What is a “simple divorce”? -June 24, 2008

The term “simple divorce” has a generic meaning and also a more specific one. Generically it just refers to a divorce where the court is not being asked to decide the outcome but just to approve what the spouses have already agreed to. It might involve child custody, access and support and even property issues but all these things have been determined by an agreement between the spouses and not by a judge.

The more specific meaning is that a “simple divorce” is the name used for an application by only one spouse rather than two and all that is requested is the divorce itself.

The application form we use gives a choice between a simple divorce or a joint divorce. This does not mean a joint divorce is not simple, it is just the naming convention used by the Ontario court.

Canadian Legal Experts Decry High Lawyer’s Fees part 2 -December 25, 2007

Inability to access the justice system due to high legal fees is not necessarily something that hurts both parties equally. If one is just above the legal aid cut-off point and the other is not, the one who qualifies for legal aid will have a terrific advantage. For this reason the so-called working poor are probably the hardest hit by the system’s problems.

The private sector is very limited in how it can respond to this problem. The limits come mostly from the fact that each province has legislation that grants provincial bar societies the right to restrict the practice of law. What would telephone rates be like now if the big phone companies had been making all the rules? Companies offering cheap long distance or local service would never have been permitted to get started. Cable TV companies would have been forever barred from entering the telephone market. The result would be that telephone rates would be sky high.

This is the situation today with legal fees. Unless you meet the provincial bar societies’ criteria, and pay their hefty annual practice fees, it is illegal to practice law. Nevermind the fact that paralegals, with highly focused training and experience are capable of providing even better representation than lawyers in specialized fields. The fact is, these rules do not preserve the quality of legal representation as their proponents claim, they simply preserve near 00% market share for lawyers.

The answer to over-priced lawyers is the same as the answer to over-priced anything – competition. People need to put pressure on politicians to stop treating them like children or imbeciles who need to be protected from making stupid decisions. Consumers of legal products need the freedom to utilize whoever they wish to provide everything from legal document assembly, to advice, to , or lose their clients to those who can.

“For a fast, low-cost, lawyer-free legal www.DivorceOnline.ca.”

Filed under: Divorce Canada,Legal Forms & Documents — Tags: , , — Bryan Martin @ 7:20 pm

Documents needed for divorce in Canada -December 23, 2007

The only document you are certain to need to file, other than the divorce documents themselves, is your original marriage certificate. If you don’t have the original you can file a certified copy but you must obtain the certified copy directly from the issuing jurisdiction. You can find links to assist you in obtaining a certified copy of your marriage certificate here.

If you married abroad and your marriage certificate is in a language other than English of French you will need to have it translated. That is the only document, other than your divorce documents and the papers you will obtain through the divorce process itself that you will need to file. The only exception to not needing to file any other documents is in the case where there are children under the age of majority or otherwise still financially dependent upon you and your spouse for support. In those cases, depending on other circumstances, you may need to file financial documents showing your gross annual income.

The usual rule is that, if you have agreed that one spouse will pay the Federal along with all Notices of Assessment and Reassessment. However, the courts in some provinces, including BC, Ontario, and Alberta, often waive this requirement where the spouses have agreed upon the child support to be paid.

Where there is an agreement but it is for an amount which is different from the Table amount, financial documents from both spouses may be required but again, often this is waived. It is best to check with the local court office to determine for sure what financial disclosure they will need in your case. However, even where these financial documents are not required, the information concerning gross annual incomes still needs to be included in the appropriate divorce forms.

“For a fast, low-cost, lawyer-free legal www.DivorceOnline.ca.”

A good time to review your Legal Will… -December 14, 2007

Most people are not aware of how marriage affects their last will and testament, also known as a legal will. Did you know that a perfectly valid legal will becomes null and void the moment you say “I do”?

There is an exception to this. If, at the time you have your will prepared you are already planning to be married you can insert a clause stating explicitly that you are making the will in contemplation of your upcoming marriage and that the will is to remain in effect after the marriage takes place. If that is done then the marriage does not nullify the will. However, if no such explicit wording is contained in the will, getting married renders the will null and void.

So, obviously, getting married is a good time to dig out your old (and now probably invalid) will and prepare a new one.

It is also an excellent idea to review your legal will upon separation or divorce. Unlike marriage, neither separation nor divorce automatically changes your legal will.

Obviously your relationship with your spouse has changed significantly and it is fair to assume that you may no longer wish to leave any or all of your estate to your spouse, or ex-spouse, or soon to be ex-spouse. Most spouses name each other as the executors of their estates.

Go here to find out more: www.EasyLegalWill.ca, see part 2 tomorrow.

Filed under: Legal Forms & Documents — Tags: , , — Bryan Martin @ 1:00 pm

Why is a totally free divorce impossible? -December 9, 2007

Why is a totally free divorce impossible? The courts in every jurisdiction require the payment of significant filing fees before they will process a divorce. In addition you may need to spend money to locate and / or serve documents on your spouse, not to mention the cost of obtaining

The cost of obtaining your divorce documents may be significant as well. If you value your time you may decide to incur a considerable monetary expense by hiring a law firm to prepare and process your divorce documents for you. At the opposite extreme you might try a do-it-yourself kit. These are available for between $0 and $50 and usually require a significant investment of your time to complete. Even then there is no guarantee that you have completed the forms properly and may need to spend additional time making revisions. Free divorce document blanks

A middle road for those who want to economize both in terms of their time and their money is an online divorce document assembly service. These services prepare all your divorce documents, just like a law firm would, but then leave it to you to actually file them with the court office according to the instructions they provide.

Court offices in many jurisdictions will provide you with

Filed under: Divorce,Legal Forms & Documents — Bryan Martin @ 8:37 pm
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