The Fine Print
Divorce Forms Terms and Conditions
To use our fixed fee divorce document preparation service, you must have:
- Basic facts (names, marriage dates, separation dates).
- Spousal Support arrangements.
- Child Support amounts in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines.
- Parenting arrangements which are in the best interests of the children.
- Your grounds for divorce will be that that your marriage has broken down because you have (or will have) lived separate and apart for at least 1 year. Alternatively, you do not need to live separate and apart for a year if one party is claiming adultery or cruelty and the other party is willing to sign a document agreeing they committed adultery or were cruel.
- You must be able to supply a government issued marriage certificate (if married in Canada, or in the case of a foreign divorce, you must provide the name of the official who married you, the number and names of any witnesses – you may use ‘unknown’ if you do not remember).
- If you have children under age 16, you can supply a certificate of attendance from the government mandated course “Parenting After Separation” for you, and if you are doing a joint divorce application, for your spouse as well.
- If we are preparing a sole divorce and you are not in the Edmonton judicial area, we are unable to file your documents for you – as you should commence your divorce in your local judicial area.
Beyond reasonable simple clarification questions, additional mediation and/or arbitration services are available and charged separately at our current rate.
We seldom charge additional fees, but we reserve the right to charge additionally for the following:
- Discontinuing an existing action which you have previously filed.
- Departing from the Federal Child Support Guidelines.
- Amending information which you supplied in error, failed to supply, or supplied incompletely, – such as, but not limited to, number of children, incorrect spelling of your child’s name, wrong date of birth, incorrect marriage date, location, witnesses, officiant, names, marital status at time of marriage, changes in income, etc. We offer two rounds of reasonable document revisions at no cost, and then charge $100 per round of revisions thereafter. We do not charge for revisions if the error is ours.
- We may reject your application for any reason, including lack of information provided or poor/inconsistent capitalization that would require extensive editing.
You acknowledge:
- We will fully rely on the information, documents, advice, and instructions supplied by the Participants. We assume no decision-making responsibility or managerial authority during the process, nor do you grant the same. We will type the forms solely on the information provided by you. The staff completing the documents are likely not lawyers, do not practice law and are not able to give you legal advice. The receipt of general legal information is not a substitute for legal advice or assistance. You should seek legal advice regarding any agreement. The fees for such advice are not part of the fees paid to us, nor are we able to supply you with independent legal advice with this service.
- If your divorce becomes contested, this fixed fee service is not able to further assist you and will recommend that you seek the advice of a family lawyer.
Payment terms
Payment for document completion services is made in advance by credit card, money order, certified cheque, or Interac email money transfer. Personal cheques are not accepted. Money orders and certified cheques are payable to “Dean Bergsma Professional Corporation dba The Divorce Company”. You may cancel this contract and request a refund only before we have begun to type your documents. Monies refunded will be less any actual applicable service fees incurred.
Delivery of documents
Your documents will be delivered to you either by regular mail or email, or you may pick them up at our office. If you choose to have your documents delivered to you by regular mail, they will be sent via Canada Post. Regular domestic postage rates are included in our fees. If you request to have your documents delivered expeditiously, or to foreign countries, additional charges will apply.