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  • Financial Statement and mediation

    I need a bit of advice. We are in the process of seperation and have not gone to mediation yet but are planning to. I just came across his filled out 13.1 Property and Support Claim financial statement in the house. The statement he filled out and signed with his lawyer is full of lies and misrepresentation, assets listed at far less than value and listing debts that are in my name alone. I have the financial statements etc. which back up my statement and show the errors in his. If we are going to mediation, will I have the opportunity to refute his statement or do I need to pursue in court instead? The difference between the falsehoods and truth add up to not pennies but to over 150,000 in assets on his side, which 50% equalization payment should come over to me (i.e. give me the house...)

  • #2
    Mediation is somewhat informal (at least, mine was) so you will have the opportunity to point out these 'errors' and the mediator will steer you both in the direction of correcting them. Don't jump up and point fingers and accuse him of lying. Just be collaborative, which the mediation process is, and point out the discrepancies, as you want both yourself and him to have accurate form 13s.

    If he's agreed to mediation, you're already quite far ahead of some separating couples. Avoiding court is well worth the effort. If you go to court, those mistaken assets will go to lawyers, not you.

    Comment


    • #3
      If you are legally married..

      If you are legally married, then the liabilities are shared as are the assets.
      If a debt is in your name, but incurred during the marriage, then it is a shared liability.

      You can refute the Asset Value in mediation, you need to agree to the value of assets before you can agree on a settlement.

      Asset Value is a tricky subject, understanding depreciated value of items such as jewellery, vehicles, securities etc. and appreciated/depreciated value of real estate is important. Obviously things are worth more or possibly less than you paid for them.

      Put together a justification of the values you have on your asset list, it must not be arbitrary. Appraisals, Used Vehicle Price Finder, Bargain Finder or Kijiji for furniture etc..

      I'm sure many people lie on their asset statement. The wealthier spouse wants everthing worth less, the less wealthy spouse wants everything worth more. In the end you will both have to accept the values or else you get to go to court and have a judge decide.

      Comment


      • #4
        Good Point...

        Rioe has made an excellend point.. If you can resolve this without the help of our fine Lawyer friends.. you both win..

        I was upper middle class... Now I am poor... But I do feel good about my lawyers new House....unfortuantely the kids and I are going to have to cross a few things off the grocery list this week.

        People who come up with a fair solution rather than using the divorce act as a weapon can use mediation to great positive effect.

        Good Luck!

        Comment


        • #5
          Write up your findings as succinctly as possible, and provide more accurate valuations side by side. Make your presentation so that it is difficult for the mediator to disagree with you, as you would for a judge. Then you need not say much ... just hand over the paper.

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks for the replies....I have been compiling the financial statements (i.e. gifts that he is claiming are exempt but were depositing into our joint account). My other question is a family cottage. Owned by his family, we were gifted 50% of it. On the legal title is him and his Mom. My family used it as our cottage for years, every weekend of the summer. I have hundreds of pictures of the kids there as they have been growing up. I have cancelled cheques from my bank account for opening/closing expenses seasonally etc. He is claiming the cottage as exempt because it was a gift to him alone. Anyone with experiences in this regard? (the money in the cottage is double of that in the family home).

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            • #7
              I think the increase in value of the cottage during the marriage will be non exempt property to be shared. If you're not on title you may have claim in constructive trust and unjust enrichment for money and improvements and work you did.

              I know I don't have to say more because all the people who slag lawyers on here will tell you exactly what the legal issues are and magically you will know your rights and get what's due to you.

              Comment


              • #8
                I was reading up on Ontario Divorce Laws and division of property. It does state that property gifted is exempt. However, it does say that there may be more than one matrimonial home, i.e. a cottage that you both regularly used as a vacation home. Thus, it would not be exempt. Anyone have any experience in this regard?

                Comment


                • #9
                  I think you néed to define the specifics of your "gifted" before anyone can really comment.

                  Many elderly parents transfer their cottages into a childs' name jointly in an attempt to avoid probate fees. The deed is put into a joint tenancy, so that when the parent dies it automatically vests in the child, and a one page trust is signed. If his mother was doing some estate planning, I highly doubt you have an interest.
                  Start a discussion, not a fire. Post with kindness.

