Tips on Your Separation Agreement in BC

Separation Agreement Lawyers don’t need to do my separation agreement in BC! I can do it myself! All they do is charge me several thousands of dollars and I don’t need them because him and I agree on everything and things are amicable…I’ll just download a separation agreement template online and we can do it ourselves. It’ll be 10 bucks. I’ll buy some shoes with the money saved instead 🙂 

Famous last words. I’m not surprised, even as a family lawyer. Go ahead and do that.

In fact, separation agreements in BC are the absolute least profitable agreements we family lawyers do. Writing them is incredibly mundane and negotiations take forever. Plus we can easily get sued on them if we make a mistake.

For tips on your prenuptial agreement, click here. 

I can make an income as a divorce lawyer in many other more exciting ways. So when I say:

You need a lawyer to do your separation agreement, I am looking out for you not myself. 

But you won’t believe me. Let me explain:

Do You Know What to Include in a Separation Agreement in BC?

1. It must be in writing;
2. Both your signatures must be witnessed;
3. There needs to be accurate and proper financial disclosure, this can include filing:
   1. a Financial Statement,
   2. an expert valuation of your home or your business,
   3. monthly bank account statements,
   4. monthly credit card statements,
   5. Tax documentation such as T1 Generals, T2 corporate Statements and Notices of Assessment;
4. It needs to specify which jurisdiction will govern the agreement in case there are disputes over the separation agreement in BC;
5. Are you going to use the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act for parenting time? and why?
6. When should parenting time be reviewed?
7. Who will make major decisions and what constitutes a material change?
8. Is the agreement is interim or final?
9. It needs to state which issues it specifically resolves,
10. It needs to state what and how debts are divided,
11. How often spousal support can be reviewed,
12. Should spousal support be periodic or lumpsum?
13. Who will pay for getting a simple desk order divorce?
14. What will happen if someone challenges the separation agreement in BC?
15. Who is responsible for present or future taxes?
16. How are parental rights based on the BC Family Law Act shared?
17. What happens if one person breaches the agreement?
18. What specific wording should you use to split the CPP?
19. It’s not a separation agreement downloaded online. Because BC Separation Agreements needs need to comply with BC Family Law.

And much much more…but that’s not the end of the deal. Even if you drafted the best separation agreement in BC, it can still be cancelled. How? 

Common Reasons for Cancelling a Separation Agreement in BC

• Lack of Independent Legal Advice: no matter what precautions you took to write and execute the separation agreement, not having lawyers provide both you and your spouse with independent legal advice can be dangerous. Courts may easily set aside unfair separation agreements which didn’t have independent legal advice.
• Lack of Proper Financial Disclosure: if you thought you had a good idea about your finances and your spouse’s finances, that is not enough. If one of you finds out in the future that the other lied or hid something, the agreement can easily be set aside or challenged.
• Duress: many times people pressure one another to sign agreements within a short time. This usually happens when one person is financially weaker than the other. If the court finds duress, the agreement is cancelled. That’s why having independent legal advice will make sure almost no one can claim duress.
• Mistake: This goes to the same subject of independent legal advice. Mistake can mean that you did not understand what you were signing or what things meant. If it’s proven, the agreement can be cancelled.
• Significant Unfairness: if the separation agreement is found by the court to be significantly unfair, it can be set aside or cancelled. For more information on significantly unfair agreements, click here. 

Costs of Doing a Proper Separation Agreement vs. Challenging a Bad Agreement

• Costs of doing a proper separation agreement in BC including independent legal advice (“ILA”), financial disclosure, negotiations and execution ranges from $2,500 to $10,000. 
• Costs of challenging or defending the separation agreement that you did without ILA, finances or lawyers, can be anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000. 
• Costs of not having an agreement at all and having to go to court for everything can be anywhere from $5,000 to $250,000. 

To read about how to enforce your separation agreement in case your ex violates the terms, click here. 

So…

If You Are Going to Do it, Do it Right.

If you pay $200 per month for your car insurance every year, that means you are paying $2400 to make sure when you get into an accident, your losses are covered. So you pay a small price for an accident to have yourself insured in case it happens. Paying $5000 for a separation agreement is a fraction of the $100,000 you will have to spend in legal fees defending yourself against a bad separation agreement that doesn’t follow proper BC laws.

So when it comes to your entire life savings, a broken marriage and children/money at stake, invest the time and the money to have a proper separation agreement in BC. That will mean that you will pay a fraction of the price you’d have to pay in the future and against any potential court proceedings.

To set up a consultation with our top-rated separation agreement lawyers, call us at 604-974-9529 or get in touch. 

The content of this page was updated in 2021 for freshness, comprehensiveness and accuracy.