Toronto Family Law
Being embroiled in a family dispute can be an emotionally taxing time. Hence it’s easy to overlook the legal nitty-gritty of the situation. That’s why at Melekhovets Law, we make it a priority to help you navigate legally during this difficult time by offering expert counsel to tackle your unique, multi-faceted problems.
Seeking a divorce lawyer or child and spousal support lawyer in Toronto?
Family disputes can be a tumultuous time from not just an emotional standpoint, but also a practical point of view. Factors like children, work, shared property and other assets can further complicate the situation. To counteract the legal distress that you might experience at a time like this, we at Melekhovets Law strive to skillfully represent you in the court of law, so that you get the most out of the situation.
Each case is unique and requires an equally innovative approach, and this keen understanding helps us to proceed with proficiency and sensitivity. Although we can represent all aspects of your case, you can also approach us with specific problem areas. This versatility helps us serve you better and bring you closure and satisfaction.
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Specific Areas
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Divorce
While divorce is a painful experience, a well-qualified divorce lawyer can help you legally with managing finances, decision making responsibility and parenting time, property settlements and other practical aspects during this difficult phase of life. Whether you are looking for a divorce settlement in court or outside of it, an expert divorce lawyer can help you get the best possible deal in this situation.
Two Types of Divorce
In general, there are two kinds of divorces: Contested Divorce and Uncontested Divorce.
When both the parties are not on the same page with all matters related to divorce and disagree on important aspects such as decision-making responsibility and parenting time, property settlement, etc., it is termed as a contested divorce. The dispute between spouses can be settled either outside the court through negotiations or in the courtroom through legal proceedings.
Also known as a Simple Divorce, an uncontested divorce involves both the spouses amicably agreeing on the terms of the divorce agreement without any conflicts. While a simple divorce is much faster and less complicated, a contested divorce is more common among spouses.
Be it contested or uncontested divorce, we at Melekhovets Law can provide you with the right legal guidance to settle all things related to divorce, and make the entire process less stressful for you and your family.
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Separation
When a married couple decides to live separately from each other without ending their marriage, it is termed as a separation. Even common-law partners can apply for separation in Ontario. In some cases, a legal separation is considered a prerequisite to filing a divorce.
What is a separation agreement?
To make the separation official, a temporary separation agreement can be put in place, generally outside the court, where important matters like living arrangements, property and finances, decision making responsibility, parenting time, and child support are finalized on paper. To ensure that you don’t get the raw end of the deal during separation, you must enlist the services of a reliable divorce & separation lawyer.
For expert guidance on how to navigate the separation process, contact Melekhovets Law - a reliable family lawyer in Toronto & GTA.
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Child Support
A separation or a divorce is complicated in itself. Add children into the mix and things get even more challenging. To ensure that your child or children don’t face financial repercussions after the estrangement, it is important to work out a child support plan so that their future is secured.
How Child Support Is Determined in Ontario
Child support is one of the most contested matters of family law. To determine who needs to pay for child support and how much, generally there are two main factors:
i. Who has the decision making responsibility for the child/children?
ii. How much does one earn compared to their estranged spouse/partner?
By following specific guidelines established by the government, we at Melekhovets Law can help you figure out the details such as who needs to pay for child support, the amount that needs to be paid as child support, and payment arrangements.
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Parenting Time and Decision Making
During a separation or a divorce, children are particularly vulnerable. Hence, it is important to draft important details such as their living arrangement, time spent with each parent and a lot more. This is where a parenting arrangement comes into the picture.
Types of Parenting Arrangements
Decision making responsibility primarily falls into 2 categories: sole and joint.
Sole decision-making responsibility refers to a situation where one parent can make parenting decisions without the need to involve the other parent. Whereas joint decision making responsibility is when both parents make parenting time decisions together.
Parenting time refers to the time spent by each parent with their children. Parenting time also primarily falls into 2 categories: shared and majority.
Shared parenting time is when children spend at least 40% of the time with each parent. Majority parenting time is when children spend more than 60% of the time with one of the parents.
At Melekhovets Law, we can help you find the most appropriate legal method for your unique situation.
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Spousal Support
Sometimes in a marriage, a spouse is either not financially independent or there is a major income disparity between the spouses. Thus, at the time of separation or divorce, this partner can end up in a serious financial crisis. To prevent this from happening, spousal support was devised to help the financially dependent partner cover for necessities of life.
Two Types of Spousal Support
There are mainly two types of spousal support: Compensatory and Non-Compensatory Spousal Support.
As the name suggests,compensatory support involves short-term financial assistance to compensate the spouse who sacrificed their career to take care of the family, and who directly or indirectly helped their partner achieve lucrative professional positions.Compensatory spousal support can also be geared towards helping the spouse complete education or retraining programs to make them ready for employment. The payor is obligated to financially support their estranged spouse till the latter has acquired employment post-education. This sort of spousal support arrangement is more common among younger couples who were not married for a long period.
On the other hand,non-compensatory support is provided to the financially dependent spouse to pay for basic needs to avoid a drastic fall in the standard of their living. This is considered to be long-term spousal support and is more common among older couples who had been married for years.
Generally, there are two formulas used to calculate spousal support, namely the “with child support formula” and the “without child support formula”. The formula used depends on whether there are dependent children/child. The process of acquiring and calculating spousal support can be complicated as there might be disputes related to the amount that needs to be paid.
To help you navigate the complexities of spousal support,contact Melekhovets Law- a reputed spousal support lawyer in Toronto.
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Other Areas
Our legal expertise also extends to other matters of family law such as:
- Domestic Contracts
- Property Division
- Domestic Violence
- Adoption
- Child abduction
- Child protection
- Alternatives to court
Need further assistance? Get In touch with Melekhovets Law on all matters related to Family Law!
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Paternity testing
Family disputes can give rise to many complex issues. In some cases, one of the issues that may arise is the paternity of a child. A paternity DNA test can be used to determine the biological father of a child. The test compares the child’s DNA with the DNA of a potential father to see if there is a match. Paternity tests are highly accurate and can provide clarity to questions surrounding parentage. A legal paternity test can be used in a court of law.
We have partnered with Forensic Genetics Laboratory to offer these paternity tests to our clients. Please follow the link to get more information about paternity testing, as well as, the many other tests this laboratory provides.
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