The Best* Calgary Family Lawyers help clients deal with divorce, separation, child custody, spousal and child support, and matrimonial property division issues.
Founder, Lorne MacLean, QC has been named by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as one of the Top 25 Influential Lawyers in Canada.
MacLean Law’s Calgary Family Lawyers office and MacLean Law is a 5 time Gold Medal repeat winner as Vancouver’s Best Family Law Firm from prestigious Top Choice Awards. Lorne N MacLean, QC is also a threebestrated divorce lawyer for multiple Western Canadian cities as well.
MacLean Law is also Western Canada’s largest family law firm with 7 offices across Western Canada including Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna, Fort St John, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Our Calgary family law office is located in downtown Calgary in Bankers Hall and our lawyers there are led by senior Calgary family lawyer Peter Graburn joined by associate Brianne Breckie and student Kaye Booth.
The best Calgary divorce lawyers focus on helping Calgary family law clients resolve their difficult and stressful family law challenges. Consider our experience and reputation when you are looking for the Best* Calgary Family Lawyers and call us at 403 444 5503
Best Calgary Family Lawyers 403 444 5503
Call our highly rated Calgary Family lawyers at 403 444 5503 now so you can understand your legal rights and so you can rest easier knowing you have one of the Best* Calgary family lawyers on your side.
When you are looking for experienced Calgary Family Lawyers it makes sense for you to contact us at our downtown Calgary family lawyer’s office in Bankers Hall.
The best* Calgary family lawyers know that settlements are the preferred option assuming the settlement is a fair one made with full disclosure and independent legal advice. One-sided homemade agreements where someone is at an informational disadvantage waste everyone’s time and ramp up legal costs to fix them. People who settle in the heat of the moment, or when they are consumed with guilt, often make huge mistakes. The best Calgary divorce lawyers make sure you don’t make these mistakes. Pick up the phone and call one of the Calgary family lawyers at MacLean Law now at 403 444 5503.
Our lawyers know that once a deal is reached it is often too late to change your mind and “settlor’s remorse” isn’t a ground to set aside a Calgary family law separation agreement. Similarly, people cannot ignore the duty to mediate clauses incorporated as a term of any Calgary separation agreement or Calgary family court order.
Calgary Family Settlement Lawyers
In Henderson v Henderson, 2016 ABCA 256 the Alberta Court of Appeal says once a settlement is reached it needs to be adhered to subject to court applications based on a material change.
In Henderson, a party had second thoughts and refused to follow the duty to mediate clauses. The Alberta Court of Appeal took a dim view of this approach which if permitted would lead to frustrated contracts, deals being reopened based on second thoughts, refusal to mediate family issues when the contract required a party to do so, and more uncertainty and legal mayhem for family law litigants. Since the reasons are so short we have included all of the judgment with the key parts highlighted.
McDonald, J.A. (for the Court):
[1] The parties reached a mediated settlement of their matrimonial issues and a written Settlement Agreement was signed on November 11, 2013. After lengthy discussions, the form of Divorce Judgment and Corollary Relief Order (which had been prepared by counsel for the respondent) was approved by counsel for the appellant on January 21, 2015. New counsel for the respondent, however, declined to file the application for a desk divorce on the basis that the respondent was having second thoughts about the settlement, and that circumstances had changed.
[2] The appellant applied for an order that the desk divorce application be filed based on the form of Divorce Judgment and Corollary Relief Order that had been agreed to. The chambers judge declined to grant the order and did not provide any reasons for his refusal.
[3] It is in the interests of all participants in the family law system that settlements be reached, and when reached that these settlements be enforced. The respondent has failed to provide any acceptable reason why the desk divorce application has not been made. If circumstances have truly changed, the proper approach would be to apply for a variation after the Divorce Judgment and Corollary Relief Order are granted.
[4] The Settlement Agreement also provided that the parties would mediate any disputes before applying to the court. The chambers judge dispensed with this requirement, on the basis that the respondent no longer wishes to mediate, and mediation might well be unsuccessful. Having agreed to this requirement, the respondent cannot simply ignore it, and there was no basis for the chambers judge to dispense with mediation. Dispensing with mediation merely rewards the respondent for breaching the provisions of the Settlement Agreement.
[5] Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. Counsel for the respondent is directed to apply forthwith for the Divorce Judgment and the Corollary Relief Order previously consented to by counsel for the appellant. Both parties are required to attend mediation in good faith before bringing any further applications before the Court. This latter directive does not apply to any applications pertaining to the mobility application that is currently scheduled to be heard in the spring of 2017.
Act Promptly To Protect Your Rights
Lorne N. MacLean, QC, and Peter Graburn are in charge of MacLean Law’s Calgary family lawyers’ office and both are ready to assist you in resolving your Calgary Alberta family matters. Call us now at 403-444-5503.
