ready to serve your papers to the other party.

The service of legal papers is a process by which you will send a certified copy of your court papers to your former spouse or defendant and obtain proof that he or she in fact received the papers.

The service of your court documents will be initially done by a bailiff, or a process server as it is generally called in common law jurisdiction.

The bailiff is a professional tasked with the mandate of delivering your court papers to the defending party and providing a report of the date, time, place and name of the person who received the court papers.

The facts and statements made by the bailiff with respect to the actual service is admitted in court without much objection as such document is legally considered an authentic act.

The legal papers you send the defendant must contain a summons. 

The summons is the document that legally calls the defendant to take an action in response to the lawsuit served and such action is defined by law as follows under article 145 of the Civil Code of Procedures of Quebec:

The plaintiff summons the defendant before justice by means of a summons attached to the application. The summons includes a list of the exhibits in support of the application and informs the defendant that they are available on request.

The defendant must answer the application within the following 15 days, failing which a default judgment may be rendered and the legal costs awarded against the defendant.

The defendant must respond within fifteen days from the receipt of the summons and disclose his or her intention to negotiate a settlement or establish a case protocol for the orderly progress of the legal proceedings.

Failure to respond within fifteen days, the plaintiff may request from the court the rendering of a default judgment which is something the defendant can easily avoid.

3. Initial presentation of the case at court

Now you are advancing your lawsuit journey.

You have successfully served your former spouse or defendant.

So what’s next?

The next step is for the initial presentation of your court case before a judge.

This initial presentation is not a date where a judge will render a final judgment on your case but a date where the court demands that the plaintiff and defendant agree on a case protocol.

At the initial presentation of the case, the judge will have the role of a coordinator as opposed to a trial judge.

The judge will see, in summary fashion, the nature of the dispute and what the parties intend to do in light of preparing the case for readiness to be heard by a trial judge.

The judge will ensure that what the parties ask is reasonable and proportionate in consideration of the nature of dispute, sums involved and overall complexity of the file.

4. Filing of a case protocol

A case protocol, as its name suggests, is a timetable of different activities that each party wants and is authorized to perform, directly or through their lawyers, and the various milestones legally required to be satisfied so that a legal case is declared to have the readiness to ultimately go to trial.

The law defines the case protocol as follows:

The parties are required to co-operate to either arrive at a settlement or establish a case protocol. In the case protocol, the parties set out their agreements and undertakings and the issues in dispute, indicate the consideration given to private dispute prevention and resolution processes, describe the steps to be taken to ensure the orderly conduct of the proceeding, assess the time completing these steps could require and the foreseeable legal costs, and set the deadlines to be met within the strict time limit for trial readiness.

The novelty of the case protocol in Quebec is that the lawyers and the parties must assess the foreseeable legal costs associated with the completion of each legal step required.

For example, if a party demands to obtain an expert’s opinion, then, the foreseeable costs associated with that must be disclosed.

The main reason why the law requires a case protocol to be implemented to govern the proceedings is to ensure that the parties are accountable to do what’s needed within a specified timeline and that the file harmoniously progresses and is ready to be tried.

Ideally, the parties themselves will agree on the content of the case protocol and file the mutually signed version in the record of the court.

However, in cases of disagreements, the parties will then submit their sources of contention and arguments to the court and the judge will decide on the matter.

We typically refer to this as “case management”.

5. Safeguard orders

In family law cases, safeguard orders may be very important if not crucial in dealing with a highly urgent matter that must be resolved immediately.

A safeguard order is an urgent demand made by one party in a court proceeding to request assistance from the court in dealing with an urgent matter that cannot wait until the trial date in many months or years.

For instance, a spouse may file for divorce and at the same time immediately ask for a safeguard order with respect to parenting rights, parenting time and child support as the ex-spouses cannot agree on these topics to the detriment of the children.

This will be the case when the spouses are in dispute regarding who will keep custody of the children and who should pay for the children’s expenses.

Imagine if you don’t work and you depended on your spouse to pay your children’s expenses and school fees, and if payment is not made in the next few weeks, your child will be deprived of his or her education, then this is a scenario that will warrant filing for a safeguard order.

Safeguard orders can be essentially on any topic of important urgency and where an irreparable harm may be caused if the court does not render and immediate judgment.

6. Provisional orders

While safeguard orders are valid for a very short period of time and are intended to provide remedy for a highly urgent matter in the immediate, provisional orders are a type of judgment that will govern the parties for the entire duration of the legal proceedings.

A typical contested divorce case or legal separation case can take potentially two to three years to complete.

As a result, if you have to take care of your children and continue paying for the family expenses, take care of the family residence and do many activities to transition out of your relationship, a provisional order is useful to ensure that you and your ex-partner have clarity on your obligations so to avoid further dispute.

A provisional order will generally cover the parenting obligations, child support, spousal support and use of family assets like the family residence, furniture and so on.

The provisional order is not intended to deal with matters such as partition of assets and the accessory measures to a divorce, legal separation or dissolution of civil union.

Such legal matters will be dealt with by the trial judge at the final hearing on merits.

In most cases, when a divorce application or legal separation application is filed, a motion for provisional measures will also accompany the main application.

In fact, the defendant will receive two motions, the divorce application along with a motion for provisional measures.

In this instance, the divorce application will deal with the spouse’s demands on the merits of the case and the provisional motion will seek to obtain a judgment on the important matters for the duration of the proceedings.

7. Declaration of file readiness for trial

When all the legal tasks and activities are performed to the satisfaction of the parties and to the extent authorized by the court as per the case protocol, the parties must eventually declare the file ready to proceed to trial.

