Once a divorce is finalized, parties may decide to move on to new relationships. The best way to protect your assets is to enter into a prenuptial agreement before a marriage or marriage like relationship. Marriage agreements, or “prenups,” are legal agreements that establish which property and assets belong to each partner before a marriage and how property and assets are to be divided in case of divorce.

A child’s world can be turned upside down during separation or divorce. Our experience has taught us that the continuation of conflict is the greatest predictor of poor outcomes for children. Helping you protect and preserve your children’s well-being, security, and safety during this turbulent, emotional time is one of our foremost commitments. Involve us early in your family restructuring to help you plan and implement new, intentionally and carefully designed parenting arrangements that ensure a healthy, positive future for your children.

Our highly skilled team includes specialized experts in child guardianship, parenting time, child movement or relocation, and other parenting arrangements. We sensitively guide you through the process of exploring your parenting options, rights, and responsibilities and provide carefully considered, forward-thinking advice, information, and support. Our overriding goal is to help you move through family conflict in a timely, constructive manner and arrive at productive, child-focused parenting plans that best reflect and serve the needs and interests of your child.

We support you through either collaborative dispute resolution, mediated processes, or court-determined child custody and parenting plans, to aid you in designing, implementing, ensuring compliance with, and monitoring the success of your parenting arrangements. As one of Vancouver’s most progressive family law firms, we provide counsel on parenting issues related to opposite- and same-sex common-law and marriage breakdowns as well matters related to reproductive technology, including claims by donors and surrogates.

Lo Greco Stilman, we’ve made it our mission to help protect and sustain safe, loving, meaningful parent-child relationships — today and long into the future.

An alternative to litigation is collaborative divorce. This process focuses on obtaining a timely and fair resolution while keeping personal divorce details out of the courts and the media. Ensure your family business, professional practice and ventures continue to prosper without interference of divorce and court proceedings. We encourage clients to be involved in the process to make solid, long-term decisions, maximize privacy and minimize costs.

Safeguarding and sustaining your financial well-being is a vital aspect of successfully moving forward after the breakdown of your marriage or common-law and marriage like relationship.

Comprehensive legal advice regarding the division of Ontario family property, excluded property and division of family debts is particularly critical for individuals with multi-faceted, high-value personal, family, and business or professional holdings.

We’re expertly versed in the intricacies of the Ontario Family Law Act related to Ontario family property and excluded property and debt division. We’ll strategically guide you through the process of identifying which Ontario family assets and liabilities are most likely to be deemed included and excluded in your settlement and help you value your family property and excluded property at the start and end of your relationship.

Drawing on our extensive knowledge and expertise, we’ll assist you in navigating such complex financial matters as assessing capital gains, pension entitlements, income tax implications, spousal contributions and more related to the acquisition and/or appreciation of assets and liabilities during the course of your spousal relationship.

Ensuring family property is not hidden or disposed of and ensuring business and professional ventures are not impaired from success during or after a marriage breakdown is also a primary focus of our Ontario family property division services, and we’re highly experienced in the division of worldwide family property holdings.

Ontario family property division and debt resolution can be accomplished either by negotiated agreement or through the courts. Our goal is to steward you along the path best-suited to your unique family circumstances, to help you reduce costs, optimize your financial health, minimize conflict and move forward to a fruitful life following your separation or divorce, free from bitterness and regret.

Making the commitment to enter into a  family relationship is one of life’s biggest, most life-changing decisions. In addition to your emotional commitment to your new partner, the decision warrants careful consideration of the practical aspects of your future partnership. By preparing an agreement, you ensure that you establish a solid foundation of mutual understanding for your shared life ahead, by defining clear, fair, and agreed-upon goals, intentions, and expectations for your relationship, right from the start. On the other hand, if you and your spouse are preparing to end your relationship and you can agree on how you want to deal with such matters as property division, debt resolution, and child and spousal support without going to court, a separation agreement will ensure your new arrangements are clearly documented.

