How to Prepare for a Divorce

Divorce is an emotionally and financially difficult phase of ending a marital partnership and starting a new chapter in life that is essentially evitable but realistically inevitable for many couples. The decision does not come offhand because with the significant life changes and expenditures involved, the decision is far from being minor. Entering a divorce is riding a roller coaster ride, and you need to be as prepared as you can be.

Mustering all the courage you can get is not enough because divorce is not merely emotional; it is legal and financial – things that are all true and are bound to take place.  To ensure that you are prepared to face the huge challenges ahead, here are five ways to prepare for a divorce.

1.      Discuss terms with your spouse

Many couples avoid this, but this can cut the time, money and emotional burden involved with it if you can settle amicably. If both sides have come to a mutual decision, why not file together and just get a mediator that can assist you when it comes to discussing asset and possession division, child custody, child support and possible alimony, and the most immediate concern of all, who will leave the house.

Amicable settlement does not require hiring Canadian divorce lawyers, and you will definitely need the money you will save for finally going solo.

2.      Keep copies of all important titles and financial documents

Dividing properties, possessions, ready cash and liabilities is often the dirtiest part of getting divorced. Your spouse might try to hide and take as much assets as possible, especially when the other does most of the work to begin with. However, that is not how the law works.

Be proactive by safeguarding copies of potential evidences that can give you your fair share. Discreetly collect income tax returns, bank statements (for personal and joint accounts), liability records (including all debts), credit card statements, receipt of past payments and mortgages, insurance documents and if possible, records of illicit expenditures that can prove infidelity. Basically, you need to specifically list down things that you own and things that you owe.

Avoid deliberately hiding them from the court, though, because hiding anything important can make you appear the evil spouse. In the end, the court may not decide on your favor.

3.      Save in a new bank account

All your money as a couple cannot finance the divorce proceedings, especially if you are the one who first filed the divorce. You will have to pay Canadian divorce lawyers, court fees, filing fees, documentary payments and a lot more as the legal procedure continues. Do not expect your spouse to pay for them using your contested joint accounts, so save as early as you can.

4.      Identify things you can afford after a divorce

Using your available cash, existing salary and debts, you can identify liabilities that you can continue to afford, such as phone bills and club memberships. Cut off those you cannot sustain before filing for divorce, so that when the time comes, you will be free from most of your financial burden.

You credit history practically needs to be rebuilt. Usually, women experience more problems with their credit records, making it more difficult for them to make a loan or buy expensive things using credit cards because statistically, men earn more than they do, so joint credit record usually favors men. Start fresh, and you can do that smoothly by dropping unnecessary burden on your shoulder.

5.      Stay in the house

The biggest mistake of a divorcing spouse is leaving the house…and kids! When you leave, you leave the financial and moral responsibility to your spouse. The person who carries all the responsibility often receives the most favorable decision.

Even if it hurts, stay. It will not be long until you make things legal.

What If Your Spouse Contests Divorce?

Some divorce cases are so smooth. In Alberta, the collaborative law for Calgary divorce is a very common tool for soon-to-be ex-spouses to come to an agreement. The collaborative process requires transparency, fairness, and cooperation. Unfortunately, not all spouses are willing to cooperate that’s why some cases become extremely unpleasant. One wants a divorce, but the spouse refuses to give it. There are many reasons an individual refuses to give divorce to his/her spouse. We will no longer go through them. Instead, we will discuss what to expect when you want a divorce but your spouse refuses to give it.

Contested and Uncontested Divorce

There are two types of Calgary divorce, namely, contested and uncontested. The former is when your spouse refuses to give what you want – divorce. The latter is when your spouse agrees with the divorce, which means no problem in the legal process. The contesting of divorce can be regarding the divorce as a whole or one of its grounds. For instance, some individuals will contest the divorce for the ground if this can damage their reputation (e.g., adultery or physical cruelty). Others contest divorce because of custody, division or property, and financial support. An uncontested divorce usually takes only a few months, particularly if the divorce is due to separation of more than a year.

Good News: You Can Still Get a Divorce 

In Calgary and other areas of Alberta, agreement or cooperation from your spouse is not necessary to proceed to getting a divorce. It does not matter if your spouse refuses. However, the process will be lengthy and complicated. Refusal and resistance only cause delay. You wanting a divorce is enough provided that the ground for divorce is valid.

So what are valid grounds for divorce? There are three. First is the period of separation. Not living together for more than a year is ground for divorce. Second is cruelty, that is, physically or mentally. If your spouse abuses you physically or mentally, you have a greater chance to get divorced despite your spouse’s refusal. The third ground is misconduct, such as adultery. Nonetheless, the last two are uncommon because individuals with an abusive spouse or one who committed adultery tend to live away from their spouse. They tend to have lived separately for more than a year by the time the judge is due to determine if the cruelty or adultery allegations are true.  

Bad News: Contested Divorce Has No Certain Time frame

Resistance of the other party causes delay. Unfortunately, you cannot be divorced until all issues are resolved. If your spouse contests the divorce, be ready for negotiations although you don’t have to give him/her everything he/she wants. An experienced lawyer can advise you regarding the best action for contested divorce.