This declaration of file readiness is important as the court will review the file and ensure that all the exhibits, documents and material that the parties wish to present to a judge have in fact been filed and disclosed to the other party.

When you declare your file as ready for trial, this means that you have gathered all the evidence that you need, like documents, contracts, e-mails, written statements, you have done any expertise or obtained expert evaluations and reports, like accounting expertise, property evaluations, psychosocial evaluations or other, and you have done any out of court examinations that was needed for your case.

When declaring the file ready, the parties must also disclose the name of witnesses they intend on calling to trial, disclose the nature of their testimony along with how long each party anticipates examining and cross-examining each witness.

With this assessment, the court can estimate the number of days needed for trial before a judge and eventually book you for trial.

8. Trial on merits

You have now reached the stage where you must proceed to the trial on the merits of your case.

You may have waited six months, two years, four years or maybe longer to get to this point.

The trial day is a significant date as it is the day where each party will expose their case, present their evidence to the court and provide their pleadings to the judge in an attempt to sway the decision of the judge in their favor.

The success of the trial on the merits will depend on many factors that go beyond the documents and evidence filed in the record of the court.

From our perspective, half of the battle is fought in the several years leading to the trial date but the other half, which is quite significant, is fought in the several days of trial that you have been given to present your case and convince a judge of your position.

If you are successful in trial, even if your case may not have been a home run on paper, you increase the likelihood of your overall success.

The reverse is also true.

You may have a good case on paper but due to a poor performance and inadequate preparation for trial, you may walk away highly disappointed.

9. Judgment from the court

When you have presented your case to the judge during trial, all the witnesses heard, all exhibits presented to the judge and each party’s plea heard by the judge, the court will then consider all the facts and legal argumentation to render a judgment.

In most cases, when a judge hears a case on the merits, the judge will take the case under advisement and render a judgment at a later point in time.

Judges have up to six months to render their judgment once trial is over.

When the court deals with safeguard orders, the court’s decision will generally be rendered on the bench.

With regards to provisional judgments, in most cases, the judge will render a decision at the end of the hearing and will orally read his or her judgment that will ultimately be drafted and sent to the parties.

With regards to a judgment on the merits, when the judgment is rendered, that decision will put an end to the legal proceedings in the first instance.

The first instance is the first court that was seized with the legal application.

For instance, if you intend on filing a divorce, the first instance court is the Superior Court of Quebec in the province of Quebec as that’s where the initial divorce application will be filed.

If the judgment on the merits is not appealed within thirty days of it being rendered, then the legal case is definitively resolved and closed.

The judgment on merit will be sent to your lawyer if you are represented and sent by mail if you are self-representing.

10- Conclusion on family court proceedings

In this article, we wanted to share with you the typical court process when dealing with a family law case such as a divorce, legal separation or dissolution of civil union.

We hope this article was informative for you.

Should you need any further information, need legal representation or legal advice, we invite you to contact our law firm dedicated to family law cases.

We can support you with your court process and legal proceedings to ensure that every step of your case is handled with care and diligence so that you put all the chances on your side.

We look forward to working with you.

Alternatively, we invite you to continue reading the great resources and legal information we make available to you and our clients through our website.

FamilyLawyer.Zone

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To help you in your divorce journey, whether you are looking for information or dealing with an actual divorce case in Court, our Divorce Lawyer’s Guide on Divorce is written just for you.

In this guide, we share with you useful legal knowledge, tips and resources so you can thoroughly understand all that you need to know about divorce. 

In this guide, we will cover the following topics:

1. Divorce
2. Legal Separation
3. Civil Union
4. Marriage Annulment
5. Separation Date
6. Effects of Marriage
7. Marriage Contract
8. Common-Law Relationships
9. Division of Property
10. Spousal support
11. Compensatory Allowance
12. Parenting Rights and Parenting Orders
13. Child Support
14. Family mediation
15. Hiring a Lawyer

1- Divorce

Divorce Act

In the Province of Quebec, the legal foundation of divorce is identical to all other Canadian Provinces. 

In fact, in Canada, divorce is governed by the Divorce Act, a federal statute, applicable in all Canadian Provinces.

Thus, even though the Province of Quebec operates under a civil legal system as opposed to a common law system applicable in all other Canadian Provinces, the Divorce Act applies to all Provinces the same way.

Rules of procedure

The major difference in the area of divorce between Quebec and the rest of Canada is the actual rules of procedure applied by the Courts of each Province.

The rules of procedure are rules enacted by each Province governing the procedure, or the manner that a divorce application is filed in Court, the forms needed, the formalities of the legal proceedings from the start of the case all the way to the divorce trial.

Divorce Court Process

Each Canadian Province locally defines and enacts laws governing the divorce process.

In this context, each Province also regulates the manner a local Court will handle and process a divorce application either administratively or in a judicial manner. 

In Quebec, a divorce case will follow different stages from the filing of a divorce application all the way to the rendering of a final and definitive divorce judgment. 

Depending on the complexity and level of dispute between the divorcing parties, a divorce case can either skip certain steps and complete faster or, in other cases, every step of the case may be disputed and require the intervention of the Court.

Typical Court Stages

The typical Court process may involve one or many of the below events or stages:

1. Divorce Court stages
2. Notices to appear 
3. Divorce administrative delays
4. Seizure before judgment
5. Expertise and expert opinions
6. Divorce trials and hearing on merits
7. Appeal of a divorce judgment
8. Modification of a divorce judgment 
9. Joint divorce application

2- Legal separation 

What is legal separation?

