Family Law

Sinclair Law Office practices all areas of family law in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, including the following:

• Pre-Nuptial Agreements/Marriage Contracts/Cohabitation Agreements - A marriage agreement can be made either before or during a marriage. If it is made prior to the marriage it is termed a pre-nuptial agreement or "pre-nup". In addition, prospective spouses can enter into a "cohabitation agreement" if living together without an immediate intention to marry.
  
  Whether we are speaking of cohabitation agreements, pre-nuptial agreements or marriage contracts, these types of agreements may be entered into by persons who are married, intend to marry or are simply cohabitating. The parties may agree on their respective rights and obligations during marriage, cohabitation or on separation, including:
  
  • Ownership in or division of property;
  • Support obligations;
  • The right to direct the education and moral training of their children, but not the right to custody of or access to their children;
  • Any other matter in the settlement of their affairs.
  
  
• Separation Agreements - It is always better if the two of you can agree on how to settle the issues between you. Court proceedings can be very expensive and take a long time. Signing a separation agreement is a very important step. Your decisions now can affect you and your children for the rest of your lives. A separation agreement is a contract that you must honour.
  
  The law leaves the decision about having a separation agreement to you. You may have a hard time proving that you and your spouse had promised to settle things a certain way if you do not have a written, signed and witnessed separation agreement. This could be a problem if your spouse stops respecting your informal agreement.


• Child Protection Proceedings - Sinclair Law Office has experience in dealing with Child Welfare matters under the Alberta Child Youth and Family Enhancement Act (CYFEA) including:
  
  • Child Welfare Supervision Orders;
  • Temporary or Permanent Guardianship Orders;
  • Family Kinship placement and adoption proceedings.
  
  If you need assistance or have inquiries regarding Child Welfare issues please contact Brad Sinclair for assistance.


• Divorce - The Divorce Petition requires a lot of information. You can help your lawyer and save time if you already have that available. See the Divorce Petition Check List for the information you should start gathering. You will need to file a certified copy of your marriage certificate and, if one of you has already been divorced, a certified copy of the Divorce Judgment.


• Custody - To begin with, both parents have custody of the children. This is not an issue until one of the parents, or some other person, wants to remove custody from the other parent or from both of the parents. Until the court makes an order or the parents enter into an agreement, both parents have the same "rights" to custody of their children and neither has more "rights" than the other.
  
  The over-riding principle which applies to custody orders is "the best Interests of the child". The courts will be concerned with what is best for the child and not what is best, or most convenient, for the parent. As well, legislation provides that the past conduct of the person requesting custody is not of any consideration or significance unless it is relevant to the ability of that person to act as a parent for the child in the current circumstances.


• Access - Child Access, or Visitation Rights, is when a child who lives with one parent goes to visit the other parent for a few hours, a weekend, or for longer, such as during a winter or summer vacation. Just because a parent only sees the child for access visits does not necessarily mean that they do not have custody rights. However, if a parent does not have custody of their child, they may still have access visits with the child, so as to continue to have a good relationship with the child.


• Child Support - Under the Divorce Act either a spouse or former spouse may be ordered to pay child support to the parent who has the custody or day to day care and control of the child. There doesn't have to be any actual order for custody or joint custody, for the court to order that one of the parties child support.


• Spousal Support - What does the legislation say about spousal support? The Divorce Act deals with spousal support in section 15 which states that: "In making an order under this section, the court shall take into consideration the condition, means, needs and other circumstances of each spouse and of any child of the marriage for whom support is sought. including:
  
  1. the length of time the spouses cohabited;
  2. the functions performed by the spouse during cohabitation; and
  3. any order, agreement or arrangement relating to support of the spouse or child."
  
  Section 15 (6) of the Divorce Act clearly states that: "the court shall not take into consideration any misconduct of a spouse in relation to the marriage" when considering whether or not to order support."


• Division of Property - Property rights when a marriage breaks down are governed by Part I and Part II of the Family Law Act (FLA). Part II deals specifically with the division of the value of the matrimonial home, while Part I deals with all other matrimonial property. It should be noted that only couples who have entered into a legal marriage may make use of these provisions of the law.


• Guardianship applications - We can assist you with either determining whether or not you would qualify as a guardian or making a court application for guardianship of a child or children.

Other Family Law Areas include:

• Exclusive Possession of the Matrimonial home
• Exclusive Possession of the Contents of the Matrimonial home
• Sale of Family property
• Division of Property for Unmarried Couples