Five Things to Know Before Filing for Online Divorce
1. Consult a Marriage Counselor
The first thing you want to do as soon as you start thinking about an online divorce is to talk to a marriage counsellor or another professional who can try to help you save the marriage. Maybe you think there’s no future for the two of you, or you’ve lost hope, but divorce counselling can’t hurt. In fact, it can help you see where things went wrong, show you how to cope, and eventually help you move on peacefully.
The good part is that you can attend divorce counselling alone, so if your spouse isn’t up for it, you can go yourself.
2. Get Information From a Lawyer
If marriage counselling doesn’t work, you can move on to the next step.
Before hiring an actual lawyer to settle your divorce, you want to consult a lawyer to ensure you get all the information possible regarding the divorce. In fact, you want to talk to a lawyer before even discussing the divorce with your spouse.
Divorce can be rather complicated, and there are a lot of details you should be aware of. The Family Law and the Divorce Act are pretty complex in Ontario. The simplest situations can be confusing to you or the rest of your family.
Also, the actions each of you take can affect the divorce outcome. You should be able to understand all your options on time and not down the road when it may already be too late to change the result.
Lawyers can offer legal advice about child support decisions, spousal support payment, parenting plans, cohabitation, parenting arrangements, mediation, and similar legal issues.
3. Don’t Leave the Marital Home Before Consulting a Lawyer
If you want to move out of your marital home, don’t rush to do it just yet. Make sure to consult a lawyer first. If you leave your marital house without a good reason, you can lose possession of the property or child custody. Also, you may not be able to return to the home until after the property division, which could last for over a year.
Unless your spouse is violent, it’s best to remain in the house until talking to a lawyer. In cases of domestic violence, it’s crucial that you take steps to protect yourself and your children.
4. Save Your Assets Before Online Divorce Discussions
It’s also important that you take proper steps to safeguard your assets before discussing joint divorce with your spouse. Some protective measures include protecting your credit rating by closing or freezing a joint credit card. You can also prevent your spouse from accessing your personal financial information, home equity loan, credit lines, etc.
Also, you can freeze joint bank accounts and open a separate one in your name to store assets. If you haven’t discussed divorce yet, freezing the accounts will prevent retaliation from the other party.
5. Take Care of the Children
If you’re getting divorced and have children together, they should be your primary concern. Keep your children’s sense of security by establishing a clear pick-up and drop-off schedule with your spouse. You should come up with shared responsibilities for appointments and activities as fast as possible.
Don’t let the end of your marriage change how you interact with your kids but also with your spouse as a co-parent.
As far as custody is concerned, at the court, the judges will look to the status quo to offer children maximum stability. If you plan on getting custody of the children, it’s crucial that you show the court you want it and show that you’re able to work with your spouse to make everyday decisions.
It’s crucial to keep a close relationship with the children after the divorce and stay just as responsible for them. This includes attending doctor’s appointments, school meetings, and more.
Extra Tip: Set a Joint Divorce Goal
Take time to think about what you want your life to look like after the marriage. Think about what you want from your divorce. Is it a clean break, co-parenting friendly relationship, or do you want to hang on to the property and assets you’re entitled to? Talk to a lawyer to identify your priorities and develop a strategy to help you achieve your goals.
Set the Ground Clear for Joint Divorce
Getting a divorce is never easy, and Ontario laws don’t make the situation easier. Before you even start the divorce procedure, it’s crucial that you do the five things mentioned in this article to make sure everything goes as well as possible for your case.
When you’re ready, you can talk to a lawyer at Legalhood to start the in-person or online divorce process right and get the most out of it.