Legal separation is formally called “separation from bed and board” as defined in the Civil Code of Quebec, article 493.

Legal separation is granted when the “will to share a community of life is gravely undermined” as stipulated in the Civil Code. 

Consequences of legal separation

When the Court renders a legal separation judgment, the Court will settle all aspects of the separation of the couple.

In essence, the Court will ensure that the division of property is performed as required by law, the children’s interests are preserved, spousal support payments are considered and payable as needed and ensures the overall equity in the separation of the parties.

Legal separation grounds

You can demonstrate that your desire to live together is gravely undermined when:

1. There is enough proof to show that the continuation of your marriage is no longer tolerable;
2. At the time of filing for legal separation, you are living apart; or 
3. Either spouse has failed to respect his or her marital obligations

Filing of legal separation

Legal separation is a possible option if you are married to your spouse. 

This means that this option is not possible for common-law couples or civil union couples.

Separation agreement

You are also able to submit an agreement settling all the consequences of your separation from bed and board without having to disclose any grounds.

This is interesting as it can allow you the legal possibility to file for a legal separation immediately upon separation.​

3- Civil Union 

What is a civil union?

Civil union is a legal regime allowing “two persons 18 years of age or over” to form a union and form a community of life.

In other words, same sex individuals can get “married” under the civil union regime as this regime is allows “two persons” to form a union.

A marriage, on the other hand, is between a man and a woman.

The civil union regime is governed by the Civil Code of Quebec, thus, a provincial legislation, articles 521.1 to 521.19.

Civil union obligations

Spouses in a civil union have the same rights and obligations and owe one another respect, fidelity, succour and assistance.

Civil union spouses also have the same obligation to cohabitate and share a community of life in the same way as married spouses.

Civil union contract

If couples enter into a civil union contract, they can select the matrimonial regime applicable to them.

If the couple does not fix their civil union regime upon union, then, the default matrimonial regime applicable to them is the regime of partnership of acquests.

4- Marriage annulment

What is marriage annulment?

Marriage annulment is an exceptional remedy that may be appropriate if the validity of the marriage is at stake. 

The difference between marriage annulment and divorce is mainly linked to the validity of the marriage itself as opposed to the consequences of a marital breakdown.

Examples of marriage annulment 

A scenario where marriage annulment can be considered is if a spouse tricked another one to get married for the sole purpose of regularizing an immigration status.

Alternatively, annulment may be considered if a material fact underlying the marriage was misrepresented such as the other spouse did not know the true sex of the person when getting married. 

Consequences of the annulment

When the Court declares a marriage null, it pretty much means that the Court does not recognize the validity of the marriage and the objective will be to put the couple back in their original states.

In other words, if a spouse had contributed money and property towards the marriage, then that spouse will be entitled to get back the contributions made.

Children’s rights

If the Court declares the marriage null, the rights of any child or children born as a result of this nullified marriage will be unaffected.

Under article 381 of the Civil Code of Quebec, the nullity of marriage does not deprive the children of the advantages secured to them by law or by marriage contract.

Spousal support

On the other hand, the nullity of marriage will extinguish the right of the spouses to claim spousal support, as dictated by article 389 of the Civil Code. 

The Court will have discretion to award spousal support, even in a case of nullity of marriage and decide in an equitable manner.

The Court may also reserve a spouse’s right to claim spousal support in the future.

Legal delays 

To file for the annulment of your marriage, you must do so within three years from the actual date of marriage.

5- Separation date

What is the separation date?

When you are married and decide to separate from your spouse, there is a point in time where you both agree to stop living together.

In other more typical scenarios, a spouse leaves the family home, in a definitive way.

The date where you can say that you and your spouse have stopped living together in a definitive and irreversible manner is your “separation date”.

Separating without getting a divorce

Can you separate from your spouse without legally filing for divorce or legal separation? 

Yes, it is possible.

However, from a legal perspective, you remain married and remain subject to the rights and obligations stemming from your marital bond.

For instance, if there are debts that you incur for the benefit of the family, whether the debt is jointly held or by one spouse individually, you will remain solidarily responsible from a legal point of view.

In some cases, you may agree with your spouse on separation terms but without filing it in Court.

In such cases, if your spouse fails to comply with the terms of that agreement, you do not have any legal avenues to enforce the agreement.

For any legally enforceable agreement to be implemented, you must ensure that you have the Court ratify the agreement into a divorce judgment or a legal separation judgment.

Consequence of separation date

The separation date has a very important significance from a legal point of view.

In fact, when the Court renders a divorce judgment and divides the property of the couple, the division will take place as of the “separation date” upon demand by a spouse.

Typically, the Court must establish the value of the family assets as of the date when the divorce application is filed.

However, if this date does not adequately reflect the true market value of the property along with outstanding debt, a spouse may request that the Court use the separation date as cut-off as opposed to the filing date of the divorce application.

Example of use of separation date

For example, you separate from your spouse on July 1st of this year but the Court renders a divorce judgment only two years later. 

During this two year period, after your separation date and before the divorce judgment, you and your spouse have moved on with your lives and have purchased other assets or even started a new relationship.

Typically the Court will not consider what was done after separate from the perspective of the division of your property.

As a result, the Court will look to see what you and your spouse owned as of your separation date, evaluate the total family assets and liabilities as of that date, and perform the division.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, what we outline above is the typical scenario.

6- Effects of Marriage

When married, spouses owe one another respect, fidelity, succour and assistance. 

The spouses are also required to cohabitate and share a community of life.

The law also vests in the spouses the right and duty to together decide on the direction of the family and exercise of parental authority if there are children.

