Agnes Kramer

A file is easier to solve once it is easier to see

At the beginning of a separation, every issue can feel urgent. Agnes starts by separating the file into four parts:

1. What cannot wait? A safety concern, court deadline, sudden change in the children’s routine or immediate problem paying ordinary expenses may need attention first.
2. What needs a number? Child support, spousal support, the value of a home, debt and the division of family property depend on reliable financial information.
3. What needs a document? An agreement, order, tax return, bank record, parenting calendar or missing disclosure may change the advice.
4. What needs a decision? Some questions can be negotiated. Others need a formal application or a judge’s direction.

The aim is not to produce the longest possible task list. It is to find the next step that will make the file clearer.

Practical help from the document side of a legal file

Before becoming a lawyer, Agnes worked in legal-support roles. Her early work included Calgary Legal Guidance, where she encountered family-law and wills-and-estates matters. She later worked at Castle & Associates as a legal secretary, returned as a Student-at-Law and completed her articles there.

That background gives her a useful view of how a client’s story becomes an organized record. A detail in a text message may belong on a parenting chronology. A support concern may require three years of tax records rather than one recent pay stub. A property question may depend on what was owned at the start of the relationship, what exists now and whether the records can trace the difference.

You should understand why a document is being requested and what question it is meant to answer. Organizing evidence that way can reduce repeated requests, expose the real gap sooner and make discussions with the other side more productive.

Family arrangements that work beyond the signing date

A workable result has to function on ordinary days, not just look complete on the date it is signed.

For parenting arrangements, that means thinking past labels and addressing exchanges, holidays, school information, travel, communication and future decisions. For support, it means using the right income information and writing terms that say when disclosure will be exchanged and the amount reviewed. For property, it means knowing what will be transferred, who will pay a debt and what must happen before the file can truly close.

Where agreement is possible, careful terms can prevent avoidable uncertainty. Where it is not, a focused record helps define the question the court is being asked to decide. Our practical guides to parenting after separation, support and family property can help you begin.

A route into law built across places and legal systems

Agnes was born in Bydgoszcz, Poland, grew up in Toronto and has made Calgary home since 2008. She earned an Honours B.A. in Political Science from York University and later completed an Honours LL.B. at the University of Southampton in England.

After returning to Canada, she completed the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s National Committee on Accreditation process, receiving her Certificate of Qualification in 2022. She then completed her Alberta bar-admission requirements and was called in 2025.

Her route required learning how different institutions, professional roles and legal systems fit together. For a client, the benefit is straightforward: an unfamiliar process can be broken down, explained and worked through one requirement at a time.

What to bring to the first conversation

You do not need a perfect binder before speaking with a lawyer. Start with:

• a one-page timeline with the relationship date, separation date and any court dates or deadlines;
• existing orders, agreements or written parenting arrangements;
• the last three years of tax returns and notices of assessment, if support is in issue;
• a rough list of assets and debts, including the home, pensions, investments and major liabilities;
• the current parenting schedule and the change you are asking for; and
• the three questions you most need answered.

If a record is missing, note what it is and who may have it. Identifying the gap is part of preparing the file; it is not a reason to postpone the conversation.

Professional record

• Role: Associate, Fraese Aymont Family Lawyers.
• Alberta call: 2025.
• Education: LL.B. (Hons.), University of Southampton, 2019; B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science, York University, 2008.
• Canadian accreditation: NCA Certificate of Qualification, Federation of Law Societies of Canada, 2022.
• Earlier legal training: Paralegal Diploma, Reeves College, 2013.
• Professional regulator: Law Society of Alberta.

About Agnes

Agnes was born in Poland, raised in Toronto and moved to Calgary in 2008. She has also lived in Germany and studied in England and Québec. Outside the office, she spends time with her husband and children and enjoys reading, cooking, skiing, hiking and being outdoors.