Handling the law can be pretty stressful. If you are dealing with something family related at the same time, then you have a recipe for disaster. Deadlines to be met, personal problems, fees, the legal nuances, disputes, conflicts, this is all in one day of dealing with family law, so you should distance yourself as much as possible from the things you are able to.
Having a family lawyer with you to support you throughout any legal matter regarding family law will save you time, stress, and most likely money – forgetting a deadline or an important date can be catastrophic.
But what can a family lawyer do for you? Family lawyers are specialised in dealing with any problems regarding family law, from divorces to property division. They will support you by giving you legal advice, protecting your rights, fighting for your best interests, and trying to find alternative solutions so you will not need to go to Court – which can cost a lot of money, and take a long time.
On the next following topics let us look over briefly what areas of family law a Family Lawyer Calgary can support you at.
Supporting Your Case During a Divorce
Going through a divorce is probably one of the most stressful moments of someone’s life. No one expects it to come, and no one looks forward to a relationship turning sour. A divorce is a complicated matter, and cannot be defined as just signing a divorce paper and moving on.
In Alberta, we have to follow the Divorce Act. The Divorce Act defines a series of guidelines and conditions for divorce to be granted to the couple. One of these conditions is that the couple must have been living apart from each other for at least one year before the divorce, without any interruptions and show the intention of separating. Of course, in some cases, this is not always true, if one of the partners has committed adultery or abused the other – be it physically or mentally – the divorce may be granted on the grounds of abuse and lack of safety.
During the divorce, there are a lot of variants to look over and an experienced family lawyer will be able to support you throughout it.
Dealing With Custody Battles and Child Support
Custody battles can be quite an extensive issue. The judge will take things such as the presence of domestic abuse (if any), financial security, and the capacity of the parents to give a normal and healthy childhood for the children.
Child support is maybe one of the most important topics we are going to cover for most people. After all, how much will you actually need to pay for child support? How much is a fair amount?
A family lawyer will help you find exactly that. Finding out how much child support needs to be paid can be quite a hassle, so having a family lawyer with you is definitely advisable. There are different guidelines that may apply to you, and since every case is unique your family lawyer will need to tailor their expertise based on your case. With the divorce, the amount of time each of the parents will spend with the children weighs down on these questions, as well as if the children of the marriage are below 18, and if they are over 18 if they are considered dependent due to an illness, disability or other causes such as being enrolled in post-secondary education.
After all that, your family lawyer will help you navigate the correct tables from the guidelines applicable that will give you how much child support is necessary based on parenting time, income, number of children, and more. There are special and extraordinary expenses as well to navigate, and the possibility of undue hardship which is when the child support payments are critically affecting your life for the worse.
Since those situations are tricky to navigate, and you want to make sure that a fair amount of child support is being paid to your children, having an experienced family lawyer is definitely advisable.
Alternative Dispute Resolutions
Family Lawyers in Calgary are also capable of helping your case without going to Court. Dealing with problems in an amicable way is always advisable whenever possible. If you are going through a divorce, for example, being able to sit down with your ex-partner and their legal representatives and develop an amicable solution will save all parties money, time, and stress.
There are several alternative dispute resolution methods, the most common ones are mediation, which is when there is a neutral third party conducting the conversation as a mediator to reach a common middle ground – a mediator however cannot make decisions for the parties, it acts only as a facilitator. Arbitration is when a neutral third-party arbitrator can take legally binding decisions for the parties if they cannot find common ground. Parenting Coordination allows for the parties to reach agreements on day-to-day parenting duties and how they will be completed. Collaborative Family Law allows for work between the legal representatives to find a common ground where both parties can leave satisfied with the results. And finally, Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDR) is similar to going to Court, you will be before a judge, but in a more informal way to try to settle disputes without the need of going to trial.
Property Division
On January 1st, 2020, the Family Property Act started to be used to rule over property division for couples separating. The Act is applicable to any property or debt that the couple have acquired due to their union. Most commonly, the assets are divided equally between the parties.
Dealing with property, assets, and money, in general, can be very delicate and difficult to navigate, as always, having a family lawyer with you that has resources and experience at their disposal to facilitate the situation is in your best interests. They will evaluate the situation and your case specifically, and make arguments so your rights are protected. You may want to make a “special request” for some of the assets to be granted to you if you have reasons to do so, and your lawyer will help you get your request while still playing within the rules so the other party still gets their fair share.
