The Almost Painless Divorce

If you ask people which of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories they find scariest, it will tell you a lot about what they fear.  Those who choose “The Cask of Amontillado” fear betrayal, or else they fear drunken lapses in judgment.  Those who choose “The Tell Tale Heart” fear regret.  Those who choose “The Masque of the Red Death” fear infectious diseases.  Likewise, people will give varying answers about the worst things about divorce.  Some fear the financial damage, while others fear confrontation, and still others fear the harm that the divorce will do to their reputation.  Fortunately, the laws of Ontario offer several options for couples who wish to legally dissolve their marriages, and which one you choose depends on your situation and your priorities.  In some of these processes, the focus is on due process to ensure that each party gets a fair share of marital property and parenting time.  In others, the focus is on saving time and money for everyone.  To find out the most practical way to approach your divorce, contact a Mississauga family lawyer.

What Is the Difference Between Simple Divorce and Joint Divorce?

The type of divorce that people avoid when they can is contested divorce.  This is where one party files an application for divorce, the other files a response, and then the parties negotiate in mediation until they can agree on matters of property division and co-parenting; the case goes to trial if there are still unresolved issues at the end of mediation.

Ontario recognizes two paths to uncontested divorce, where there is no response listing points of disagreement with the divorce application.  One is joint divorce, where the parties file the divorce application together, listing the property division scheme they have agreed on; if they have minor children, they also attach a parenting plan.

The other option is simple divorce.  One spouse files the divorce application, the same way you would for a contested divorce.  The difference is, in a simple divorce, your spouse either responds by agreeing to all your requests in the application or does not respond at all.  This means that the court finalizes your divorce simply by signing off on the requests you made in the divorce application.

Collaborative Divorce Keeps the Messiness of Divorce Away From the Court

If you and your spouse cannot agree on all the issues of property division and parenting time, then collaborative divorce provides an opportunity to reach an agreement outside of court.  In collaborative divorce, the parties hire lawyers and negotiate, sometimes with the help of a mediator, until they can reach an agreement on all the things they would have listed on a divorce application.  At the end, they file an application for joint divorce or simple divorce.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Uncontested Divorce

A family lawyer can help you qualify for uncontested divorce, even if your case seems too complex to qualify for it.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.

Source:

legalaid.on.ca/faq/simple-divorce/