Separation Agreements

A separation agreement is a contract between married parties that sets out each party's rights on issues such as custody of and access to the children, division of property, child support and spousal support.  It has the force of a court order.  A separation agreement is an important document and will affect you for years to come, so it is important that it be properly drafted.

Defining Terms:
Custody refers to the right to make the important decisions in a child's life: decisions such as where the child goes to school, medical treatment, religious upbringing, and so on.  Sole custody is where one parent has the right to make these important decisions. Joint custody is where both parents have the right to make these decisions.

A common misconception is that joint custody means that the children spend half the time with each parent.  This is not the case.  The time that children spend with each parent is set out in an access schedule.  Where the children spend an approximately equal amount of time with each parent, this is known as shared custody.

Prenuptial/Cohabitation Agreement

This agreement is negotiated between both members of a common-law couple and for same sex couples.  The agreement states how things will be taken care of during the relationship as well as after the relationship.  Just remember that oral agreements are difficult to enforce.

The most common issues are: how to divide up property after the breakdown of the relationship and issues regarding children.

Disclaimer:
Professional Paralegal Service Centre is not a lawyer and does not act as a lawyer, nor do we give you legal advice, we are strictly a document preparation service. We are NOT a substitute for the advice of a lawyer.  Any legal information presented on the PPSC website is general in nature.  PPSC