The current Family Law Act encourages out of court settlements between parties. Fair settlements will be upheld and unfair marriage agreements may be challenged. The rules for full and truthful disclosure early in the family law agreement process promotes early settlement by ensuring that the parties have all the information required for fair and sound decision-making. We advise our clients that non-disclosure can prolong conflict and can affect the fairness of marriage agreements. An expertly prepared family agreement is particularly important when you are a high-net-worth individual with complex personal and business holdings or the future spouse of a high-value partner—and/or where children are or may be involved.

Lo Greco Stilman provides counsel for opposite and same-sex couples on:

• Marriage agreements (commonly known as prenuptial agreements)
• Cohabitation agreements (for couples that intend to live together but not legally marry)
• Separation agreements
• our lawyers prepare marriage and separation agreements for our Toronto, Richmond Hill, Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Bolton, Newmarket, Markham and other GTA family law agreement clients.

We will ensure you fully understand your options, obligations, and rights and construct a durable  family agreement that is most right for your unique family circumstances.

At Lo Greco Stilman we handle the most complex and contentious marriage breakdowns with the utmost discretion. We understand the sensitive nature of difficult family law matters in divorce and separation. Your privacy, public profile, lifestyle and professional standing will be protected.

Our goal through the divorce and separation process is to minimize disruption and allow parties to move forward to successful post separation lives ensuring fair and equitable distribution of family property and excluded property allocations.

Ending your family relationship through separation or divorce is one of life’s most difficult, demanding experiences. Whether yours is an opposite or same-sex common-law or marriage relationship, with or without children, the emotional, relational, social and lifestyle impacts of separation and divorce can be profound and far-reaching. The stakes are particularly high when you’re a high net-worth, high-profile family with complex business, family, and personal assets.

With Lo Greco Stilman’s discreet, strategic, and supportive counsel, you’ll experience greater confidence and ease as you steer through your family’s transition process. We work closely with you to discreetly protect and promote your best interests and family well-being as you address such sensitive issues as: spousal and child support; child custody, guardianship, and parenting arrangements; and property division and debt resolution.

There are two avenues to resolve the breakdown of your family relationship—through litigation in the courts or through alternative dispute resolution processes such as negotiation, mediation or arbitration. We help you explore your options, carefully weigh the benefits and limitations of each approach, consider fresh, new possibilities, guide you through Ontario’s intricate separation and divorce laws and help you meet the strict requirements for time-sensitive decisions and actions.

Preparing thoughtfully and proactively for separation and divorce is the key to optimizing your results. By partnering with Lo Greco Stilman, you’ll have greater reassurance that you know what you need to know to make the most informed decisions and take the most constructive actions.

Every challenge, however formidable, presents the opportunity to learn and grow. Endings offer you the first step towards a new beginning. At Lo Greco Stilman, our overriding aim is to optimize your separation or divorce outcomes, preserve and protect what’s most important to you, and help you lay the groundwork for a compelling new future.

When couples have complex personal and commercial financial portfolios including property, business interests, stock options, retirement accounts, pensions, executive bonus packages, books of business, and active and passive asset depreciation, it’s vital to ensure an accurate valuation of family property and debts both at the start and end of the relationship. In addition to marriage agreements, divorce/separation and property division, our services include finding the right jointly-appointed financial experts which may include real estate appraisers, business valuators, art appraisers and forensic accountants.

Key Considerations:

• Thorough opening and closing inventory and valuation of family assets and family property;
• Excluded property calculations and tracing of  excluded property and family assets;
• International family property division issues;
• estate freezes, family trusts, corporate rollovers, butterfly transactions, impact on valuation of different share classes;
• Income taxes, capital gains taxes, RRSP’s and corporate tax implications related to valuation and division;
• Valuation of business entities, professional practices, partnerships, or other interests;
• Retirement as it affects the payment of spousal and child support;
• Valuation of pensions and retirement or executive compensation packages;
• Analysis of trust funds and beneficial interests and valuations;
• Division of family debts;
• The impact of remarriage on spousal support;
• The need for consideration of inheritance planning for children on remarriage;
• Exceptions to child and spousal support for high income earners;
• Self sufficiency objectives for partners leaving long marriages or relationships;
• How excluded property including pre-relationship property, gift and inheritances are affected by joint registration or ownership of same;
• premarital and cohabitation agreement drafting and negotiation.