I am holding a package of papers that are labelled NOTICE TO RESPONDENT and have an official seal. I've been served, as they say. In the language of the official forms, an application has been made for a divorce judgment.
I am the respondent. I'd paid for a lawyer to draft the separation agreement (that was important to me), so for the sake of keeping our legal bills roughly equal I asked him to have his lawyer do the application for divorce. This means I don't get the satisfaction of NO, I'M DIVORCING YOU! but perhaps it is not so bad to let him have that.
I would have preferred to have been served months ago, but it appears that from here on out, I am in control of the timeline. I have 25 days to dispute any of the claims, but they have all been agreed to; we are filing the paperwork with the court that will ensure I get copies of any further applications that are made. I am not sure whether that paperwork pushes us straight to the next stage, but either way, 25 days won't kill me.
A judge will look at all of the documents to make sure that all of the conditions for a divorce have been met. The judge will also make sure I am paying the right amount of child support. Then he or she will grant a divorce judgment. I have 30 days to appeal it. It becomes final on the 31st day.
So there's the countdown: 56 days, assuming there is not a long line of people who need judicial review of their uncontested divorces. I suppose you never know.
The divorce is only important in my mind. The separation agreement was the important step. It sets out where Son will live and what our custody schedule will be. It sets out how child support is calculated. It sets out how our assets and debts will be divided. We have set about implementing the agreement: I have given Ex ten months' worth of child support and hired a lawyer to change the title to the camp. There are papers on the shelf behind me that will start the process of dividing our government pension credits and giving Ex half of my work pension once the divorce is final. He is supposed to be dividing his work pension and the small RRSP we held in his name.
My mother has demanded to know every step of the way, but as she does not understand any of the steps, I am not sure that there is any point. She thinks the divorce is the important part, but the divorce is only important if I ever want to get married again. I want it so I can have some closure; so I don't have to go through the long process of explaining that I'm not actually divorced every time someone asks.
I am the respondent. I'd paid for a lawyer to draft the separation agreement (that was important to me), so for the sake of keeping our legal bills roughly equal I asked him to have his lawyer do the application for divorce. This means I don't get the satisfaction of NO, I'M DIVORCING YOU! but perhaps it is not so bad to let him have that.
I would have preferred to have been served months ago, but it appears that from here on out, I am in control of the timeline. I have 25 days to dispute any of the claims, but they have all been agreed to; we are filing the paperwork with the court that will ensure I get copies of any further applications that are made. I am not sure whether that paperwork pushes us straight to the next stage, but either way, 25 days won't kill me.
A judge will look at all of the documents to make sure that all of the conditions for a divorce have been met. The judge will also make sure I am paying the right amount of child support. Then he or she will grant a divorce judgment. I have 30 days to appeal it. It becomes final on the 31st day.
So there's the countdown: 56 days, assuming there is not a long line of people who need judicial review of their uncontested divorces. I suppose you never know.
The divorce is only important in my mind. The separation agreement was the important step. It sets out where Son will live and what our custody schedule will be. It sets out how child support is calculated. It sets out how our assets and debts will be divided. We have set about implementing the agreement: I have given Ex ten months' worth of child support and hired a lawyer to change the title to the camp. There are papers on the shelf behind me that will start the process of dividing our government pension credits and giving Ex half of my work pension once the divorce is final. He is supposed to be dividing his work pension and the small RRSP we held in his name.
My mother has demanded to know every step of the way, but as she does not understand any of the steps, I am not sure that there is any point. She thinks the divorce is the important part, but the divorce is only important if I ever want to get married again. I want it so I can have some closure; so I don't have to go through the long process of explaining that I'm not actually divorced every time someone asks.
No comments:
Post a Comment