The spouses, when married, must also contribute towards the expenses of the marriage in proportion to their respective means which includes their activities within the home.

What’s notable under the law in Quebec is that a spouse that enters into a contract for the needs of the family also binds the other spouse.

In essence, when you get married, you have an obligation to decide as to the best interest of the family together, share the expenses and manage the children and all associated tasks together.

7- Marriage Contract

A marriage contract is a contract that a couple will sign that will govern the terms and conditions of a potential divorce.

A marriage contract must be notarized for it to be valid and can be signed prior or after your marriage.

Once signed, your notary will register your marriage contract under the register of personal and movable real rights (RPMRR) so to publicly disclose the existence of this contract.

If it is signed prior to your marriage, then it will take effect as of the date of your marriage.

If it is signed after your marriage, then it will take effect as of the day it is signed by the spouses.

A marriage contract will typically stipulate the matrimonial regime that the couple would want the Court to apply.

The matrimonial regimes can be either the partnership of acquests, separation as to property or community of property.

Also, the marriage contract can stipulate terms regarding gifts to be made to a spouse. 

Gifts can be made to a spouse or children during your lifetime or death. 

If a gift was granted in the event of death and not separation, the Court may cancel such gifts.

Gifts can also be made for during the lifetime of your spouse and thus the Court may cancel or reduce the value of such gifts upon demand and meeting of proper conditions.

8- Common-Law Relationships

What is a common-law relationship?

A common-law relationship, also called a “de facto” union, is when you and your partner live together and present yourselves publicly as a couple but you are not married or in a civil union.

In the event of a breakdown of your relationship, the laws applicable to married couples or those in a civil union will not apply to you.

In a way, this may sound as if it’s a better legal position to be in when dealing with a breakup.

However, this may be a false perception.

Unlike married couples, you do not need to go to Court to formalize your separation.

Legal protection?

However, common-law couples do not have the same level of protection as married couples do when it comes to division of property for example.

Since the rules of the family patrimony does not apply to common-law couples separating, then, there is no obligation to divide the value of the family residence equally although both may have contributed towards the expenses.

Example of inequity during breakup

For example, a couple buys a condo and one leaves the cash down payment and qualifies for the mortgage, while the other one was unemployed.

So naturally, the condo will be in the name of one spouse who was able to qualify for the mortgage.

However, during their relationship, the unemployed spouse finds a good job while the other one loses his or her job.

In this case, the spouse who does not own the condo ends up paying nearly all the condo expenses and mortgage payment.

Upon separation, the legal owner of the condo is the spouse that did not contribute anything and this will result in an important inequity.

If the couple were married, then, automatically, the law would have required that the value of the property be divided equally between the couple, a situation much more equitable than for the common-law couple.

Separation agreement

As common-law couples, in the event you separate, you can agree to sign a separation agreement that will outline the manner that you will handle the division of your property and manage your children.

Cohabitation agreement

What’s a cohabitation agreement?

One way common-law couples or de facto spouses can protect themselves and prevent significant challenges, legal expenses and time loss when separating and dealing with issues such as division of property and other is to sign a cohabitation agreement.

The cohabitation agreement or a common-law contract will deal with matters such as division of property and parenting arrangements after separation.

What’s in a cohabitation agreement?

The couple can agree on any point that is important for them so long as it does not go against the law. 

A typical cohabitation agreement is one where the common-law couple will determine the following:

1. How will each contribute towards the expenses of the couple
2. Identify the property that each will contribute to the relationship
3. Identify how they will each manage the debts or liabilities they bring into the couple
4. How to divide property upon separation
5. How to divide liability upon separation
6. Define the percentage that each will contribute towards major expenses for the couple

The couple can decide on any topic that is important for them and so the cohabitation agreement is quite flexible.

Lawyer helping with your contract

You can write the cohabitation agreement yourself and sign it as a couple or you can consult with a lawyer or a notary to help you draft a good cohabitation agreement.

Generally, it is a good idea to have the agreement professionally drafted so you can ensure the proper intention is conveyed and that there is little or no room for interpretation as to your rights and obligations when you separate. 

Children’s rights

If you have children, the law applies automatically to your parenting rights and obligations.

As a result, if you are unable to reach an agreement on the best parenting time and arrangement, the Court can provide you rulings on child support and parenting orders (custody and access rights). 

9- Property division

Family patrimony

What is the family patrimony?

Married couples or those united under the civil union regime are subject to the rules of the family patrimony.

For the sake of this section, everything we say about married couples will apply the same way to those civil union spouses.

Article 414 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that marriage entails the establishment of a family patrimony consisting of certain property of the spouses regardless of which spouse owns that property.

This is a significant protection offered to married couples 

What is the family patrimony composed of?

The family patrimony is composed of the following property:

1. the residences of the family or the rights which confer use of them
2. the movable property with which they are furnished or decorated and which serves for the use of the household
3. the motor vehicles used for family travel, and 
4. the benefits accrued during the marriage under a retirement plan
5. the registered earnings, during the marriage, of each spouse pursuant to the Act respecting the Québec Pension Plan

The family patrimony therefore includes only very specific assets, as listed above.

What does the family patrimony not include?

The family patrimony does not include the following property:

1. Gifts before or during the marriage
2. Inheritances 
3. Any other assets that is not specifically mentioned to be included in the family patrimony

When is the family patrimony established?

The family patrimony is formally established as of the day of the marriage.

Therefore, the property that you owned or debts you had incurred prior to the date of marriage is not included in the family patrimony.

