Contact Surya Law for Family Law Legal Services

EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER IN SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO, BRAMPTION, MISSISSAUGA

Family law issues are always complex, and emotional. Being your trusted family law lawyer in Scarborough, Toronto we can help your all family law needs for divorce, child support, custody and access, domestic contracts, child support, spousal support, division of marital assets and equalization, and settlement options. Our experienced family law lawyer understands your issues and navigate them professionally, timely, and cost-effectively. You do not need to worry for exorbitant legal fees as our charges are reasonable to access justice. Our experienced family law lawyer understands your difficult time and helps at every step to make your informed legal decisions.

DIVORCE

RETAIN YOUR TRUSTED DIVORCE LAWYER

If you are legally married, then the only legal way to conclude the relationship is Divorce. Once you are legally married, “breakdown of the marriage” is the only ground for divorce in Canada with some exceptions. The divorce proceedings are different in Canadian provinces and territories though the Divorce Act is a federal law. Divorce proceedings are complicated specially when parenting arrangements, equalizations and other disputes arises along with divorce. Our experienced divorce lawyer can guide you from the very beginning of the divorce proceedings so that you get relief from major impacts in your daily life.

UNCONTESTED DIVORCE

In an uncontested divorce both spouses settle the issues before a court application without involving any litigation. Spouses cannot get rid of stress and emotional pressure during the challenging divorce process and our experienced divorce lawyer in our law firm can review your complicated circumstances and ensure your access to legal justice. The spouses are agreed mutually on several issues such as division of assets, child custody, child access, matrimonial home, spousal support, alimony, other financial matter and implement all the agreed terms into the separation agreement. Your trusted divorce lawyer at Surya Law works with you to rescind your legal marriage status and ensures that you achieve your portions through negotiations with another spouse. Uncontested divorce is less expensive in comparison to contested divorce and does not take much time to finalize the separation agreement.

Though the uncontested divorce can be filled without any support of lawyers but it is advisable to retain an experienced divorce lawyer so that you get advantages of professional experience of a family law lawyer and you ensure your legal justice.

An uncontested divorce can be sole or joint divorce service. In case of a sole divorce only one spouse initiates divorce application and then serves to the other spouse. Here other spouse does not raise any issues on the divorce. Whereas, both spouses file divorce application mutually informing the court of their intent to divorce when the spouses decide to go for joint uncontested divorce application. It is always advisable to consult with an experienced divorce lawyer to confirm whether you want to go with sole or joint divorce application.

ADVANTAGES OF AN UNCONTESTED DIVORCE

There are many advantages of an uncontested divorce such as –

It is less expensive.
It is not time consuming.
It is less stressful.
It is not contested by other spouse and therefore, you may have less chance of the decision being challenged later.
It can be handled without court involvement.
It does not reveal much confidential information.

DISADVANTAGE OF AN UNCONTESTED DIVORCE

The disadvantage of an uncontested divorce are as follows-

The relation between the spouses can be abusive and the uncontested divorce does not put that information on the divorce record.
If one spouse lacks understanding of the law and the divorce paperwork on their own, then an uncontested divorce is not a good option.
If you choose uncontested divorce to avoid any disagreements, then you can overlook the important matters.

It is always advisable to consult with our experienced divorce lawyer for legal help and ensure your legal rights.

CONTESTED DIVORCE

When both spouses fail to agree on some or all issues related to divorce or separation, a contested divorce occurs, and a court needs to settle their disagreements. These disagreements involve child support, spousal support, division of properties, child custody and access. The contested divorce can also be settled out of court. It is always wise to retain an experienced divorce lawyer to protect your rights.

ADVANTAGES OF A CONTESTED DIVORCE

There is no doubt that a contested divorce is more complicated than an uncontested divorce and therefore you need to contact an experienced divorce lawyer who can help you to review your issues and ensue right steps for your legal justice. The advantages of a contested divorce are as follows-

It gives opportunities to raise all issues related to divorce.
Spouses are free to make their opinions without any fear.
It covers the abusive nature in the relation between the spouse.

DISADVANTAGES OF A CONTESTED DIVORCE

There are many disadvantages on a contested divorce.

It is more complicated and takes more time than uncontested divorce.
It is more stressful, and the process is very detailed.
It is obviously more expensive.
It discloses more confidential information.
The court decides the final decision.

