Separation Agreements

What you need to know...

A separation agreement is a contract that records a settlement of the issues that arise when a marriage or common-law / adult interdependent relationship ends. A Separation agreement lays out each party's responsibilities and obligations in accordance with their wishes and the law.

Is a separation agreement required?

In most cases, a legal Separation Agreement is requested by couples in order to resolve all matters such as assets, liabilities, pensions, businesses, spousal support, child support, parenting, access/visitation, and alike.

Separation agreements are an effective and affordable way of settling issues to ensure couples have fairly divided the family property and protected themselves from any possible future claims their ex-spouse may have.

In order to ensure your agreement is considered legally binding within Alberta, the parties must obtain a Certificate of "Independent Legal Advice" on their agreement.

Protecting a Pension

Pensions are considered Family Property, and in order to fully protect your pension, or divide it, a legal Separation Agreement or Court Order will be required. To protect or divide a pension in a separation agreement, the parties must have obtained Independent Legal Advice.

Spousal buy-outs, mortgage refinancing, and sale of properties

When there is a Family Home, or any property held between the parties that require division (i.e. buy-out with or without mortgage refinance, or sale of the property), then a separation agreement will likely be required by your financial institution and also required at the time of sale to ensure the parties have complied with the terms and conditions within their agreement.

Assets

If any assets are accumulated during the relationship, such as a business, savings, vehicles, investments/RRSP's/stocks, collectible and/or valuable items, it is important to protect and divide them in a separation agreement; waivers are outlined on each specific asset, and this ensures a party cannot make a claim in the future.

Matrimonial Debt

While some parties mainly require a separation agreement to ensure their assets are protected, some may require an agreement to ensure who is responsible for the payment of certain debts held solely or jointly between the parties.

Spousal Support

In the case where spousal support may be payable, it is important to first determine if a party is entitled to support, and if so, the amount and duration of support.

If spousal support is not payable, then the parties can mutually waive the claim or reserve the claim for a later time in a separation agreement with Independent Legal Advice (ILA).