{"id":3877,"date":"2019-05-08T11:42:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lmrlawyers.com\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2019-05-08T11:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:43:09","slug":"collaborative-process-for-same-sex-couples-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lmrlawyers.com\/fr\/collaborative-process-for-same-sex-couples-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborative Process, For Same Sex Couples Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Collaborative Process, For Same Sex Couples Too <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In July\n2005 the Supreme Court of Canada declared same sex marriage legal in all\nprovinces across Canada. The enactment of the Civil Marriage Act made Canada\nthe fourth country in the world and the first outside of Europe to recognize\ngay marriage as legal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there\nare always a certain percentage of marriages that will end in separation or divorce.\nAn article in the Washington Post in 2014 reported that the divorce rate for\nsame-sex couples is about the same as heterosexual couples, at about 38 per cent\nin Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nCanadian same-sex couples who are married the process for obtaining a divorce\nis straightforward. Gay spouses go through the same process as heterosexual\ncouples do when it comes to the termination of the marital regime. Marriage is\nmarriage and it is treated the same.  The\nso called \u201ccollateral\u201d issues of parenting, child and spousal support and\ndivision of property and debts is more complicated.  In addition, many couples never marry and\ninstead live together as unmarried spouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couples who\nmay have lived together for a long time before marriage was on the table may\nalso find that matters are more complicated. For example, the length of their\nmarriage may not accurately reflect the life the couple built together. This could\naffect the amount of spousal support one spouse might have to pay as the length\nof the marriage (or relationship) is an important factor in this calculation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\narea of concern may be the parenting of any children the couple has together. When\nit comes to parenting, emphasis is often placed on the rights of biological\nparents. If the non-biological parent has not legally adopted a child, custody\nrights could favour a biological parent. This can be difficult if the\nnon-biological parent has played a large part in the child\u2019s upbringing yet\ndoesn\u2019t get this recognition from the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If both\nparties wish to find a fair and equitable division of assets, sharing of the\nfinancial circumstances from the relationship and parenting arrangements that\nwork for the whole family, including the children, consensual dispute\nresolution processes can be used.  In\nmost cases making direct arrangements between the clients and avoiding court or\nother adversarial processes is preferable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediation\nis one such option, but Collaborative Process is becoming more and more popular\nwith those wanting to avoid litigation or other adversarial processes when addressing\nthe resolution of the issues that arise from the breakdown of the\nrelationship.  The divorce must be\ncompleted through a court process, but this typically proceeds on consent after\nthe resolution of the other issues and the completion of a comprehensive\nSeparation Agreement in a Collaborative Process or mediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaborative\nProcess requires each party to retain their own lawyer to represent their needs\nbut instead of working in an adversarial context, Collaborative lawyers are specially\ntrained to assist their clients to reach a settlement that works for both of\nthem and the family outside of the court process. In fact, they sign a contract\nin advance in which they commit to resolving the matter between themselves\nwithout going to court.  The\nprofessionals also sign the agreement, so that they cannot represent one of the\nparties in court in the future.  In\naddition, the process often includes other neutral, specially trained\nprofessionals to assist the couple to resolve their issues, including Family\nRelations and Financial professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaborative\nlawyers are trained to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n