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                  • #10
                    I am trying to get my lawyer to find out the specifics. Legally, the title was in his name and his mothers name when we seperated. There is not a joint tenancy as far as I am aware but we were told that the cottage would be ours and our names would be put on the title now. Now, he is claiming that the title is in 5 names, not just 2 and his brothers are involved.
                    I am the one working full time, making the lion's share of the income. All assets are in his name (save the house in both our names). He has a cottage in his name. All the joint debt is in my name because I was the one with the income. I have a pension at work which I cant touch until I retire. Now, he is saying that he gets the house to offset my pension, his interest in the cottage is off limits (worth quite alot of cash) and the debt stays with me. He is asking for spousal support and child support (50/50 custody arrangement) Could I actually come out the other end with 0 money and assets except for a pension which I cannot touch for another 20 years while he walks away with 400,000 in assets, a home to live in and support payments from me?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      See if you can look into the property history for all these title changes, and see if your name was ever on it. Do you have anything in writing that indicates your name was to be put on it? See if the addition of the brothers was done recently, ie, just before separation or something. You could argue that this was intended to circumvent it being a joint asset. A consultation with a real estate lawyer might be more helpful than a divorce lawyer here.

                      As for the rest, it's pretty common to begin a negotiation by asking for the sun and stars as a starting point, because it's expected that you won't get that. Or that you might get lucky and the opposite might go for it after all.

                      Get the pension valuated. Find out what his portion (from date of marriage to date of separation only - this might not be your entire working history) is worth. Pensions are often split in a divorce, and his portion would likely be put into a locked in RRSP, which he couldn't access until retirement. So don't let him argue that him keeping the house is the only way to offset your pension.

                      As for spousal support and child support, those will depend a lot on the length of the marriage and your relative incomes. If his is so much less than yours, you will likely end up paying him support, but the amount can vary by a great deal depending on what you argue. If he's deliberately underemployed, you can argue that an income he is capable of making be imputed to him. If he made career sacrifices of his own to support you in your career or to benefit the family, he could be entitled to spousal support in compensation for that.

                      The cottage does sound like an iffy issue. It was an asset of his family's and he was added to it, and you benefited from the use of it while you were together. I would advise you to maybe be prepared to give up arguing for a share of it during the negotiations, if you can get some concessions in return. As long as his mother is on title, it's not like you can argue to end up owning that asset anyway.

                      Go into the mediation with a mental list of what you would be willing to give up, what you would refuse to give up, and what you would be willing to meet partway on. That way you are less likely to get bullied around, and more likely to look reasonable.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        dont forget that if you have any claim to the cottage it would not be based on 100% of the cottage value. You have no claim against anything that his mother owns so the best case if you have a claim would be 50% of his share of the place.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by inseperationhell View Post
                          I am trying to get my lawyer to find out the specifics. Legally, the title was in his name and his mothers name when we seperated. There is not a joint tenancy as far as I am aware but we were told that the cottage would be ours and our names would be put on the title now. Now, he is claiming that the title is in 5 names, not just 2 and his brothers are involved.
                          I am the one working full time, making the lion's share of the income. All assets are in his name (save the house in both our names). He has a cottage in his name. All the joint debt is in my name because I was the one with the income. I have a pension at work which I cant touch until I retire. Now, he is saying that he gets the house to offset my pension, his interest in the cottage is off limits (worth quite alot of cash) and the debt stays with me. He is asking for spousal support and child support (50/50 custody arrangement) Could I actually come out the other end with 0 money and assets except for a pension which I cannot touch for another 20 years while he walks away with 400,000 in assets, a home to live in and support payments from me?
                          I am wondering why if he has other siblings why their names were not put on the cottage also. As for the last part, looks like you are on the other side for that one. So many times men have gotten screwed and lost everything to the ex now its a woman who may lose it all to the ex. I dont agree with it either way, no spouse should come out way on top of the other with SS and taking of the others pension.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            In your case, I would definitely recommend consulting an experienced family lawyer.

                            Comment

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