How do we divide the family patrimony?

Dividing the family patrimony is pretty simple.

As of your separate date, you should identify the following assets:

1. Family residence
2. Furniture in family residence
3. Secondary residence 
4. Furniture in your secondary residence 
5. Vehicles and automobiles used by the family
6. RRSP’s or registered retirement saving plans
7. Pension plans
8. Registered earnings under the RRQ or Régie des rentes du Québec

You deduct the value of the same property as of the marriage date, the value of any gifts and inheritances used to purchase these properties along with capital gains or losses.

If you’ve acquired all the family patrimony assets during your marriage, the calculation can be quite simple.

However, if you’ve had assets prior to marriage, received inheritances or gifts during marriage, invested and reinvested in different types of property during your marriage, then, it may be worthwhile consulting with a lawyer to better understand the value of your family patrimony.

Can you contractually change the terms of the family patrimony?

The rules of the family patrimony will apply to you regardless of any contracts you may have signed or any agreements you may have reached prior to your divorce application being filed.

The rules of the family patrimony can therefore not be overridden by the agreement of the spouses even though you thought the agreement was fair at the time it was concluded.

On the other hand, after the divorce application is officially filed, you can agree on the terms of the family patrimony with your spouse, however, if the Court considers that the agreement is not favourable to a party, the Court may refuse to ratify your agreement.

It is therefore important to ensure that you reach an agreement on the terms of the family patrimony in such a way that when you consider the division of all of your assets, there appears to be equity in the partition. 

Matrimonial regimes 

The matrimonial regime is a set of rules that will apply to married couples governing how your  assets and property will be divided except for those governed by the rules of the family patrimony.

It must be noted that there are no matrimonial regime that will override or impact the assets subject to the rules of the family patrimony.

In other words, if you have assets other than a family residence, furniture, automobiles used by the family, RRSP’s and pension plan, then all remaining assets, such as money in bank account, investments, businesses, or anything else, will be divided based on the rules of your matrimonial regime. 

There are three types of matrimonial regimes that can apply to you, they are:

1. Partnership of acquests
2. Separation as to property
3. Community to property

Partnership of acquests

What is a partnership of acquests regime?

The matrimonial regime of partnership of acquests is the default regime applicable to a married couple if they do not specifically select their matrimonial regime through a marriage contract.

Property qualification

Under this regime, your property will be divided in two categories:

1. The acquests
2. Private property

Acquets

The acquests are property that will be shared and divided between the spouses. 

These are generally property that was acquired during the marriage or with income earned during the marriage by the spouses.

A property that cannot be specifically proven to be a private property will be deemed an acquests and thus subject to division between the spouses.

Private property

The private property is a property that you typically held prior to your marriage or other type of personal property or income such as support payments or disability pensions.

The law also declares some property as a private property such as:

1. Your clothing
2. Personal documents
3. Wedding ring and alliance
4. Instruments and property you use for work
5. Personal retirement annuity
6. Property you received by inheritance or as a gift

How are the assets divided?

Spouses subject to the matrimonial regime of partnership of acquests will need to divide their acquests equally and will each keep their private property.

Separation as to property

Separation as to property is a matrimonial regime where each spouse will retain the ownership of the property in his or her name whether acquired before the marriage or after.

Separation as to property is not a default regime that will be applicable to the spouses. 

In other words, the only way that this matrimonial regime can be adopted is through a marriage contract.

When signing a marriage contract, the spouses can mutually agree on the separation as to property to be applicable to the spouses in the event of a divorce.

Community of property

The matrimonial regime of community of property was the default regime applicable to married couples who got married without a contract prior to July 1, 1970.

Under this regime, your property will be divided in three categories:

1. Community property
2. Private property
3. Reserved property

In the event of a separation and divorce, if you are subject to the matrimonial regime of community of property, each spouse will remain the owner of their private property and will equally divide the reserved property and community property.

Under this regime, the wife may keep her reserved property by renouncing her share in the community property.

The wife may also renounce to the community property if the net value is negative.

This matrimonial regime is not commonly seen and thus if you are subject to this regime, it is recommended that you speak with a lawyer who fully understands the dynamics of this matrimonial regime.

10- Spousal support 

What is spousal support?

Spousal support is a sum of money that one spouse will be ordered to pay the other spouses in the context of a legal separation, dissolution of a civil union or divorce.

Spousal support under Divorce Act

If the Court orders spousal support to be paid in the context of a divorce, then, the applicable law governing the ordering of the spousal support will be the Divorce Act. 

Article 15.2(1) of the Divorce Act states that a Court may make an order requiring a spouse to secure or pay periodic payments or a lump sum to the other spouse as the Court thinks reasonable for the support of the other spouse.

Spousal support under legal separation 

If spousal support is ordered to be paid in the context of a legal separation or dissolution of civil union, then the governing law will be the Civil Code of Quebec.

Under article 511 of the Civil Code of Quebec, the Court, when granting a separation from bed and board, may order either spouse to pay support to the other.

Spousal support under civil union

Under article 521.17 of the Civil Code of Quebec, the Court may order one civil union spouse to pay support to the other.

Factors to consider

Under the Divorce Act, there are certain factors that the Court must consider in awarding spousal support.

These factors are:

1. the length of time the spouses cohabited;
2. the functions performed by each spouse during cohabitation; and
3. any order, agreement or arrangement relating to support of either spouse.

The law also specifically excludes the misconduct of a spouse when order spousal support.

In other words, the Court cannot order a spouse to pay more spousal support as a sort of punishment for a marital misconduct of any kind.

