Dear Readers,
Many people come to Family Lawyers asking for a quick and dirty (and cheap!) Separation Agreement. Today’s question is: will such an Agreement be fair to the parties and will it stand the test of time?
I had a client – Mrs. X – who came to me several months after she had signed a (‘quick and dirty’) Separation Agreement with another lawyer. Mrs. X deeply regretted the Agreement she had signed and felt that she had settled for far less than she should have. She told me that she had separated the past fall and had signed the Separation Agreement soon after. Further questioning revealed that – in the interests of getting her Separation Agreement finalized quickly – she had asked her lawyer to take several shortcuts. These shortcuts included: not obtaining a value of the matrimonial home, not requesting a valuation of her spouse’s pension, not requiring Mr. X to provide the required full and detailed financial disclosure, and so on.
It was clear that Mrs. X had not been provided all of the detailed documents necessary so that her lawyer could do the necessary analyses to calculate Mrs. X’s legal entitlements.
It was also clear that Mrs. X had been very worried about legal fees, and hence had limited her previous lawyer’s time/work.
Now, six months later, what was Mrs. X to do? The good news is that – in family matters – a spouse can apply to the Court to set aside a Separation Agreement. However, this is an uphill battle, and the onus will be on Mrs. X to prove the necessary circumstances/elements that the law requires in order to win such an application to the Court.
The difficult part is – in addition to the fact that in Court there are no guarantees of victory – the work that Mrs. X’s new lawyer will have to do will greatly add to her legal fees, as the work will be much more complicated than had Mrs. X allowed her previous lawyer to do the necessary work in the first place.
So, today’s teaching piece is that, if you’ve decided to separate, beware of doing a “quick and dirty” Separation Agreement. While you may succeed in your goal of saving time and legal fees in the immediate present, the risk is that, in doing so, you will have likely limited your lawyer’s time and work to do her due diligence necessary to meet the long-term results you want, i.e. a Separation Agreement that is fair to you, and also that will stand the test of time.
Until next time.
Anne
Anne Freed holds a BA (Honours Sociology), JD (Juris Doctor, Law Degree), Master of Laws Degree (LL.M.) in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Advanced Training in Mediation, Arbitration and Collaborative Practice, Certification in Collaborative Practice, as well as over 38 years’ experience in the practice of Family Law, Mediation and Arbitration. Anne is also a Certified Specialist in Family Mediation (FDRP Med) and OAFM Accredited Family Mediator (AccFM).
© Anne E. Freed, November 2025
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