When a relationship is heading in the wrong direction,
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Legal Issues

General Information.
The bottom-line on separation agreements.

General Information
A separation agreement is a formal agreement between you and your spouse/partner. It is entered into after a relationship has broken down. It provides for support, property division, other financial considerations etc.

Separation agreements are the product of negotiations between the parties (you and your spouse/partner) and, hopefully, your lawyers. The goal of a separation agreement is to deal with all or some of the issues arising from the breakdown of a relationship in a manner that both parties are as happy with as possible.

Separation agreements usually deal with the following issues:

  • How will the children be cared for?
  • If the children will be living mostly with one parent, how much time will the other parent have with the children?
  • How much child support will be paid, and which of the children's expenses will be shared between the parents?
  • Should one of the parties' receive spousal support? If so, how much support should be paid and for how long?
  • How will the parties' assets be divided?
  • How will the parties' debts be paid out? Should they be allocated between the parties?

Separation agreements are valid and binding from the moment they are executed by both parties (just like any other contract). They operate from the time of execution and, where children, child support or spousal support are issues, until the terms of the agreement are met.
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The bottom-line on separation agreements.
As with all other aspects of a break up, the more decisions you and your spouse/partner can make without having to go to court, the better off you are. It is always a good idea to have an experienced family law lawyer help you to negotiate your agreement or, at the very least review it, to ensure that your rights and obligations have been properly addressed. It's also a good idea to run your agreement past a lawyer to find out the tax consequences of any payments you agree to, and/or transfers of property you and our spouse/partner are thinking of making.
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