Separation Agreements: Signing For Success
Separation agreements can be the best way to move past your family law matters or the best way to leave you stuck in a perpetual mess. The key to ensuring that you achieve true resolution rather than constant regret is independent legal advice.
It might sound like a dream come true to have your ex-partner or child(ren)’s parent approach you with an offer to settle everything out of court. Who wouldn’t want to avoid early mornings in court, late evenings in law offices, and piles of legal bills?
At Mountain Peak Law, we fully support and understand that mindset. Going through a separation can be a stressful, draining experience that takes a toll on people more often than not. While our team takes pride in reducing both the emotional and financial strain of family law court proceedings, we recognize that entering a separation agreement may be the best option for your family.
However, separation agreements are not easy to set aside, and so we want clients to be sure that the agreement they are agreeing to is what is best for them and their children both now and later. Entering a separation agreement is a serious decision that is not easy to overturn. If you sign an agreement that ends up not working for you long-term, you will likely be right back into early court mornings, late nights with your lawyer, and piles of legal bills.
Clients who want to change separation agreements need to know that the court is not going to make a change lightly. The Family Law Act, the Supreme Court Family Rules, and the Provincial Court Family Rules all encourage out-of-court dispute resolution, which the courts take very seriously. To set aside your separation agreement, the courts will want to know why and how you signed the agreement in the first place; why the separation agreement is not best for your child(ren); or if there has been a big change to your, your child(ren)’s, or your ex-partner’s lives that makes it necessary to set aside the agreement. Even if the court finds one or more of these factors is present, they still might elect not to set aside your agreement if they believe that the order they would make instead of the agreement is not significantly different from the original agreement.
That is why, at Mountain Peak Law, we will always advise you to get independent legal advice from a qualified lawyer before you sign anything. Our team is more than happy to provide you with our legal opinion on the disadvantages and advantages of any agreement you are considering. We can assure you that putting the time in before signing your agreement will benefit you much more than trying to go back on your agreement after the fact.