Spousal support not automatic

Spousal support is not awarded automatically by the Court similar to child support and therefore must be requested.

The spouse asking for spousal support must present an income statement showing his or her income and expenses so that the Court can appreciate the financial needs.

11- Compensatory Allowance 

What is compensatory allowance?

Compensatory allowance is a sum of money that the Court orders a spouse to pay the other spouse for his or her contribution to the enrichment of the other during the marriage.

Article 427 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that: 

The court, in declaring separation from bed and board, divorce or nullity of marriage, may order either spouse to pay to the other, as compensation for the latter’s contribution, in property or services, to the enrichment of the patrimony of the former, an allowance payable all at once or by instalments, taking into account, in particular, the advantages of the matrimonial regime and of the marriage contract. 

Compensatory allowance is therefore a contribution in property or service that contributed to enrich the patrimony of one spouse to the detriment of the other.

Example of when compensatory allowance can be awarded

For example, consider that while a spouse was travelling for most part of the year and the other spouse stayed home to take care of the children with special needs and was prevented from pursuing a career or further education.

In this case, if the travelling spouse’s patrimony is enriched to the detriment of the other, the Court can grant a compensatory allowance award, upon demand, to reach a more equitable outcome.

The objective of compensatory allowance is to compensate a loss of one spouse suffered at the expense of the enrichment of the other.

This is different from using compensatory allowance to achieve a partition of assets that we do not consider suitable. 

Contributing to the enterprise of the other spouse

Compensatory allowance can also be awarded when a spouse has contributed to the business of the other and within which he or she does not have any shares or ownership.

The typical scenario is when a spouse starts a business while the other spouse helps with answer calls, doing accounting work and managing the operations of the company.

As the business grows, the spouse owning the business will reap all the benefit of the increased business value and does not compensate the other in any way.

The Court can consider that, depending on the value of the business and extent of the other spouse’s support, a compensatory allowance award is necessary to compensate for the proportionate enrichment of one spouse to the detriment of the other.

12- Parenting rights (custody and access rights)

Parenting rights and obligations are some of the most difficult and sometimes most contentious factors in a family law case.

As parents, we want what’s best for our children but at the same time we must deal with an ex-partner with whom our relationship has broken down.

This can be quite challenging and to a certain extent highly emotional for the parents.

At the end of the day, if the parents are unable to reach a mutual agreement on the parenting time and arrangement, custody and access rights, then the Court will need to render a judgment.

The Courts have developed rules and principles based on law and jurisprudence that will help them guide their decision when involving children.

Parental authority

Regardless of the parenting order and parenting time, both parents must consult with one another to make important decisions in the life of their children.

This concept is called parental authority.

Article 600 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that the father and mother exercise parental authority together.

In case of difficulty, the person having parental authority may refer the matter to the Court who will decide in the interest of the child after fostering the conciliation of the parties, as dictated by article 604 of the Civil Code of Quebec. 

What does parental authority involve?

Parental authority will typically involve major decisions regarding a child, such as:

1. Medical treatments
2. Overall health of the child
3. Religious teachings
4. Education and choice of school
5. Place of residence

Interest of the child

As required by the Civil Code, all decisions concerning a child must be made in his or her best interest. 

In other words, the Court will consider the child’s intellectual, emotional and physical needs when making a decision concerning the child.

Parenting order

The Court will also decide as to the parenting time (custody and access rights) in the best interest of the child. 

The Court’s role will be to render a custody and access rights judgment that will foster the best development of the child, considers the child’s age, medical needs, family environment and any other important aspects in the life of the child.

Sometimes, this exercise can be difficult and the Court will request, or the parties will request, an expert opinion from a psychosocial expert or psychologist.

Agreement by parents

When the parents are able to mutually agree and decide what’s best for their child is in most cases ideal as the parents will implement and agree on an arrangement they both can live with.

When the Court renders a judgment, a parent may feel that his or her position was not properly understood by the Court and the court judgment is therefore not ideal.

This is the risk that you face when you leave a third party, essentially a judge, render a judgment concerning your children.

Custody under the Civil Code of Quebec

Article 599 of the Civil Code of Quebec states that the father and mother have the rights and duties of custody, supervision and education of their children. 

The parents must also maintain their children.

13- Child support

If you have a child with our spouse or partner, whether you are married or in a common-law relationship, you are required by law to ensure the financial needs of your child.

Child support is an amount of money paid by one parent to the other to contribute towards the financial needs of a child after break up.

The law further defines the rules to calculate child support.

There are two guidelines that can apply for child support calculation.

There are the guidelines established by the Quebec government and they will apply if both parents live in Quebec.

There are also the federal guidelines that they will apply if one parent lives outside of Quebec and in another Canadian province.

The purpose of child support is to provide for your child’s basic needs.

The law considers the child’s basic needs to be:

• food
• shelter
• communications
• Household expenses
• personal hygiene
• clothing
• furnishings
• transportation
• leisure activities

Child support payments are not taxable whereby the parent receiving child support will not be taxed on this income and the parent paying child support will not deduct it from his or her income.

14- Family mediation

Family mediation is a process through which separating couples can work through and agree on issues relating to their divorce, children or any other point of contention.

Through mediation, the separating couple will benefit from the services of a mediator who is a professional trained to help couples who disagree to eventually reach a mutually satisfying agreement. 

Family mediation is a voluntary process and therefore if you do not believe that you can reach an agreement, you are not compelled to continue with the process.

The family mediation process is not a couple’s therapy session for saving your marriage. 

Mediation is a process where the mediator assumes that you and your spouse have formulated that definitive intention in separating and is there to help you work through the consequences of your separation.

