Divorces are never fun. Your family might be breaking apart. You might be losing a huge part of your identity. You might be terrified of losing your children or even your own livelihood. That’s why it’s always a good idea to contact a professional divorce lawyer to manage the proceedings.
With many years of experience and dozens of fair settlements reached Verhaeghe Law Office should be your first choice for divorce lawyers in Barrhead. Let us take care of all the complicated parts of Canadian and Albertan divorce law so that you can focus on the important things.
Can I Get a Divorce?
In Canada The Divorce Act stipulates that the court can order a divorce only if the marriage has broken down. A marriage breakdown can be argued on the following three grounds:
- Separation: you and your spouse have been living separately for over one year. Normally separation implies that each party has been living at a different address for the period of the separation. However it’s also possible to file for a divorce if you are living at the same address but do not sleep in the same bed cook together clean together or generally interact with one another as a couple would.
- Adultery: if your spouse has committed adultery by engaging in intimate relations with another person you can file for divorce. Only the spouse who has been cheated on can file for this kind of divorce. If the adulterer denies the accusation it may be necessary to prove that adultery took place in a court.
- Cruelty: if your spouse has created an intolerable living situation it can be grounds for divorce. It is especially necessary to get a lawyer for this kind of divorce because cruelty often needs to be proved in court. In cases of domestic abuse criminal charges might be filed as well. It is not necessary to be separated for a year to file for divorce on the grounds of cruelty.
How do I Start a Divorce?
The first step of a divorce is filing a “Statement of Claim for Divorce”. This paperwork can be downloaded and printed on the Alberta Courts website (www.albertacourts.ca). Once it’s all filled out and signed bring the documents to the courthouse. If you contact Verhaeghe Law Office to handle your divorce proceedings we can help you file the appropriate paperwork.
Once the Statement of Claim for Divorce has been filed the defendant (the partner who is being divorced) will be contacted and will have 20 days to dispute the divorce. If they are out of province they’ll have one month and two months if they are out of Canada. If they do not respond or if they agree it is possible to file the next forms.
Contact Verhaeghe Law Office Today
As with all legal proceedings we strongly recommend hiring a law professional to help you to properly file the paperwork. There is a lot of it and it can be very complicated. In order to ensure that you get the settlement you deserve there is no substitute in Barrhead for a divorce lawyer from Verhaeghe Law Office.
Contact us today!