Marriage, Separation and Divorce

When family relationships are disintegrating, hostilities that sometimes develop between former spouses can adversely affect their children. Since court orders are powerful and usually are not satisfactory to either party, our preference is always to try to negotiate a reasonable out of court agreement so that both parties have some control over the outcome.

The rules governing the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division) encourage parties to enter into conciliation before proceeding to trial. We are able to assist clients to prepare for this process and also attend the conciliation with our clients when requested. If conciliation is unsuccessful the matter is referred to the court for a hearing.

We are experienced negotiating with opposing counsel and with self-represented parties to arrive at settlements. We often find that settlement meetings allow the parties to be heard and openly discuss issues that arrive at resolution without the involving the court. If you and the other party have reached tentative agreement, we can prepare the written Agreement for all parties and legal counsel to sign and which can either be registered at Court on its own, or incorporated into documents to finalize your divorce, if you are ending your marriage.

Though litigation is never a happy event, if other efforts to reach settlement are unsuccessful, our lawyers are experienced and prepared to assist you in litigating your case. In preparation for trial, we meet and prepare witnesses, draft the necessary court documents, conduct discovery examinations and attend court as your legal representative, advocating for the best interests of you and your children.

If you have a Court Order that is out of date because things have changed, our lawyers can help you arrange to vary the terms of that Order to reflect the new situation. We will help you negotiate the terms of the variation, or if you and the other party have already agreed, we can put the agreed terms into the correct format and prepare the necessary documents to have the new Order filed at the Court.

If your income has changed and you should pay a different amount of support, or shouldn’t pay support at all, our lawyers can help you prepare the necessary documents for a Variation Application. This will make sure that the Court and the Maintenance Enforcement Program understand that there is a change.

Our family law lawyers have experience assisting clients to resolve their matters, whether through negotiation or litigation. They have appeared at all levels of Court throughout Nova Scotia, including the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Family Division) in Halifax and Cape Breton, the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, and the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (outside the Family Division courts).