Obtain your Separation Agreement the friendly and affordable way! Please check out our topics below or scroll through this web page for all of your answers.

1. How we can help you
2. General procedures on how to obtain a legal separation agreement
3. Who can use our legal separation agreement services?
4. Our qualifications to help you
5. Fees and Disbursements
6. Uncontested Divorces
7. Free Consultation

How We Can Help You

We draft legal separation agreements for couples who are willing to work together. Our goal is to help you:

• obtain an inexpensive and friendly legal separation agreement;
• reduce the burden of usual legal practices that are adversarial, complicated, and costly; and
• still provide you with the benefit of receiving legal advice from your lawyer.

General Procedures on How to Obtain a Legal Separation Agreement

Here are the general procedures we typically follow:

Before Appointment

• We interview you by telephone.
• We discuss what you and your spouse agree to concerning:
  • division of property, assets, debts;
  • spousal support; and
  • the custody, access, and support of children.
• We book an appointment with you and your spouse.
• Most initial appointments last from 2 to 2.5 hours.
• We will email you a list of documents to bring to the appointment.
• We create the first draft of your legal separation agreement before your first appointment.

During Appointment

• During the first appointment, we go through the agreement from beginning to end and edit it.
• You leave the meeting with a drafted legal separation agreement.

Before You Go to Your Lawyer

• We recommend that you review the agreement again after the initial appointment because it is hard to focus on the fine details in a meeting setting. Further issues may have been brought up during the appointment that you have not yet have had a lot of time to reflect upon. Make note of the changes that you’d like to see made to the agreement.
• Sometimes you’ll need to review the agreement with the banker, for example, to ensure that the parties qualify for refinancing.
• For parties with business interests or complex financial situations, they may need to consult with their financial advisor on tax implications.
• We then revise the Separation Agreement based upon the changes you want, taking into account your personal wishes and information received from the banker or financial advisor, if relevant in your particular case.
• You and your spouse then review and sign the legal separation agreement with your lawyers.
• We have a list of lawyers we can refer or you can find your own lawyer.

Review and Signing with Lawyers

• If upon the advice of your lawyers you wish to make further changes, we charge $125 per hour for subsequent revisions.
• Lawyer fees are in addition to our drafting fees. Lawyers will charge for every visit.
• The goal is to minimize the back and forth between lawyers and keep your legal fees to a minimum (BUT you still get the benefit and protection of legal advice).
• Many of our clients only need to go to their lawyers once. Very few cases become contested when clients are willing to work collaboratively.

Other Services

• If applicable, land transfer(s) and the divorce application are coordinated at the same time.

Can You Use Our Legal Separation Agreement Services?

We can help you with your Legal Separation Agreement if:

• the parties reside in Alberta or the parties were living in Alberta at the time of separation (and the property is predominately situated in Alberta);
• the parties are cooperative and willing to work together in the drafting of a legal separation agreement;
• there are no trust issues and the parties are willing to provide full disclosure;
• the parties will be taking the legal separation agreement to their lawyers for review, advice, and signing;
• There are no complex issues; for example, those involving disclosure, trusts, and complex business valuation.

Is it Possible to Still Use Our Services Even if Not in Full Agreement?

Yes, you can still use our services even if you are not in full agreement. However, it is essential that you both are willing to work together to reach an agreement. Often, couples can not agree simply because they have not completed a proper spreadsheet showing the division of property, assets, and debts. Once presented, it is interesting how this clarity enables the parties to reach an agreement. Most couples, if they are willing to work together, often reach an amicable agreement without having to resort to filing a court application.

Our Qualifications to Help You

We are not lawyers; we do not give legal advice, nor do we mediate complex issues. However, we can still help in many situations, even if you are not in full agreement. Deborah Ward, owner of the Canadian Legal Resource Centre Inc., has personally drafted over 1,000 Separation Agreements, each of which has been audited by two different lawyers. As a result, Deborah has a great deal of insight and experience with the drafting of high-quality separation agreements.

Though we cannot give legal advice, you will benefit from our substantial experience. Our greatest skill is to help the two of you to focus on results. We ensure that you maximize the quality of your time and investment with your lawyer by helping you summarize the facts surrounding your situation for quick and easy review.

 

✓ One Fee, Shared by Both Parties
One CLRC fee to prepare the agreement. Simple agreements typically $1,395–$1,695, plus each party’s lawyer fees for independent legal advice and signing. In a straightforward uncontested matter, combined costs can be as low as approximately $3,000.

✓ Collaborative & Transparent
Both parties work together to provide information and instructions. This can help keep the process cooperative, transparent and non-adversarial.

✓ Potentially Faster
Because the parties work together to provide information, resolve issues and review terms, an uncontested agreement can often move forward more quickly.

✓ One Central Process
Information, documents, drafting and revisions are coordinated through one central process, reducing duplication.

✓ Drafting Included
CLRC prepares the Separation Agreement based on the parties’ information and agreed terms.

✓ 1–3 Rounds of Reasonable Revisions Included
Typically 1–3 rounds of reasonable revisions are included at no additional CLRC cost.

✓ Still Receive Independent Legal Advice
Each party obtains advice from their own independent lawyer before signing, providing the benefit and protection of individual legal advice.

✓ Less Duplication of Professional Time
Much of the information gathering and document preparation is completed before the parties pay their individual lawyers for legal advice.

✓ More Predictable Preparation Costs
The CLRC document-preparation fee is established in advance and reasonable revisions are generally included.

✓ Designed for Couples Who Can Work Together
Particularly suited to couples who can cooperate and want to reach a fair agreement while still receiving independent legal advice before signing.

Fees and Disbursements

Uncontested Separation Agreement

• No Children: $1,395 (+ lawyer advice/signing fees)
• With Children: $1,695 (+ lawyer advice/signing fees)

Additional fees:

• $300 if spousal support to be included;
• $100 to $1000 extra if you have a complex situation (ie. involving multiple properties, large investment portfolios in multiple locations, inheritances and other exemptions that are mingled with family property, pension splits, business interests, etc.).

Mediation / Revisions to Contract after independent legal advice

• $125/hour mediation or editing fees if you are having a difficult time reaching an agreement or require additional changes MORE than 3 times after consultation with your lawyer (first 3 set of revisions, if any, are at NO additional charge.

Land Transfer

• $395 + plus land title fees which vary, typically between $350 and $650, depending on value of property.
• Additional lawyer fees may be required to discharge old mortgage, register new mortgage and pay settlement, if any, to spouse.

GST

• extra on all fees and most disbursements

Uncontested Divorces

To learn more about Uncontested Divorces, select the link: “Uncontested Divorces”.

Free Consultation

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