What Independent Legal Advice Is
A domestic contract under Part IV of Ontario's Family Law Act can decide property, support, and, in a separation agreement, parenting and child support. Each party is expected to have their own lawyer. Your lawyer acts only for you, explains the agreement from your side, and signs a certificate of independent legal advice confirming that you were advised and signed voluntarily. The other party's lawyer does the same for them.
The certificate matters because of section 56(4) of the Family Law Act. A court can set aside a domestic contract where a party did not understand its nature or consequences, where significant assets or debts were not disclosed, or on ordinary contract grounds such as duress. Advice from your own lawyer, recorded in a certificate, is the usual answer to the first of those arguments. It protects you, and it protects the agreement.
Separation Agreements
Property division and equalization, spousal and child support, the matrimonial home, pensions, and parenting terms. The most common agreement we advise on.
Marriage Contracts
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements prepared by your partner's lawyer. We explain what you are giving up compared with the Family Law Act defaults, including the section 6 election on death.
Cohabitation Agreements
Agreements between common-law partners dealing with property and support, and what happens to the agreement if you later marry.
What the Flat Fee Covers
- Reading the agreement and the financial disclosure exchanged between you and the other party.
- One advice meeting with Ammar Hussain, by video or at the Markham office, going through the agreement clause by clause: what each term does, what it changes from the default position under Ontario law, and anything that is unusual or one-sided.
- Brief follow-up questions by email arising from that meeting.
- If you decide to sign: witnessing your signature and signing the certificate of independent legal advice, delivered to the other party's lawyer.
What is outside the flat fee
Some agreements need more than a review. Each of the following is quoted or billed at $300 + HST per hour and discussed with you before the work is done:
- Agreements longer than 25 pages, or agreements with corporate, trust, or business holdings that need separate analysis.
- Negotiating changes with the other party's lawyer, or redrafting clauses.
- A second advice meeting, for example after the agreement is revised.
- Reviewing or obtaining financial disclosure that has not been provided.
Fees
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Independent legal advice with certificate: agreement up to 25 pages, review of disclosure, one advice meeting | From $900 + HST |
| Additional pages, second meeting, negotiation of changes, or redrafting | $300/hr + HST |
| Drafting a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement for you as the first party (details) | From $2,000 + HST |
What to Send Before the Meeting
- The full agreement, in the version you are being asked to sign (not an earlier draft).
- The financial disclosure from both sides: sworn financial statements if any, and the supporting documents (income, property, debts, pensions).
- Any existing court order, prior agreement, or separation date you both rely on.
- Government photo ID, needed for the Law Society's client identification requirements.
- Your own list of questions. Write down anything you were told verbally about the agreement; if it is not in the document, it is not part of the deal.
Personal identifiers such as SIN and full account numbers can be covered on the documents you send. Leave the last three or four digits visible so each account can still be identified.
Timing
Once we have the agreement and the disclosure, the advice meeting is booked as soon as availability allows, often within a week. For a marriage contract, do not leave this to the week of the wedding: an agreement signed under time pressure invites a later argument that it was signed under duress. Start early enough that you could walk away from it.