Independent Legal Advice for Separation Agreements found Online

Are you looking to save money? Are you looking for a free downloadable separation agreement? Are you trying to to draft your own separation agreement? Did you buy a PDF separation agreement online, and now you’d like to have it signed with a lawyer?

At Mint Legal we are focused on providing cost effective solutions to Albertans. Our goal is to provide reasonably priced legal services. You’ll find that our prices are some of the lowest in Calgary, if not the lowest in Calgary.

We are happy to sign separation agreements that come to our office pre-drafted. For a separation agreement to successfully address a couple’s needs, generally speaking it must have several elements:

• If there are children, the agreement should provide clear guidance on parenting and child support

• The child support in the agreement must align with Canadian legislation - child support is not a negotiable

• The proper wording must be included to address spousal support and explain whether it is payable or not

• The best agreements should cover off property division, to ensure there are no loose ends following the separation agreemennt

  • In Alberta, the Family Property Act states that if you’d like your agreement on property division to be legally binding, you must sign a property acknowledgement before a lawyer. Therefore the agreement should have the proper acknowledgement

• The most enforceable agreements are negotiated with both parties having exchanged financial disclosure— you cannot sign off on property you’re not aware of.

Unfortunately, due to the financial vulnerability that many couples face upon separation, there are many “quick and easy” online stores where you can buy a separation agreement. In only very rare cases do these template contracts actually provide the legal protection and clarity that a couple will need to resolve their separation in a comprehensive way.

If you’re looking to use a template separation agreement, or do it yourself separation agreement found online, you run the risk that the agreement will not provide the full and proper legal coverage that is appropriate for your situation. Mint Legal does sign agreements that were not drafted by our office, or even by a lawyer, but this is subject to those documents being properly drafted. Our goal is to ensure that there are no loose ends arising from your separation that will haunt you down the road. From our perspective, it is detrimental to the client to sign a document that does not truly provide them with the legal finality one needs when separating.

If you are interested in learning more about our pricing to sign separation agreements or to draft separation agreements feel free to Contact Us.

For more information about what independent legal advice means visit our blog post here.