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| When are they needed: A separation agreement may be entered into by married or unmarried spouses as soon as they are living separate and apart. |
| What are they used for: The main purpose of a separation agreement is to settle the various issues between the spouses without having to go to court. |
| Many couples believe that they require a separation agreement to have a legal separation. This is not true, the separation is legal as soon as the spouses are no longer residing as a couple with no intentions of living together again. A separation agreement is useful as proof of the date of separation. |
| Specific terms: The specific terms worked out on such issues as division of property (including pension benefits), support, custody, and access are spelled out in writing. Releasing each other from obligation: Included is a number of standard releases. The releases ensure that neither spouse will apply to the court to claim anything from the other that has not been dealt with in the agreement. |
| Children: A marriage contract cannot deal with custody and access to children, a separation agreement does deal with the matters surrounding children (support,custody), as well, it sets out the particulars where children are concerned; eg. how long there will be the obligation to support the child(ren), how much support is to be paid and by whom, times of access, special holidays, dental and medical coverage, education, religion and location of residence for the child. |
| Matrimonial Home: Separation agreements allow such provisions as a spouses right to live in the matrimonial home or removing the requirement to obtain consent to a sale of the house. It is also quite common to provide one spouse with exclusive possession of the matrimonial home. |
| To ensure that each spouse can make an informed decision about agreeing to the contract, each party to the contract must disclose their finances and debts to the other. Any document without financial disclosure can be disregarded by the court. |
| Any domestic contracts, including separation agreements have to be executed properly to become legally binding documents. Also a certificate of independent legal advice should be attached to the document to ensure that neither of the parties can apply to the court at a later date to claim he or she did not understand it. |
| Wills, inheritence, remarriage, cohabitation: Separation agreement also may include clauses reflecting the estates of each of the parties, deal with inheritence issues, and state things like: eg. support payments may cease upon a spouse's remarriage or cohabitation with another person. |
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| Request A Free Consultation Here |
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| Alternative Legal Solutions offers a free consultation to those in Barrie and surrounding areas. |
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