Make a separation agreement

A separation agreement is a formal contract between you and the other person that explains how you have resolved issues that come up after a separation. It can include who pays support, how to parent your children and how to divide your property.

Making a separation agreement allows you and the other person to have more say and control over how you deal with issues after your separation. If you are married, it also means you can apply for a joint divorce, which is a faster court process.

You can make a separation agreement if you are in a relationship and thinking of separating or if you have already ended your relationship.

On this page, “partner” refers to an adult interdependent partner.

On this page

Need to know

• Separation agreements must be in writing and signed by both spouses/partners for the courts to enforce it.
• Both people must contribute time, effort and good communication to make a separation agreement.
• Legal professionals can help you and the other person come to an agreement, either from the start or if you get stuck.
• You must share financial information with each other before you sign the agreement so you are both on the same page about money and property.
• Each of you must get independent legal advice independent legal advice Advice that each person involved in a legal issue must get from their own lawyer. Usually the advice is about an agreement to resolve issues. Your lawyer will review the agreement with you to make sure you understand it. They will also let you know if the agreement is unfair or does not follow the law. The other person must see a different lawyer than you to get advice. before you sign the agreement if it deals with dividing property though this is a good idea in any case.

Get started

Learn the basics about what to do when your relationship ends and ways to resolve disputes before you make a separation agreement.

Next, you and the other person must share financial information with each other. This process is known as disclosure. The law says what information you must share to calculate child support and spousal/partner support as well as to divide your property. If one person is not sharing their financial information, get legal help right away.

Making an agreement can be a long and challenging process. The steps below can help guide you through it.

If, at any time, you feel like you need support, get help from a professional. Lawyers and other professionals can help you and the other person make an agreement without going to court.

Come to an understanding on issues of your separation

Below is a list of topics you should think about, along with prompts for each topic. You may also have to think about other things for your unique situation.

Make notes about what you and the other person think the same way about. Even if you cannot agree on everything, noting what you can agree on is a good first step.

If you have children, you need to figure out parenting time and decision-making authority. All decisions about children must be in the best interests of the children, not what the parents want.

Think about the following when figuring out the parenting arrangements:

• Where the children will live and what time they will spend with each parent
• Who will make major decisions about the children, such as about health care and education
• What contact the children should have with people who don’t have decision-making responsibilities or guardianship, such as grandparents or other family members
• Where the children will spend special holidays, such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or summer vacation
• How the children will stay connected with one parent while with the other parent
• How you will communicate with each other, such as by email, text or a parenting app
• Whether supervised parenting time is necessary for one parent
• If one parent must travel to see the children, who will make these arrangements and pay the expense s
• Whether one parent can change the children’s names in the future
• Which parent will apply for family and child government benefits and tax credits
• Which parent will keep the children’s passports
• Whether one parent can travel with the children without the other parent
• What happens if one parent wants to move, with or without the children

If you have children, you are obligated to financially support them. This obligation continues even if you do not have a relationship with the child.

The law says how much child support a parent pays, depending on their income and the parenting arrangements.

Think about the following when figuring out child support:

• How you will share financial information to correctly calculate child support each year
• How you will pay and collect child support, such as through the Maintenance Enforcement Program ( MEP MEP A free government service that collects court-ordered child support and spousal/partner support payments from the payor and distributes them to the recipient. MEP stands for Maintenance Enforcement Program. )
• How you will share extraordinary or special expenses, known as Section 7 child support
• When the child support will end
• How often you will recalculate child support, including using the Government of Alberta’s Child Support Recalculation Program
• What significant changes will trigger you to recalculate child support
• How you will deal with retroactive child support claims
• Whether one or both of you will save money for your child’s future expenses, such as post-secondary tuition or emergencies and, if so, how much you will save, where you will keep it and any conditions for using the money

Did you know?

If you and the other parent do not follow the Federal Child Support Guidelines, the court may not enforce your separation agreement.

The court can also decide on an amount of child support that aligns with the Federal Child Support Guidelines and order the underpaying parent to pay retroactive child support.

Spousal/partner support does not apply to every separation.

Think about the following when figuring out spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support. :

• Whether one person will pay support to the other or if you are both waiving your right to spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support.
• How you will share financial information to determine if you are eligible for support and to correctly calculate support
• If one partner/spouse will pay support, how much they will pay
• How you will share extraordinary expenses, such as medical and dental insurance premiums, medical treatments and educational programs
• The length of time support will be paid, such as to a certain event or date
• How you will pay and collect spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support. , such as through the Maintenance Enforcement Program ( MEP MEP A free government service that collects court-ordered child support and spousal/partner support payments from the payor and distributes them to the recipient. MEP stands for Maintenance Enforcement Program. )
• What significant changes will trigger you to recalculate spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support.
• How you will deal with retroactive spousal/partner support claims
• The tax consequences of receiving support payments, as they are taxable income for the recipient recipient A person who receives money from another person. For example, a person who receives child support from the other parent.

The law says how to divide your assets assets Something a person owns that has value. Assets include houses, vehicles, furniture, money and investments. and debts debts Money you owe to others, including individuals and companies. Debts include mortgages, credit cards and loans. after a separation. Some property is divided equally, some property is divided unequally, and some property is not divided at all and is known as exempt property.