A couple’s therapy is on the other hand a session where you are working on your relationship problems in an attempt to save and work on your relationship.

The objective is very different and it must be clear when spouses engage in mediation.

During the mediation process, the mediator will facilitate the proper communication between the spouses, making sure everyone is properly heard and treated equally and the couple put the needs of their children first as opposed to taking revenge.

During family mediation, the spouses will need to come to a final decision on the consequences of their divorce or separation as the mediator does not have the power to impose a decision on the couple.

The mediator does not represent one party nor will give legal advice to one or the other.

The mediator will always remain neutral and ensure a fair process.

If the mediation is successful, the spouses can essentially reach an agreement on all the points in dispute and the mediator will write a report on that.

If the mediation is not successful, then the spouses will typically consult a lawyer and pursue their case legally through the Courts.

15- Hiring a lawyer

Do I need a lawyer to represent me in Court?

No, you do not absolutely need a lawyer to represent you in Court. 

In many cases, when confronted with a divorce, legal separation or a family law case, the first place where you will go is to do some research online to understand the basics of your case.

If your case is simple, then you may be inclined to handle it yourself and self-represent in Court.

On the other hand, if your case is complex or that you do not have the inclination or motivation to handle it yourself, then you are better off hiring a divorce lawyer or family law lawyer to guide you and assist you in your case.

If I hire the best divorce lawyers, how much will the divorce cost me?

If you hire the best divorce lawyer, you should expect to pay legal fees that will be more than handling it yourself or hiring an inexperienced junior lawyer.

In most cases, we pay for what we get.

You can have a divorce lawyer that can charge you rates under $100 per hour or propose a fixed rate that looks very attractive.

The caveat is that you are probably paying a lawyer who does not have experience or is not capable of handling more challenging types of cases in Court.

You may save in areas where the intellectual complexity of the file is low but you will pay dearly when the complexity is higher or speed of execution is crucial.

According to Canadian Lawyer Magazine’s 2015 report, the median hourly rate for a divorce lawyer in Quebec is between $184 to $331 per hour.

The best divorce lawyer can also command hourly rates upwards of $550 to $600 per hour.

Our recommendation is that you consult with a few experienced divorce lawyers so that you can get their rates and service fee.

This way, you can then compare apples to apples and determine which lawyer will be the best divorce lawyer for you.

How do I find a good divorce lawyer?

To find a good divorce lawyer, you can speak with your family and friends to see if someone can give you a reference.

In most cases, even if you get a reference, you will still need to speak with that person and determine if that lawyer will have the right skills and competencies suitable for your case.

Working with a lawyer is quite personal and so a good lawyer for one person may not necessarily be viewed as a good lawyer for another.

If you do not want to share your family situation with your friends and family, the next step is to look online for a good divorce lawyer.

There are many lawyers out there and many law firms each touting to be the best to do the job for you.

We recommend that you read up on divorce or the family law issues you are faced with so that you have a baseline knowledge of the issue at hand.

This way, you can contact the different lawyers out there and be able to have a specific and targeted conversation about your issues and what you may be looking for.

Reading a guide like this one is a great first step to start your online research on the topic of divorce and its consequences.

If you are unable to find a good lawyer online, then, you can reach out to provincial referral services generally handled by the local Bar Association.

In Quebec, JurisRéférence offers referral services if you are looking to find a lawyer, a mediator or if you are dealing with small claims issues.

How do I select a top family attorney?

Once you have contacted different lawyers, you are now in a position to select the top family attorney who will accompany you in your Court journey.

The person that you will hire will need to understand your case, be creative and legally intelligent, have the ability to devise strategies and plans to help you achieve your goals and most importantly, you must have confidence that he or she will be able to get the job done.

In many cases, the actions of the lawyer speak for itself.

If you see your lawyer operating in an organized, structured and tactical way, you can then expect an outcome that will be commensurate with such a work ethic.

On the other hand, if your lawyer is overwhelmed, constantly late and doing things last minute to be able to get by, then, you will probably see results that will also be commensurate with that type of work ethic.

There are always exceptions to the rule and you can have a disorganized lawyer always late who can be the best lawyer in town or you can have an organized lawyer who constantly misses the mark.

However, as a general rule, you can consider your lawyer’s work ethics and organization to be a tell-tale sign of the quality of services you are getting.

Conclusion

We hope that this divorce guide was useful to you steering you in the right direction.

At our law firm, we value our customers and strive to ensure they get the most value possible.

As a result, we wanted to make this guide available to you free of charge so that you can use it as you see appropriate.

At our family law firm, we offer a full range of legal services in the area of family law.

Should you need legal advice, consultation services or legal representation in Court, you can count on us for that.

We have senior lawyers with significant experience in family law and litigation along with more junior lawyers who are young, vigorous and passionate.

We leverage the experience of our senior associates and our younger associates to ensure the perfect balance of experience, speed of execution and cost management is provided to you as we handle your case.

It will be our pleasure to assist you should you feel necessary.

You can contact us at any time. 

Good luck in your divorce matter and we hope to be able to work with you.

FamilyLawyer.Zone

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Are you in a divorce or separation proceedings…

Are you dealing with child support or custody battles…

Are you seeking spousal support or alimony…

Or maybe you are ending your common-law relationship…

You can take advantage the benefits of amicably settling your family law case or finding a way to settle your case through alternative resolution methods.

Ok.

Let’s do it.

What is an amicable settlement?

Amicable settlement is a process where parties to a dispute or a lawsuit find ways to resolve their differences in a friendly and non-contentious way.