NUMEROUS STEPS IN A CONTESTED DIVORCE

A contested divorce always involves complicated steps. Our experienced divorce lawyer is fervent and understanding when representing clients, but he is tough when it is necessary to do so. In case of a contested divorce, spouses need to go through several steps including-

Review Options: Spouses need to review the settling options before filing the divorce proceedings. It is worthwhile to discuss the divorce issues with an experienced divorce lawyer to identify all the available possible options. The Divorce Act requires the lawyers to discuss with the spouses the possibility of reconciliation before signing the application.
Filling and Serving Application: If the reconciliation does not work then litigation remains the last resort. One spouse needs to file the application to the court for divorce and serve a copy to the respondent. Being your trusted divorce lawyer in Scarborough, Toronto we will make sure to raise all issues in your divorce petition.
Answer and Reply: The respondent requires to file an answer of the divorce petition within the deadline. The applicant might need to reply of the answer within the time limit as well.
First Appearance: A first appearance has to be set up for the matter.
Case Conference/ ADR Conference: There must have one case conference in every contested divorce. Alternative dispute resolution is more flexible resolution than conventional litigation.
Motion: It helps if a spouse needs any temporary order by the court.
Trial: If settlement fails, a trial takes place. Trial is always time consuming and expensive.
Appeal: After completion of trial, you can appeal the court’s decision(s) if you dispute it.

Considering the complexity of a contested divorce, it is wise decision to retain us as your experienced divorce lawyer in Scarborough, Toronto to protect your rights.

FOREIGN DIVORCE OPINION LETTER

OBTAIN A FOREIGN DIVORCE OPINTION LETTER FROM AN EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER

If you were divorced outside Canada, you can marry again in Canada, but your foreign divorce must be recognized by the Divorce Act. An Ontario lawyer can validate a foreign Divorce Order or Decree by a Foreign Divorce Opinion Letter. It is a legal document with the lawyer’s opinion whether the foreign divorce would be recognized in Canada and which you need to submit before the Marriage Office along with other listed documents for Marriage Licence.

You need the following documents for a Foreign Divorce Opinion Letter-

Foreign Divorce Order/ Decree- original or court certified. You need a certified translation to English if the original copy is not in English or French.
A completed Application for Marriage
A signed statement of Sole Responsibility

At Surya Law, our experienced divorce lawyer can help you to obtain your Foreign Divorce Opinion Letter.

CHILD CUSTODY AND ACCESS

EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER TO REPRESENT YOU IN CHILD CUSTODY AD ACCESS

If you have any child(ren) and you plan to divorce or separate, one the most important issues are to decide their custody and access. Your arrangements on child custody and access surely impacts on other issues related to your divorce or separation. Our family law lawyer Surya Chakrabarti strives to provide you the best legal advice to protect you and your child(ren)’s interest.

CUSTODY AND ACCESS ARE DIFFERENT

The terms custody and access have been replaced by “parenting order”, “contact order”,, “parenting time”, and “decision-making responsibility”.
Custody refers to the right and responsibility of a parent to make major day-today decisions for the child(ren) such as decisions on education, non-emergency health care, religion or other activities. The custody may be Sole custody or joint custody.
In Sole custody only one parent makes decisions for the minor child. Whereas both parents make major decisions for the minor child in case of Joint custody and the children maintain a primary residence with one of the parents but equally divide the time between both parents. An experienced family law lawyer can guide you how to secure sole custody or joint custody to protect your and your child(ren)’s legal rights.

Access refers the time a non-custodial parent can spend with the child(ren). It gives right to a non-custodial parent to inquire about the child(ren) and the health, education, and other welfare of the child(ren). Having an experienced family law lawyer by your side can assist to uphold you and your child(ren)’s legal rights.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER FOR CUSTODY AND ACCESS

The custody and access are governed by two statutes in Ontario- the Divorce Act and the Children’s Law Reforms Act. The arrangements for custody and access can be decided by parents mutually or by lawyers or mediators but if the mutual arrangements do not work then the Court needs to step in. A court will consider the best interests of the child and the several factors to decide the custody and access such as-

Child’s physical and emotional well-being
Child’s security
Child’s wishes if the child is mature enough to express his/her wishes
Child’s financial needs
Child’s education and expenses plan
Child’s religious and ethical upbringing
Child’s bonding with other siblings
Child’s necessity of a caregivers

Our experienced family law lawyer in Scarborough, Toronto can assist you to resolve disputes on custody and access ensuing the best interests of the child.

