Property Division Lawyers in Vancouver and Surrey
Our experienced Vancouver Property Division Lawyers understand that dividing marital property often means navigating complex emotions and significant financial decisions. While it may seem like you’ll have to part with half of your assets, there are many ways to divide family property that don’t necessarily result in a 50/50 split. To help you better understand your options, we offer a Property and Debt Division Calculator, designed to provide clarity during this challenging process.
Our firm recently set precedent in British Columbia by having the judge order 80% of property in favour of our client.
What is Property Division in BC?
- Property division in BC means that under the BC Family Law Act, your family property & debt is often split equally between you and your spouse unless you can prove significant unfairness of this arrangement. Family property is often what accumulates during the cohabitation and marriage, not what accumulates before or after cohabitation or marriage.
- Our firm has cutting edge knowledge of how this new law affects our clients and can identify cases in which application of such law would be deemed unfair by the court. We strategize tactics for minimizing allocation of debt acquired by your spouse and for maximizing your receipt of family properties such as real estate, businesses, pensions, investments, household items and many other assets. Learn more
What is Excluded Property?
Certain types of property are excluded under the BC Family Law Act. Excluded property generally refers to property:
- you owned before you married,
- inheritance,
- gifts,
- injury settlements or awards and insurance payments for non-property-related damages; and
- much more.
Equal Division & Unequal Division of Family Property & Debt
The BC Family Law Act equal-split provisions apply in most situations. However, a spouse may be entitled to more than 50 percent of the family property and less than 50 percent of debts if equal division would be significantly unfair. Factors to consider include length of the marriage, agreements made between the spouses, career contributions made by a spouse, circumstances upon which the spouse acquired the debt, whether the debt exceeds property value, devaluation of property value by the spouse and tax liability resulting from property sale.
Business Division
A business is typically categorized as family property. However, dividing a business comes with several unique challenges and considerations. For example, should you pursue half the value or half the shares? How do you determine the business’s value? What are the tax implications of the choices you make? YLaw Group guides you through the answers to these complex issues.
Real Estate Division
Your rights regarding real estate division depend upon the type of property at issue (for example, marital home, commercial property or rental property). Your marital home is generally divided 50/50, and its value is established at the time of your trial. You can recoup post-separation expenses through an agreement with your spouse regarding who pays the mortgage and who lives in the home until your divorce. Commonly, you can divide the home by selling it and dividing the equity or one party can buy out the other.
Taxes
While strategizing your property and debt division, you should consider the tax implications at the time you divorce and well into the future. For example, our lawyers include anticipated tax liability in valuations of real estate, businesses, investments and RRSPs.
Consult With an Experienced Property Division Lawyers in BC
Family law is our focus at YLaw . Consult with our dedicated Property Division Lawyers about obtaining an equitable division of your marital property.
To set up a consultation with our award-winning firm, call us at 604-974-9529 or get in touch.
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