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Our Toronto separation agreement lawyers at 55 University Avenue draft, negotiate, and review legally binding separation agreements covering property division, spousal support, parenting, and debt allocation, before the ink dries on anything.
Book My 15-Minute Assessment →55 University Avenue, Toronto | Separation Agreements | ILA Certificates | Same-Week Appointments | Initial Assessments
A separation agreement is a private contract between two separating spouses that resolves all or most of the legal issues arising from the breakdown of a marriage or common-law relationship. When properly drafted, it is legally binding and enforceable in Ontario court.
But "properly drafted" carries significant weight. Ontario courts will set aside a separation agreement, or refuse to enforce it, if either party lacked independent legal advice, if there was a failure to disclose financial information, if one party signed under duress, or if the agreement is unconscionable on its face. A separation agreement prepared without a lawyer is not just risky. It is often worthless.
Our Toronto separation agreement lawyers have drafted and reviewed hundreds of agreements across every level of complexity, from straightforward separations with no property and no children, to multi-property, business-owning, high-net-worth files with contested spousal support and complex parenting provisions. We draft agreements that are built to last.
Our office is within reach of the key courts for your matter. We appear in these courts regularly and know the local judicial culture well.
Handles divorce, property division, and all family matters connected to a marriage. Separation agreement disputes are filed here.
Handles family matters for unmarried couples and standalone parenting and support proceedings not connected to divorce.
We represent Toronto clients at every stage of the separation process, from negotiating the initial terms through to signing a final, binding agreement.
A separation agreement drafted by Lexaltico covers all issues arising from your separation in a single document: how property is divided, who pays what support and for how long, how parenting time and decision-making will work, and how shared debts are allocated. We draft for clarity and durability, agreements that do not create ambiguity and do not need to be reopened every two years.
If your spouse has presented you with a separation agreement prepared by their lawyer, you need your own lawyer to review it before you sign. Independent Legal Advice (ILA) is not optional. It is the single most important protection you have. We review agreements thoroughly, explain every provision in plain language, identify terms that are unfair or unenforceable, and advise you on whether to sign, negotiate, or refuse.
When spouses cannot agree on the terms of separation, our Toronto family lawyers negotiate directly with the other side, or with their counsel, to reach a resolution that protects our client's interests. Most separation agreements are reached through negotiation rather than litigation. We approach every negotiation with the goal of reaching a fair, durable outcome without unnecessary conflict or cost.
An agreement negotiated privately never enters a court file, which for anyone with a business or a public profile is often the point. Keeping a separation out of the public record explains what is actually public and what is not.
Collaborative family law is a structured route to the same agreement, conducted on the commitment that nobody involved will go to court.
Most Ontario separations are resolved by agreement rather than by a judge, and the difference between a good settlement and a poor one is almost never who was more aggressive. Settling out of court covers four way meetings, disclosure, and what makes an agreement survive a challenge under section 56.
A mediator can help two people reach an agreement but cannot advise either of them on whether it is a good one, which is why independent legal advice is not a formality. How family mediation works explains the division of roles.
Our family lawyers offer a 15-minute initial assessment for most matters. Call us, email us, or use our contact form to book your appointment.
55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
90 Matheson Blvd W, Suite 101, Mississauga, ON L5R 3R3
2 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 303, Toronto, ON M2N 5Y7
277 Lakeshore Rd E, Suite 408, Oakville, ON L6J 1H9
Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Evenings & weekends by appointment
This page is general information about Ontario law published by Lexaltico LLP. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship. Law changes, and how it applies depends on your circumstances. For advice on your own matter, speak with a lawyer.
Five questions about the facts that shape a separation in Ontario. No figures, and no prediction. Just which rules are engaged and what is time sensitive.
This is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice, and it does not create a solicitor client relationship. It gives no estimate of value. Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario.
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Lexaltico LLP
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send: your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this site requires you to give more than that.
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We do not collect sensitive personal information through this website. Detailed personal and legal information is collected only after a solicitor client relationship exists, through the channels set up for that purpose.
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Privacy Officer, Lexaltico LLP
55 University Avenue, Suite 1100, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2H7
privacy@lexaltico.com
+1 416 333 6200
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Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may not reflect an amendment made since, and a page about a subject currently before an appellate court may be overtaken between your reading it and your acting on it.
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one. That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
A retainer agreement must be signed. It sets out what we are doing, what we are not doing, who is responsible for what, and how fees work. Until it is signed no relationship exists, whatever has been discussed.
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The documents come after the retainer.
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
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Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
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These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
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Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
The complimentary 15 minute initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the firm.
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Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
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