Calgary Divorce, Child Custody & Family Lawyer

Our law firm has experienced family law lawyers to assist you. Whatever your question or case may be, whether you need a divorce, legal separation or other family law issue, our lawyers are knowledgeable and will be compassionate to your circumstance.

Divorce is a difficult thing for anyone to face. We can give you all the legal services related to the issue of divorce. This would necessarily include issues such as property division, matrimonial property or marital property, including the matrimonial home—where a spouse may be entitled to stay in the home, etc. Once again it suffices to say there are lots of issues when a marriage breaks down and you ought to speak to a Calgary divorce lawyer in whom you have faith and confidence to advise you on your specific fact circumstances.

Custody of children means both lawfully keeping the children and taking decisions such as medical, schooling, and extracurricular pursuits. It can be sole or joint custody. It may be negotiated and agreed or ordered by the court. If you want to keep your children with you, after divorce, you need a custody lawyer. We have experienced child custody lawyers able to assist you.

Child support and spousal support can be one of the most challenging issues. We can resolve the problem logically and legally by getting our experienced family lawyers in Calgary on your case.

Spousal support is fact driven and depends on the pre-separation circumstances and various factors. The ability of your lawyer to advocate on your behalf can be the difference whether you are requesting spousal support or it is being sought by court application and court order against you. Often the stay at home care-giver (typically but not always the mother) can ask to be kept in an alike financial circumstance to what she enjoyed prior to the marriage or relationship break-up. In a long marriage with children there can be issues of whether the wife or husband stayed at home to raise the children foregoing education or other career advancement which may be argued as relevant to the court’s determination.

In relation to calculation of child support, in Canada and in Alberta, we have the Federal Child Support Guidelines. Competent and experienced family law firms will have software that calculates this based on the law and the fact scenarios as to financial means of the mother and father. Custody and access arrangements are relevant also to this calculation. Sometimes the “access” parent can benefit by more time with the child or children in order to lessen the amount of the child support payments. There are various considerations, too numerous to mention here, and really one may only fully explore all options with the help of a qualified Calgary family lawyer.

If you are facing the issue of divorce or separation where there are children involved, a prime concern for you will be your right during and after divorce to spend maximum time with your children. Access is related to custody in this sense. Indeed the terminology is changing in Alberta to “parenting time” but it amounts to the same thing. The non-custodial parent will have a delineated amount of time with the child or children and this may be negotiated or settled in court where the parties do not agree. Collaborative law and mediation can sometimes help to avoid more protracted court room litigation and expense. We can fight for your parenting time or access to your children. We are in your corner. A good advocate is what you need at this time. All things being equal the Calgary, AB courts aim to maximize both parents’ time with children; the paramount consideration is to ask “what is in the best interest of the child or children?” and almost always it is to spend more time with parents. That said, if there are compelling reasons why one of the parents should have restricted access or parenting time, those issues may be advanced (for example neglect, verbal or physical abuse, drugs or alcohol, anger management issues, etc.).

At Family Lawyer Calgary, our experienced Child Access and Visitation Lawyers can provide all the assistance you need to maintain your parenting time, access, or visitation time.

We are often asked by grandparents whether they have automatic visitation rights. The Family Law Act is the governing statute in Alberta and judge-made case law precedents are also authority upon which the courts will rely. The test is best interests of the children and an application may be made on behalf of grandparents for contact and time with their grandchildren. The court is going to look at all the facts of the case and a good Calgary family lawyer can help to filter the best arguments to put forth whether arguing for or against. There is no “automatic” right for anyone to see the children including the parents, let alone the grandparents. The court has to be persuaded that it is in the child’s best interests full stop. Sounds uncomplicated, but it can be won or lost based on the capacity of your legal counsel.