CHILD SUPPORT

RETAIN AN SKILLED FAMILY LAW LAWYER FOR CHILD SUPPORT

When the parents are divorced or living separately, the parent who in charge of custody bears most of the day-to-day living expenses and the parent has legal rights to claim money for the child(ren) from the other parent. The money paid by a payor parent to a recipient parent for their child(ren) is refer as the child support. The child support is governed either by the Divorce Act or by the Family Law Act. The child support arrangements may be complicated if one of the parents fails to disclose income properly or experiences financial hardship. Therefore, it is wise decision to retain an experienced family law lawyer for legal advice on your child support.

HOW MUCH ARE YOU ENTITLED TO RECEIVE FOR YOUR CHILD SUPPORT?

The Child Support Guidelines (CSG) provides the presumptive Table to decide the amount of child support payable by the payor parent. The CSG consists of two components –

Table Amount: The Table amounts reflects average monthly costs of clothing, food, and school expenses. If the annual income of the payor parent exceeds $150,000, the Court has discretion to order different amount. This presumptive Table is different in all provinces and territories.
Special and Extraordinary Expenses: A court may order to pay special and extraordinary expenses (section 7 expenses) to a payor parent for
- Childcare costs,
- Extra-curricular expenses, and
- Extraordinary primary or secondary education costs.

A child support agreement or a court order may be varied if either parent can show any material change in circumstances. At Surya Law, our experienced family law lawyer helps in claiming your child support application and protect your legal rights.

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

RETAIN AN EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER FOR SPOUSAL SUPPORT APPLICATION

After separation or divorce, one spouse may experience worse financial situation specially who stays at home and looks after the child(ren). The purpose of the spousal support is to provide standard of living to both spouses after separation or divorce. Generally, the spouse with higher income pays spousal support to other spouse with low income or no come at all. The spousal support is governed either by the Divorce Act or by the Family Law Act depends upon the marital status of the spouses. The spousal support is also known as alimony or maintenance. There is a Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines created by the Department of Justice, but these guidelines do not have any legal force. Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain the amount of spousal support. It is always advisable to retain an experienced family law lawyer to guide by your side and to protect all your legal rights.

ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY FOR SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Under the Divorce Act, a divorced spouse can apply for spousal support and the Act also allows to apply for spousal support by a married spouse. A common-law spouse is eligible to claim spousal support subject to fulfilment of the conditions, under the Family Law Act. The advantage of retaining a skilled family law lawyer is that you can be guided from the very fast meeting whether you are eligible or when you should apply for spousal support along with all other legal advice.

PRINCIPLES FOR ENTITLEMENT TO SPOUSAL SUPPORT

If there is any separation agreement, then a clause can expressly mention the amount and how long one spouse will be entitled to receive the spousal support. A lawyer or mediator can assist to negotiate and finalize the agreement, but the last resort is the Court to decide the spousal support.

A court will consider the following factors:

The length of the relationship,
The financial circumstances of the parties,
The role of the parties during their relationship, specially to raise the child(ren),
Whether there is any contractual (express or implied) agreement between the parties,
Whether a spouse has experienced economic disadvantages and contributed to the economic advantage of the other spouse,
Whether the one spouse can support himself or herself at the end of the relationship.

Even if a spouse enters into a new relationship, he/she is still entitled to claim spousal support, but the new partner’s contribution may mitigate the need of spousal claim. It is complicated to present the principles before the Court and an experienced family law lawyer can submit your strong application to protect your legal rights.

PRIORITY OF CHILD SUPPORT OVER THE SPOUSAL SUPPORT

If a Court orders both child and spousal support, then child support payment has priority. The payor spouse must pay the child support first and the balance, if any, will go for spousal support.

At Surya Law, our knowledgeable family law lawyer offers unparalleled legal services to get success on spousal support claim.

DOMESTIC CONTRACTS

RETAIN A SKILLED FAMILY LAW LAWYER TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR DOMESTIC CONTRACTS

In Ontario there are five types of domestic contracts as set out in the Family Law Act – Separation Agreements, Cohabitation Agreements, Marriage Contracts, Paternity Agreements and Family Arbitration Agreements. These agreements are written contracts between two partners in a relationship of marriage, common-law or when a couple are about to get married.

It may be challenging to decide which agreement would be the most suitable considering your issues. At Surya Law, our experienced family law lawyer can represent you to protect your legal interests.

