At this time, you are likely highly emotional and feeling combinations of anger, fear, frustration, and disappointment. Everyone probably wants to give you advice, including your friends and family, and maybe even your partner. The problem is your friends and family do not really know the law or the facts in your life that would be applicable to any statement of law. A common example is that many people say that people living together have the same rights as if they are married. There is not true in all cases.
What is true is that the rights are now similar under the Family Law Act after two years of cohabitation for issues respecting asset division. For example married spouses can apply for relief under the federal Divorce Act (Canada) which has a less restrictive approach to the use of court proceedings and fewer considerations regarding parental rights and access when compared to the provincial Family Law Act.
Similarly, people often brag about resolving their divorce and asset division in a matter of weeks. This is also meaningless. This may simply be the result of your friend and their partner simply having a common interest to separate. Meanwhile, if you are leaving a partner who is unreasonable or abusive the same common interest will not apply.
Similarly, if you have many assets of a high value which are held both by you and your partner individually, or pursuant to a trust or a corporate structure, it will obviously be more time consuming and difficult to resolve asset division as compared to your friend who perhaps only owns a home and/or a couple of bank accounts.
It is important that you consult a family lawyer like those at Dubas and Company for applicable advice for your circumstances. Think of it this way: just as you would not hire a lawyer to fix a leaky faucet in your home, you would not ask a plumber, even if they were your friend, for his view of your legal entitlements upon separation or divorce. At Dubas and Company we are divorce and family law lawyers that operate in Vancouver but service the entire lower mainland of British Columbia. We have experience dealing with complex asset division and custody matters in high conflict family law and divorce disputes all over British Columbia with a focus on the lower mainland and Vancouver area.
You need to know your rights either way. Contact us for a free 2o minute consultation in all areas including claims of child support, spousal support, divorce, division of family property, and the use of family law agreements, pre-nuptial agreements and separation agreements.
Contact us for a no-charge 20 minute consultation*:
Dubas and Company
email: jdubas@divorcebc.net
605 – 938 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1N9
Tel: 604.697.9107
Fax: 604.697.9108
*20-minute consultations must in-person at our law offices, if at all possible.