Divorce Lawyer Edmonton | What Are Your Rights In A Divorce
While nobody gets married, or even into a relationship, thinking they will get divorced or split up, admits divorce lawyer Edmonton expert Janan Jarrah of eLaw Alliance. This is one of the reasons they are so difficult – expectations aren’t met, people get hurt, and often level-headed thinking is less possible once people are hurt and mad. So trying to come together to cooperate one last time in order to divorce is a very tall order.
However, couples should keep in mind, that not only do they likely have certain rights within a separation or divorce, even if they were not legally married. But also, they are likely to have obligations from that union as well.
Knowing that there are expectations of them through, and after the divorce or separation, says divorce lawyer Edmonton Jarrah. Can help temper people’s emotions, and ensure they see the situation more rationally, or at least be more likely to listen to reason. This is vitally important when going through an emotional process like a separation or divorce. Here are just some rights and obligations that people may have during their separation or divorce. Please note that this is a guideline only. For actual legal advice, contact the experts at www.elawalliance.com.
Economic Support
One of the first rights or obligations is regarding economic support. This might include spousal support, and may be required, regardless if you were legally married or in a common law relationship with children, or common law for three years or more without children. There will be a number of factors that dictate whether you or your spouse is entitled to receive support, or if either of you is required to pay it. Contact the divorce lawyer Edmonton experts at eLaw Alliance to find out more.
Child Support
However, if there are children from you relationship, whether you are common law or legally married, child support will be required. It’s simply a matter of who will be paying it, and how much. In order to determine this, the court will need to see each parent’s statement of income, and for parents to decide where the child or children will live. The parent that has access the most will be the parent receiving child support, says divorce lawyer Edmonton Janan Jarrah. The amount paid will be a percentage of the parent’s income, for each child.
However, if parents share access equally child support will get calculated another way. Both parents must submit their income statement, and the difference between the two will be calculated. The parent who makes more money will pay a percentage of the difference in both parents income. This type of support is called section 3 expenses, offsetting the cost of providing the necessities of life, and is mandatory.
Section 7 expenses are for things like childcare expenses, medical care not covered by Alberta Health, and any special classes, like music classes or sports. This is only awarded if applied for, and both parents are shown capable of affording it. Section 3 child support is the only economic support that is mandatory, while spousal support may not be awarded in all cases.
Divorce Lawyer Edmonton | Handling Property
Property is another issue in divorces and separation says divorce lawyer Edmonton expert Janan Jarrah that must be dealt with. While some people assume that all property must be sold, and the money divided, it’s quite simply not that simple.
In legal marriages, there are dower rights, which entitles the woman in the relationship the right to half of the marital home, however, rather than selling the property and seeing both partners homeless, and possibly uprooting their children in the process, there’s legal precedent for one spouse to pay equalization payments to the other, to essentially pay them their legal share of the home.
Common law couples don’t necessarily have that right, and should contact their own lawyers for more information and advice specific to their circumstances. However, couples who created pre-nuptial agreements, co-habitation agreements, or who created a legally sound written separation agreement may have different rights and obligations surrounding property. Consult your divorce lawyer Edmonton experts, and definitely before you sign anything your soon to be ex spouse asks you to sign.
Does Divorce Affect Your Canada Pension Plan
Something that divorce lawyer Edmonton says couples are constantly overlooking, is how divorce or separation affects their CPP contributions. Both common law and married couples can split any CPP credits. This is true, even if one spouse did not actually make CPP contributions through the duration of their marriage or common law relationship.
What enables a couple or person to be eligible for credit splitting is if a couple is divorcing or separating, if their common law relationship is ending, or if they lived or worked in Quebec. Of course, there are rules and exemptions to this, and anyone who is unsure if they can split CPP credits during their divorce should always consult an expert, like divorce lawyer Edmonton.
Contact Us
While divorce is often a tumultuous and emotional time, getting the correct knowledge from a known authority, like divorce lawyer Edmonton at eLaw Alliance can help people understand their options, their rights and obligations. It can make a difficult situation a bit smoother, though nobody relishes breaking up. Knowledge is power, which is why eLaw Alliance is offering a free one hour consultation to help people get the information they need, and get out of a marriage that is no longer serving them. Contact the legal experts today.