SEPARATION AGREEMENT

The most common domestic contract is Separation Agreement. According to the separation agreement a couple, whether married or common-law, can live separately without a divorce. A separation agreement makes it clear

Who will stay in the house?
Who will have custody of the child(ren)?
How are they going to arrange the access to the child(ren)?
How are spouses going to support each other and the child(ren)?
How are they going to divide the property?

It is important to note that a separation agreement does not deal with divorce. Therefore, spouses cannot remarry after signing the separation agreement.

Even if you live under the same roof, you may be considered separated if you meet all the eligible criteria.
There is no doubt that it is stressful and emotional decision to live legally separate and keeping this in mind our experienced family law lawyer can make sure your rights are protected during separation.

ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN ADVISED BY A SEPARATION AGREEMENT LAWYER IN SCARBOROUGH, TORONTO
If you decide to stay separate from your couple and want to process a separation agreement, you need to consider the following actions-

Separate your bank accounts in your name.
Update all social and childcare benefits information.
Split up your investments.
List all your incomes and expenses for you and your child(ren).
List all your assets and debts.
Identify the date they started living separate.

It is always advisable to consult with a separation agreement lawyer to review your circumstances and needs for the benefits of you and your child(ren).

COHABITATION AGREEMENTS

EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER TO NEGOTIATE, DRAFT AND ENFORCE YOUR COHABITATION AGREEMENTS

Unmarried couples can enter into a cohabitation agreement to protect their rights during the relationship. They can sign the cohabitation agreement before they start cohabiting or while they are in relation. If the couple marriage subsequently, the signed cohabitation agreement can turn into a marriage contract. It is very important to know what clauses you can include once you are signing the cohabitation agreement and an experienced family law lawyer is the right person to guide it though out agreement process.

CLAUSES YOU CAN CONSIDER IN A COHABITATION AGREEMENT

Cohabitation agreements are getting very popular nowadays as the common law partners in Canada is increasing rapidly. A cohabitation agreement can deal with

all financial aspects during their relationship,
ownership and division of properties,
child and spousal support, and
rights on other spouse’s estate on death
but it cannot deal with custody or access of their child(ren).

A cohabitation agreement prevents litigation and other costs if the couples decide to end their relationship. Considering the depth understanding on drafting and signing a cohabitation agreement, it is a wise decision to retain an experienced family law lawyer to guide you for your benefits in future.

MARRIAGE CONTRACT

RETAIN AN EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER TO ADVISE ON YOUR MARRIAGE CONTRACT

A marriage contract can be entered into prior to marriage or after marriage. A couple cannot sign a marriage contract before marriage breakdown. It deals with the issues between the couples to resolve during and at the end of the marriage breakdown. If you plan to sign a marriage contract, it is always prudent to consult with a skilled family law lawyer.

CLAUSES YOU CAN CONSIDER IN A MARRIAGE AGREEMENT

According to the Family Law a marriage contract can deal with the following issues

ownership and division of properties,
child and spousal support, and
education and moral training of a child(ren).

It is very important to note that a marriage contract cannot deal with

custody and access of the child(ren), and
the right to possession of the matrimonial home.

A family arbitration agreement would be unenforceable to resolve any issues under marriage contract, if the arbitration agreement is entered before the dispute to be arbitrated has arisen. At Surya Law, our experienced family law lawyer provide unmatched legal services in drafting marriage contract.

PRENUP AGREEMENTS

CONSULT WITH AN EXPERIENCED FAMILY LAW LAWYER FOR PRENUP AGREEMENT OR MARRIAGE CONTRACT

You can voluntarily outline before your marriage, what will happen to the assets and finances of each couple in case of divorce, separation, or death. The mutually agreed decisions help to deal with matters like assets, property, division of assets, and spousal support during their relationship or in the event of divorce, separation, and death of one of the couples. This type of agreement is called prenuptial or prenup agreement. It is also known as marriage agreement. An agreement can be entered into after marriage as well for the same purposes which is called postnup agreement. Whether prenup or postnup agreements, both are legally enforceable by same-sex or opposite sex marriages. Having an experienced family law lawyer by your side can assist you to draft the most sensible prenup agreement.

WHY DO YOU NEED A PRENUP AGREEMENT?

Nowadays it is very popular to enter into a prenuptial agreement before marriage for several reasons such as-

If you want to protect your assets or gifts you obtained before marriage.
If you want to safeguard your profitable big business and don’t want to share with your divorced or separated spouse.
If you have child(ren) from the previous relationship and you want to protect the commitments towards the child(ren).