FYI: Legal Separation Is Another Option

Divorce and legal separation are two different things. Divorce separates you from your spouse and changes your marital status. It is requested when one thinks reconciliation is impossible. By contrast, separation is when a couple decides to live apart from each other. It can be legalized through a contract that details the rights and obligations of each other.

Grand Prairie Divorce without the Expensive Attorney Fees (True Story)

A friend of mine just got divorced. Guess what he told me? He said, he got divorced for less than a thousand bucks and this is inclusive of court fees. Anybody reading this who has previously filed for adversarial divorce will probably tell you that it’s impossible. They’ll insist; the acceptance fee alone for a good lawyer is easily worth more than that. Heck, in some cases a thousand bucks only covers the consultation fee.

The following text is about to tell you differently, and with basis to boot. To be more specific, this story relates to Grand Prairie Divorce.

The 2010 Amendment

Alberta Canada modified its divorce law to allow joint filing. Refer to Alberta 2010 Rules of Court as Amended. This means that divorce no longer needs to be all out war between husband and wife. There’s really nothing to gain by asking everything but the kitchen sink. In most cases, it’s the lawyers who benefit, not you, nor your estranged spouse.

Joint Filing Divorce

Now, you can both appear before the court, tell the judge, “We tried our best but it didn’t work out. Please grant us a divorce”. The judge will ask you, if you have agreed to the terms of the divorce i.e. division of property, custody of children, who gets your beloved pooch, etc. If you say yes, and sign a document attesting to that fact, then you can be divorced within 6 months. In some cases, you don’t even have to appear in court, just sign.

Paralegal Services Only

No adversarial proceedings means, you do not need a lawyer to enter his/her appearance and argue in person or in paper. So why hire their services? Some experts will tell you, or previously divorced couples via adversarial proceedings, will attest to the fact, that a lawyer can even cause more misunderstandings, more hate, longer cases, etc. They might not do this intentionally (we hope) but the fact that you have someone who can advise you that it’s possible to “win in a divorce”, is like adding fuel to the flame.

Come Again, How Much Will It Cost?

Some providers like affordable-divorce.org charge as little as $900 for a Grand Prairie Divorce (joint filing). This is inclusive of GST, docket fees and other related court fees. Tip: look at the website address, it says .org. That is indicative of its semi non-profit roots. This means more bang for your buck.

Why Not Hire a Lawyer, Just in Case?

You have a point. That was also a question I posed to my friend. The answer is simple, your “just in case situation” means you are paying for a lawyer just in case they might be needed, without them lifting a finger as of yet. Make no mistake, when a joint filing Grand Prairie Divorce is presented to a law firm, usually it’s the paralegals that handle all the work.

Why not hire a professional paralegal service that can refer you to a lawyer, if that “just in case scenario arises. It’s virtually the same assurance. But, in this case, you only pay for the service you actually get.

Divorce Papers

A divorce can be a real sore, mussy, life changing effect and should be handled as such. There are a lot of ways to terminate a marriage and some of them can be a drawn out physical process that drags both parties through the clay before it is over. Then there are those who merrily end their spousal relationship and go about their split ways to never look back. How your divorce returns is up to you and your partner. While you can not incessantly command what the other person does, how you act will have a vast impact on the district attorney

Divorce papers are types of writtens document that break up partnership between two people. More often it is between husband and wife. It helps us to break  relationship very easily.

Some divorce documents are not filled correctly on it there are chances of disapproving your divorce letter. Today, online papers have guidelines to be followed while filing any form of divorce papers in Canada. Follow these directions carefully and you will get divorce easily. It saves money and time by providing all details rather than going for any Attorney.

Visit lawclaws.org, they sell professionally made divorce documents and they guarantee their divorce documents with a full court approval.

Ending a Marriage

After weeks and months of thinking, you have decided to end your marriage. You now need a good divorce lawyer. Finding a good one is not as easy as it looks. You want an attorney that makes you feel secure and whom you trust to act in the most knowledgeable and professional way and in your best interests. Use these different approaches to find a good divorce attorney and take the first step toward concluding your marriage and getting on with your life.

While learning in finding a good lawyer in Canada, analyze your relationship with your spouse and know if it’s going to get ugly or you can make an amicable settlement. You can hire one lawyer for a comfortable settlement, or hire one lawyer for each of you if there are still grey areas that needs court litigation.

Have a huge consideration to your children. Child support, child custody, and visitation rights are legal issues that should be taken cared of as well. Take note of the age, the relationship with them and their needs for the future.

Talk to your friends who were divorced. Have them open up in talking about the finances; on how much is the consultation fee and appearance fee per hour. Take note of their recommendations and experiences with their lawyer; was he in appearance every hearing? Did he recommend mediation?  Gain as much information as you can.

Do your research and pick your top 3 choices and schedule an initial consultation. Some offer free consultation but just in case, be prepared to pay. Have in hand some notes regarding your marriage and questions that you would like to ask the lawyer. Observe on how he answers your questions; ask yourself if you can trust him and accommodating to your needs.

Making things more convenient with Canada child support guidelines.

Visit AffordableDivorce.Org and learn the easiest divorce procedure you can find in Canada.