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  • Separation Agreement and Offer to Settle

    What's the difference between a Separation Agreement and an Offer to Settle. I've been in litigation for 2 1/2 years and have had numberous Offer to Settle go back and forth, but never a Separation Agreement, or is it the same thing.

    Thanks

  • #2
    An offer to settle sets out the terms on which you are willing to settle your case (or at least a part of it). Your ex doesn’t need to agree with it. Once everything in your case is finally settled, chances are that a settlement agreement will be prepared, which sets out in legal terms the agreement you and your ex have reached.
    Ottawa Divorce

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    • #3
      Offers to settle will become significant if the case goes to trial to settle the issues. If the outcome is similar to one of the offers to settle and If one party claims costs, the judge may ask for submissions along with any offers to settle by either party for a determination of an award of costs.

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      • #4
        Thanks so much for the info, this is such a great site. Unfortunetly we are heading for a trial, it is fustrating because it keeps getting delayed. It was scheduled for Oct but now has been move to April/06. You must be a lawyer, do you work with Jeff?

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        • #5
          Hi,

          I have a question about going to court or going to trial. I have 2 children and my wife and I have been separated 3 months. We have not yet started to work out the separation agreement but I am terrified about things turning nasty. What really determines going to court and then going for a trial? Is it length of negotiations? not coming to an agreement? I just read on Jeffs site that a trail could cost $50,000!!!!! I have been reading and quite a few people seem to have gone to trial... how do you afford this?

          Thanks, Bobby

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          • #6
            In my case it is because we can't agree on anything. I've been to court 9 times in the past 2 years and have yet to make it to a trial. So basically if you can't come to any agreement a judge decides. My lawyers estimate my trial to cost $150,000. I think Jeff's a bargain at his cost, unfortunetly I don't live in Ottawa. I won't scare you with how much I have already spent. My suggestion is to work out as much as possible with the ex, keep the lines of communication open, especially for the sake of your children. How old are they? Look into mediation and collaborative law as alternatives to court.

            Good Luck
            Grace

            Comment


            • #7
              Reply to Grace

              I did go through a difficult painful time in my life. I did have to educate myself somewhat as I did have a lot of questions. The first place I started was to become aware of the relevant statutes that would apply to my situation, These statutes primarily being, Family law Act of Ontario, Children's Law Reform Act, Divorce Act of Canada, Family Law Rules Ontario and Courts of Justice Act for civil procedures, Evidence Act, privacy act and the succession law reform act. Belief it or not I did read these statutes. They all seem to be fair but I also noticed that things are not black and white are open for judicial discretion. I also read a lot of case law to get an idea of how the laws were applied in similar situations. I found this to be a great benefit as I knew exactly what my lawyer was talking about and I did not have to waste time asking him unnecessary questions. The issue of costs can be found in Family law Rules and also rules of civil procedure. Both these acts can be at Ontario elaws at this link.
              http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/home_E.asp?lang=en

              Also you can do a search at CANLII and see actual case law, which can be found at this link
              http://www.canlii.org/index_en.html

              Just a comment, if you have spent 150K, most likely your x has spent 150K, there must be a lot on the line to settle. For some, that is beyond their net worth and would never go that far. In your case there must be substantial and significant issues to resolve. Good Luck


              By the way I am no way affiliated with Jeff.

              Comment


              • #8
                Bobby,
                You will follow a path sorta like this...the more you fight the further it will go and more money it will cost...at any time in the process you and your ex can stop the madness but the more bitter you are/she is...the more it will take.

                Application-paperwork to be file with the court office
                Reply-paperwork to be filed by your ex or yourself with the court office
                First appearance in front of a clerk-just to determine the issues
                Case conference-first time "a" judge will see material and can make temporary orders.
                Settlement conference-if the bickering continues
                Trial Management conference-preparing materials for trial
                Pre Trial conference-to set date for Trial
                Trial-which can take up to 4 days depending on witness, evidence, and arguments.