WHAT CAN YOU INCLUDE IN A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT?

It is very important to draft your prenup agreement with special care considering all the future events can take place. An experienced family law lawyer may consider the followings-

Ownership and Division of Property: Whether you want to share any properties with your divorced or separated partners that you brought into or earned separately during the marriage.
Educations and Moral Teachings of Child(ren): A prenup agreement could also include values, cultural practices, beliefs, or schoolings of the child(ren).
Spousal Support: A prenup agreement can determine the terms of spousal support in the event of separation or divorce.
Other Matters: You can consider including the martial responsibilities or how you going to share the joint back accounts, bills, taxes and so on.

WHAT CANNOT BE INCLUDED IN A PRENUP AGREEMENT?

You must keep in mind that you cannot include the following matters in your prenup agreement-

Child Custody and Access: Decision about parenting time and decision-making responsibilities cannot be included in a prenuptial agreement. It can only be considered at the time of separation or divorce and the couple must consider the best interest of the child.
Matrimonial Home: According to the Family Law Act, all the married couple have an equal right on their matrimonial home, and it cannot be altered by a prenup agreement.

A prenuptial agreement can be set aside if any of the couple experienced any duress or there was misrepresentation or fraud at the time of singing the prenuptial agreement. Our experienced family law lawyer endeavors to include all the legal terms to protect your legal rights in the event of future divorce, separation, or death of your married partner.

ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR)

RETAIN AN ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION FAMILY LAW LAWYER FOR AMICABLE RESOLUTIONS
ADR (alternate dispute resolution) is mechanism to resolve the disputes through the lawyers or by a judge between parties out of the traditional court system. The separated spouses achieve flexible and individualized resolutions with less bitterness and expense. In family law, ADR generally involves mediation, arbitration, mediation-arbitration, and collaborative law. At Surya Law, our experienced family law lawyer helps and encourages to resolve the matters out of courts successfully.

MEDIATION

Mediation is a co-operative and problem-solving process whereby the parties retain a third-party professional to reach an agreement. A professional mediator may able to help spouses when they fail to resolve their matters themselves on parenting, separation, divorce, child or spousal payments, division of property etc.

The goal of family mediation is to meet the mutual needs of the participants by a fair and workable agreement but the primary responsibility rests with the participants. A mediator in a family mediation is a facilitator to reach an informed and voluntary agreement but the mediator should not decide an issue, impose an agreement, or provide legal advice. An experienced family law lawyer can help to select the mediator, decide whether ‘open’ or ‘closed’ mediation advisable, recommend the number of sessions required for mediation. A skilled family law lawyer takes an important role to review the memorandum of understanding and draft the separation agreement for final signatures.

ARBITRATION

Arbitration is a legal process where a neutral person is appointed as an arbitrator by the parties to review the evidence and arguments of each spouse and render a legally binding award. An arbitration offers several advantages.

The parties can select a skilled decision maker as their arbitrator.
An arbitration procedure does not expose issues to the public as it allows for private resolutions.
They can choose which steps they will take, and it is not rigid like court litigation.
They can choose the hearing date which is much quicker than traditional court litigation.

According to the FSLAA, an arbitration processes is conducted exclusively in accordance with the Ontario and Canadian jurisdiction and do not consider any religious or other cultural factors. Each spouse should receive an ILA for arbitration. Parties to an arbitration agreement cannot waive natural justice and appeal option. A competent court can set aside an arbitration agreement if a party

failed to disclose significant assets and liabilities,
did not understand the nature and consequences of the agreement, or
if the agreement fails to comply with the law of contract.

A party of the arbitration agreement can enforce the awards under FLA by a way of motion or application to the SCJ or Family Court of the SCJ. At Surya Law our experienced family law lawyer can help you to study the arbitration agreement and work by your side to protect you and your child(ren)’s legal rights.

COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW (CFL)

A collaborative family law (CFL) is a four-way meeting where the lawyers with their respective clients agree to resolve family issues using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques and litigation. All parties must sign a participation contract at the beginning of the CFL process. The lawyers are not neutral in CFL and if the parties fail to conclude any settlements, the lawyers will not participate in future litigation.

Once the spouses are agreed upon the terms, the lawyers jointly prepare the separation agreement and only the spouses sign it. It is always advisable to work with an experienced alternative dispute resolution family law lawyer for facilitating your amicable settlement terms and conditions.

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