Calgary Divorce & Separation Lawyers

Separation and divorce are related, but different

Separation begins when you and your spouse start living separate and apart and at least one of you intends to end the relationship. You can be separated while still living under the same roof — but when you are, the evidence establishing your separation date matters more.

Divorce is the court order that legally ends a marriage — and only that. It does not automatically resolve parenting, support or property. Those issues are dealt with separately, by agreement, court order or both, and that work can happen before or after the divorce claim itself.

The legal grounds for divorce

The federal Divorce Act recognizes marriage breakdown based on one year of separation, adultery, or physical or mental cruelty. Most Alberta divorces proceed on the one-year separation ground. You can start the divorce action before the year is up, but the court cannot grant the divorce on that ground until the full year has passed.

Trying to reconcile does not necessarily reset the clock: attempts totalling no more than 90 days do not restart the one-year separation period. Adultery and cruelty claims are fact-specific and require evidence — and they do not ordinarily change parenting, support or family-property outcomes.

What should be addressed during separation

The real work of separation is usually broader than the divorce itself. Decisions made in the first weeks can shape your children's routine, your housing, your cash flow, your taxes and the eventual settlement. A complete plan usually covers:

• parenting time, decision-making responsibility and communication about children
• child support, special or extraordinary expenses and annual income disclosure
• spousal support entitlement, amount, duration and review terms
• the family home, bank and investment accounts, businesses, pensions, debts and excluded property
• insurance, beneficiary designations, wills and estate-planning coordination
• the process for exchanging disclosure and resolving future disagreements

Negotiation, mediation, arbitration and court

No single process fits every family. Direct negotiation can work when disclosure is complete and the issues are defined. In mediation, you make the decisions with the help of a neutral facilitator. In arbitration, a decision-maker you both agree on decides the issues that remain. Court may be necessary for urgent protection, disclosure, enforcement, or a binding result where agreement is not realistic.

Before choosing a process, take stock of safety, power imbalance, family violence, urgency and whether reliable disclosure is actually available. And document any negotiated resolution carefully — informal understandings leave important terms uncertain, and sometimes unenforceable.

Alberta court procedure changed in 2026

Divorce and family-property proceedings are handled in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench. Other family matters may also proceed under provincial legislation in the Alberta Court of Justice, depending on the claim.

The Court of King’s Bench Family Focused Protocol took effect across Alberta in January 2026. It introduced resolution-oriented intake and pre-court processes for family and divorce proceedings, with current requirements, exclusions and waiver procedures published by the Court. The correct path depends on the relief you are asking for and whether your matter is urgent or excluded.

When a divorce is uncontested

A divorce is uncontested when no response puts the divorce or related relief in dispute, or when the parties have resolved the issues needed for the requested judgment. Uncontested is not the same as having nothing left to sort out — property claims, in particular, are not resolved merely because the divorce is granted.

Where children are involved, the court must be satisfied that reasonable arrangements have been made for their support. Filing details, service, affidavits and the form of the proposed judgment still matter in a desk-divorce application.

Documents worth gathering early

• marriage certificate and the date and circumstances of separation
• recent tax returns, notices of assessment, pay records and corporate financial information
• bank, investment, mortgage, pension and debt statements
• records showing property owned at the start of the relationship and any inheritance or third-party gift
• existing agreements, court orders and a chronology of important events