Think about the following when figuring out how to divide your property:

• The date you pick to divide property, meaning you will value property as of that date and will not divide property either of you acquire after that date
• What property is exempt property
• How you will value assets assets Something a person owns that has value. Assets include houses, vehicles, furniture, money and investments. , including whether you need an appraiser and how you will choose one
• Who will pay existing debts debts Money you owe to others, including individuals and companies. Debts include mortgages, credit cards and loans. and whether you need to renegotiate any debts debts Money you owe to others, including individuals and companies. Debts include mortgages, credit cards and loans. with the lenders
• What happens with the family home, including whether one of you will continue to live in it or if you will sell it
• What happens if the family home is destroyed, such as by fire or flood

If one person continues to stay in the family home, think about:

• If they will be subject to any conditions while living there, such as that they cannot rent out the property or that a new partner cannot move in
• Who will pay expenses such as the mortgage, insurance, utilities and maintenance

If you own the family home, think about:

• Whether one spouse/partner wants to buy out the other person’s share
• Whether you will sell it and what the process will be
• How you will split the sale proceeds proceeds The money left from the sale of an asset after all the debts related to it are paid. For example, the proceeds from the sale of a house are the money left over after paying the mortgage owing, the realtor and the lawyer. if you sell it
• Whether you need a valuation

You and the other person must share financial information with each other to calculate child support and spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support. and to divide your property.

You will likely need to share your financial information more than once. For example, if one of you is paying child support, you should both share financial information with each other every year until child support ends. Doing so allows you both to make sure you are paying/receiving the right amount of child support.

Think about the following:

• Requiring both of you to share all relevant financial information for the last 3 years before signing the agreement
• If one of you is paying child support or spousal/partner support spousal/partner support On this website, referring to both spousal support and partner support. , how and how often you and the other person will share financial information with each going forward to make sure the amounts of support are correct
• What happens if one person does not share their financial information

Your agreement can include more details, depending on your situation. Think about including the following terms in your agreement.

Insurance

• Whether one or both of you will pay for medical and dental insurance for the other person or your children
• Whether one or both of you will have life insurance and who the beneficiaries beneficiary A person who receives income or property from a trust. An example of a trust is a deceased person’s estate. are of the policy

Your relationship

• If you were married, which one of you will apply for divorce or if you’ll both apply (known as a joint divorce)
• What will happen if you decide to get back together, for example, whether the agreement will end once you are back together for a certain period of time

Once you sign the agreement

• When the agreement takes effect
• Which province’s laws apply to your agreement
• How you will handle disagreements about interpreting the agreement, for example, a requirement to seek mediation or arbitration
• Who will pay costs costs Money the more successful party in a court proceeding can ask the justice to order the less successful party to pay. Costs reimburse the more successful party for having to go through the court process to get a resolution. to enforce any part of the agreement
• Instruction for the courts to find the rest of the agreement is still valid even if they find one clause is not enforceable, known as a severability clause
• The process for changing the agreement
• How you will deal with each other, such as not incurring debts debts Money you owe to others, including individuals and companies. Debts include mortgages, credit cards and loans. in the other name, not interfering in the other’s personal life and not harassing or annoying the other
• Whether you will file the agreement with the court and turn it into a consent order, including who will do this and pay the court fees

Put your agreement in writing

Your agreement must be in writing. You can choose to write it yourself or you can get help from a professional.

If you get help, decide who will pay the fees.

Get independent legal advice before signing

Before you sign the agreement, each of you should get independent legal advice independent legal advice Advice that each person involved in a legal issue must get from their own lawyer. Usually the advice is about an agreement to resolve issues. Your lawyer will review the agreement with you to make sure you understand it. They will also let you know if the agreement is unfair or does not follow the law. The other person must see a different lawyer than you to get advice. .

This means that you each meet with a different lawyer, who will go through the agreement with you. They will explain what you are entitled to under the law and whether the agreement is fair for you.

If your agreement deals with dividing property, you must each get a Certificate of Independent Legal Advice from a lawyer if you want the Alberta courts to recognize your agreement. When the courts recognize your agreement, it means they can enforce it later if someone is not following it. If you do not have certificates of independent legal advice independent legal advice Advice that each person involved in a legal issue must get from their own lawyer. Usually the advice is about an agreement to resolve issues. Your lawyer will review the agreement with you to make sure you understand it. They will also let you know if the agreement is unfair or does not follow the law. The other person must see a different lawyer than you to get advice. , the courts may not be able to do anything if the other person is not following your agreement.

You may want to change the agreement after talking with the lawyer. If you and the other person cannot agree on the changes, you can get further help from a professional.

Once the agreement is final and you have both talked to lawyers, you can sign it. Sign two original copies so you each have one. Make sure someone witnesses you signing the document. Often the lawyer who gave you independent legal advice independent legal advice Advice that each person involved in a legal issue must get from their own lawyer. Usually the advice is about an agreement to resolve issues. Your lawyer will review the agreement with you to make sure you understand it. They will also let you know if the agreement is unfair or does not follow the law. The other person must see a different lawyer than you to get advice. will witness you signing it.

When you are done, each of you should have an original Certificate of Independent Legal Advice for yourself and the other person along with an original of the agreement.

Next steps

• Get help from a professional to make your agreement
• Get a consent order to turn your separation agreement into a court order
• Get or respond to a court order if you cannot resolve all or some of your issues in an agreement or if one person is not following the agreement

Potential issues

You and the other person need help coming to an agreement.

You can get help from a professional to come to an agreement outside of court. If you and the other person working together with the help of a professional is not safe, you can go to family court.

The other person is pressuring you to sign an agreement.

Do not sign an agreement unless you fully understand what it says and are making your own decision to sign it. Get legal support if you feel pressured into or do not feel comfortable signing an agreement.