To achieve an amicable settlement, the parties need to be willing to make concessions for the sake of reaching an agreement.

Without the desire to make an effort to settle a legal case, it will be nearly impossible to achieve an amicable settlement.

When parties reach an amicable settlement, they’ll either do it on the basis of their own desire to resolve their dispute or will use the services of a mediator or a lawyer to support them in the process.

What are the benefits of an amicable settlement?

There are many benefits in amicably resolving a dispute.

• You will have less uncertainty of getting a desired outcome than if you put your faith in the hands of a judge
• You will save money in less costly legal proceedings where you will note waste your money in unnecessary court proceedings
• You will have no time pressure to negotiate your settlement terms as opposed to dealing with strict Court mandated deadlines for a disputed case
• You will not have the stress of dealing with the Court system and the anxiety of a litigated case
• You will save money by spending less on legal fees and Court related costs

They say that that even the worst amicable settlement is still better than a Court judgment as you will have been directly involved in the content of your settlement agreement.

What does a divorce amicable settlement agreement include?

A divorce amicable settlement must mandatorily include certain terms and lay out the foundation of the agreement of the parties on several points, called the ‘accessory measures’ to a divorce.

The accessory measures in a divorce legal proceeding includes:

• Establishment of the ground of divorce, typically separation for over twelve months;
• Agreement on the division of property, assets and liabilities
• Understanding on parenting obligations, custody, access rights and child support payments
• Agreement on whether or not spousal support is to be paid

There may be other terms that the parties may wish to include in their settlement agreement unique to their case but the above points represent the baseline that is expected by the law and the Courts.

Keep in mind that even with a mutually agreed settlement agreement, the Court will ultimately review the agreement and has to accept it.

The Court has the right to question or even refuse to ratify an agreement that it feels is not equitable or appears to be unfavorable to a party.

As a result, it would be advisable to reach an agreement that is generally fair to both parties and respects the spirit of the law.

Are there alternative dispute resolution mechanisms?

There are several other dispute resolution mechanisms that separating couples can take advantage of such as mediation and settlement conference offered by the Courts.

Mediation

Mediation may be suitable for one case while a settlement conference offered by the Court may be suitable for another.

Let’s explore them and see what they are and when it would be a good option to amicably settle your case.

Mediation is a process by which the parties attempt to resolve their differences with the help of a licensed mediator.

In mediation, the couple will be in control of driving the negotiation and will be generally negotiating directly with one another with the help of the mediator.

If the couple is able to achieve an agreement in principle, then the mediator will help them draft their settlement agreement as well.

The mediator will have a ‘facilitator’ role and will guide the conversations and steer the couple in the right path to reach an agreement.

The role of a mediator is unlike that of a judge however.

Where a judge has the legal power to enforce a decision on the couple, a mediator does not have the power to impose any decision or impose a party to agree on something that they do not agree with.

The mediator’s role is to find a way to have the couple achieve an agreement between themselves that they both can live with without ‘imposing’ or ‘forcing’ anything on them.

If the mediator ultimately sees that he or she cannot help the couple achieve a mutually satisfactory settlement, then the couple will be referred back to their lawyers or asked to consider other means to resolve their dispute.

Another means for reaching an agreement is through the settlement conference services offered by the Courts.

Settlement Conference

A settlement conference service is a service offered at no cost by the family Courts.

If you attend with your family lawyer, then you’ll be responsible to pay your lawyer’s fees of course.

A settlement conference can be arranged only if the couple agrees to voluntarily participate and declares being open to making concessions for the benefit of settling their case.

The settlement conference will typically last half-day to a full day and will be presided by a judge from the family Courts.

The judge assigned will not be acting as a judge tasked to making a ruling against any of the parties but will act more like a mediator trying to help the couple reach an agreement.

Considering the settlement conference is driven by an active judge, although this judge will not make any binding decisions against the parties but his or her opinion and feedback will have much more significant weight in convincing the couple to reach an agreement.

Generally, the settlement conferences are highly successful in helping settle family law disputes.

The settlement conference is perhaps more suitable for couples who do not have a level of communication good enough to be able to participate in mediation.

Although the couple’s family law case may be more adversarial, they are still able to find a level of compromise with an authoritative figure like a judge acting as a ‘mediator’ of a sort.

If this option can be considered in any family law case, then the participants have something to gain.

The only downside is that if you attend a settlement conference with your lawyer and a settlement cannot be reached, then the time spent would result in a cost to you.

However, this may be a small expense to risk if you can have a chance to settle the case and avoid an even more costly trial.

Value that our family lawyers can bring you

Our family law lawyers are experienced in out-of-Court negotiations and family law cases.

In some cases, you may find that you can handle your case and thus represent yourself both in dealing with the opposing party and in Court.

If you are able to exercise this option, evidently, you will be saving in lawyer fees and the financial burden of your case may be lighter.

On the other hand, some others will want to retain the services of a lawyer to support them in their family law case or divorce.

This support will also include an out-of-Court negotiations and activities leading to an amicable settlement.

Should you feel you need the support of a lawyer, our family lawyers and divorce lawyers can be leveraged to help you in your amicable settlement negotiations.

Alternatively, if you wish to pursue by self-representing, then, we have made available tools and resources on our website to help you in this process.

About FamilyLawyer.Zone

Our family law firm is a Montreal-based law firm providing legal services to Quebec residents in the area of family law.

Our mission is to provide the best family law services in the market in a cost-efficient way.

Striving to be the best in the game, we continually re-imagine the way legal services are to be rendered.

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