                While all this is going on, there will be letters and phone calls with your lawyer, and between your lawyer and your ex's lawyer...phone calls can cost $20 a pop, letters $200, and if the clerks make mistakes on documents, there is time spent to rewrite anything...you figure a good lawyer's time runs about $300 per hour. Are you starting to get a picture here of the magnitude of money that can be spent?

                Do yourself a favour as logical said...educate yourself on the process and when you have gotten to the point where you realize what the cost of sanity is, what the cost of losing a home for your children is, and when moving on is more priceless.

                Here is another site to access information....not sure if you are in Ontario or not...but for those of you who are....

                http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/ocj.htm

                I spent many a night up late reading thru the rules and the forms to educate myself.

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                • #9
                  Nikitaforce,

                  Good advice. Ever looked into Collaborative Law. I think that may be a good alternative. Another cost of going to court, is waiting times. Everyone and their lawyers show up at 9:30, then wait there turn. Meanwhile you are paying your lawyer for waiting time. I've been to court many times and my case has not been heard until late afternoon, meanwhile the clock is ticking. Also some lawyers charge extra for copies, faxes, travel time to and from court, parking, etc.

                  Grace
                  P.S. We are neighbours, I live in Brooklin (North Whitby).

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Well...howdy neighbor,
                    No I haven't looked in Collaborative Law, but I m familiar with mediation if that is the same thing. I m not a law clerk or even close to a lawyer other than I dated a few...lol!
                    Just a woman who has been thru the ordeals and I believe my counselling background might be an asset to a few people on here.

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                    • #11
                      I have only read about Collaborative Law, but it sounds interesting. It's a non adversarial approach, where all parties agree to not use the court system. Perhaps someone using this forum, who has tried it can give advice.

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                      • #12
                        Hi Bobby,

                        I can offer you some hope that it doesn't have to cost $50,000. My ex and I started negotiating pretty well right away to get a settlement agreement in place. Because of the strong emotions at the beginning, we each got a lawyer and had a separation agreement drafted fairly quickly. But then my ex became increasingly "unavailable" to further negotiate the agreement ... switching lawyers, moving from place to place, and a few other delay tactics. Neither one of us had very much money and certainly didn't want to pay lawyer fees if we didn't have to. One day about 2-1/2 years after we separated he decided that he wanted to work things out without lawyers. I agreed to give it a shot and we started negotiating via e-mail (I know a lot of people say this isn't the best way to do it, but it gave us time to think about what we wanted to say and instant delivery---and I kept printouts of everything I sent and received). It took a long time because things often got very heated and whenever it did we took weeks or even months to cool down before the next round of negotiations started---usually instigated by some event or other. Although we did make some progress, overall it wasn't very productive. I realized that to him it was all just a game to get me furious, get me to initiate the court proceedings (so my lawyer would have to draft everything and therefore cost me more money then him), and it was another tactic for him to delay paying support. I got fed up with it eventually and I got a lawyer to initiate the court proceeedings. At that point I didn't care if I had to pay the lawyer---I'd rather pay a lawyer to get it over with quickly then to keep drawing it out. My lawyer went to court once after a successful settlement conference (ex caved in on basically everything) and the Judge just signed the order. It's not perfect and I'll have to eventually get the order varied because a lot of it no longer applies---ex is now out of province and our order didn't cover that scenario at all...support obligation is different, access is nearly obsolete. Anyways, six months after I contacted my lawyer to initiate the proceedings I had a court order. 2-1/2 months after that I had my certificate of divorce. All in all it cost me about $6,000.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Excellent suggestion...not talking face to face can really help especially if you both want to save costs.
                          This is also a good solution for those people who have a difficult time with parenting issues. Rather than discussing things in front of the children when you can't stand each other...emails back and forth can be a great solution.
                          I helped a friend resolve access issues and we actually put in the agreement that they communicate via internet to avoid further miscommunications and that way things were not heated in front of their daughter and there is a record of the discussions as well.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            grateful

                            thankyou all for taking the time and sharing your divorce experience. i am finding it helpful on so many levels.

                            Comment

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