Divorce In Alberta

by Cindy

A divorce is a serious matter. It is the end of a marriage. Divorce should be carfeully thought over, perhaps with the help of a marriage counsellor. Sometimes it is better to legally seperate before considering a divorce. Time away from each other may give you the chance you need to work out your problems. Never rush in to a divorce without considering all other options.

The Divorce Act is a federal law made by the Parliament of Canada, administered equally across all provinces and territories. It covers most areas of divorce law such as:

grounds for divorce
maintenance
custody
procedures for divorce
.
According to the The Divorce Act the only grounds for divorce is the breakdown of a marrige and there are only three ways in which a marriage breakdown can occur.

These are:

Separation
This is the simplest ground for divorce in Alberta. Your spouse and you must live seperately from each other for a minimun of one year prior to the Divorce Judgement. You may start the divorce actions before the one year period has ended but the divorce will not be final until the one year period has ended.

The period of separation must be uninterrupted, with the exception of periods of attempted reconciliation for 90 days or less. If however you reconcile for more then 91 days and the re-seperate, the one year period starts over.

Your reasons for seperating are not considered important. Please note it is possible to consider yourself "living apart and seperate" while sharing the same home. It is, however, more difficult to prove as you must be living individual lives and not doing anything together including but not limited to sharing a bedroom, cooking for each other or sharing social activities

Adultery
If you or your spouse have sexual intercourse with someone of the opposite sex while you are married it is considered adultery. This is grounds for divorce, only the spouse who did not commit adultery can file for divorce. You can not use your own adultry as grounds for divorce.

In order for adultery to be proven to the judge the person who had the affair must admit in a sworn statement that they have commited adultery. If they refuse, substantial evidence and witness testimony may sometimes be consiered to prove adultery.

If you are divorcing because of adultery you are not required to wait a year before starting and finalizing your divorce.

Cruelty

If you or your spouse are being treated with cruelty, whether physically or emotionally, a divorce will be granted. The cruelty must be so severe that living together is unbearable. Only the person being treated with cruelty can file for divorce and cruelty must be proven. You can prove cruelty with a sworn statement that your spouse is treating you with cruelty.

If you are being treated with cruelty you will not be required to wait a year before your divorce is final.

I would like to highly recommend consultiing a lawyer before filing for divorce.

Before you consider divorce check out "The Magic of Making Up"

About the Author
I was headed for divorce fast until I followed "The Magic of Making Up" Things are getting better by the day!! You can save your marriage to if your heart is in the right place