Divorce is one of the most stressful life events you’ll ever go through. It will impact almost every aspect of your life: where you live, what your finances look like in the future, even what your relationship with your children will look like in the future. Getting the best attorney you can find is your only real defense against ending up with serious losses.
When you retain our team we’ll be with you at every step of the way. We handle every aspect of the process, even as we stop to help you understand your options and select your best path forward. We will provide you with real, effective solutions to your most pressing divorce issues, from helping you keep spousal support payments manageable to helping your non-marital property from being swept up in the division of assets.
Each of our lawyers are known for being savvy negotiators, which helps us build excellent divorce settlements out of court. We’re also known for being top notch litigators, which means we can protect your interests if your case goes to trial.
Getting a Divorce in Surrey, BC
The steps for getting a divorce in Surrey, if you are a traditionally married couple, are as follows:
- Live in BC for at least one year.
- Be legally separated for at least one year.
- File a formal separation agreement (optional).
- File a Notice of Claim/answer the Notice of Claim
- Negotiate your settlement agreement.
- Get a judge’s approval of your agreement at a hearing, or go to trial if you and your spouse cannot agree.
Common law couples may dissolve their union by the simple expediency of living “separate and apart,” but will need to file a formal separation agreement to protect their rights and to back any agreements they come across with a court order.
How Separation Works
Contrary to popular belief you do not have to live in a different home if you separate from your spouse. In fact, being too quick to leave the family home can put you at a disadvantage later.
You can separate by taking other steps, such as:
- Sleeping in different rooms.
- Canceling joint bank accounts and starting your own bank account.
- Canceling joint credit cards.
- Filing a formal separation agreement.
Is it an uncontested divorce?
Most people misunderstand the nature of an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce only happens when both parties agree to the initial settlement offer as outlined in the Notice of Family Claim. A divorce is contested if there is disagreement about even one of the issues of the divorce.
The issues of any divorce are parental orders, child support, spousal support, and the proper division of marital assets. Within each of these seemingly simple issues lies a myriad of potential points of disagreement that can become extremely complex, especially if you own a complex set of assets or earn a high salary.
You do not need your spouse’s permission or agreement to get a divorce in British Columbia.
In most cases it is advantageous to keep the lines of communication open. If you and your ex can agree on the terms of a settlement then you will typically spend less time and money on the divorce. While a Canadian judge must review the terms of your agreement to ensure that they are in compliance with the law, a case need only go to trial if it becomes absolutely impossible to negotiate further.
Will my spouse get everything?
No. There is no way for either spouse to take “everything” in a divorce. You won’t get everything either, even if your spouse behaved very badly, had an affair, or was abusive to you. There are times when the judge can build certain sanctions into the division of property, but the ways you behaved during the marriage aren’t really part of it.
The exception is when the ways you behaved during the marriage significantly decreased the value of your marital assets in a way that your spouse wasn’t involved in. For example you may get a smaller share of the marital assets if you had an affair and dropped $50,000 on your new lover without your spouse’s knowledge or consent.
In most cases, the division of property is near 50/50. See our Division of Assets page for more details on how marital assets are divided in British Columbia.
We Handle High Net Worth Divorce
Are you a high earner in Surrey, BC? We help high net worth individuals protect themselves during their divorce.
This includes:
- Ensuring that your income isn’t over-estimated for the purposes of calculating child support and spousal support.
- Protecting your ability to control your own business.
- Protecting your intellectual property.
- Protecting the value of income-bearing assets such as retirement accounts, investment accounts, real property, and businesses.
- Providing guidance on the tax consequences of major divorce decisions.
In many cases we can help you develop less-painful solutions to common divorce problems, such as buy-outs, lump sum payments, and more. We help you treat your divorce as a business dissolution, and help your ex do the same.
See our High Net Worth Divorce page for more details on how we handle these complex divorce cases.
Why choose us?
Our team has extensive experience providing Surrey residents with the solutions they need to minimize the amount of damage a divorce can do to their lives. From day one, we’ll provide you with both the worst case scenario and the best case scenario. This will help you develop a realistic framework for negotiations.
We also provide sophisticated solutions to clients whose situations are not cut-and-dried. We help farmers protect their land’s ability to keep producing incomes. We help entrepreneurs retain control of their businesses and their intellectual property. We help high earners get a fair settlement on child support and spousal support. We’re here to protect your interests and your rights.
Call 1-604-394-7777 to set up your initial appointment today. We’re ready to help you!