One-Day Divorce Case Studies

When they decided to end their relationship, Katie and Bill had been married for eight years and had two children—the oldest was in first grade and the youngest in junior kindergarten. 

Katie was a teacher in Windsor Park, while Bill was an engineer at Manitoba Hydro and worked from home two days per week. They both had pensions.

Katie and Bill owned a home in St. Vital, and the children attended school close by. Recently, they had purchased a cabin in the Sandy Hook area.

Katie and Bill wanted to resolve their separation quickly. Despite their differences, they were on relatively good terms and wanted to avoid going to court.

The idea of a “One-Day Divorce” was appealing to Katie, and after discussing it with Bill, he also thought it was a good choice.

After retaining independent collaborative lawyers Richard (Evans Pollock Family Law) and Kim (Bennet Waugh Corne), Katie and Bill met with a parenting coach twice to understand and prepare for their children’s needs going forward. 

With the exchange of financial disclosure and the parent coaching completed, Bill and Katie met with their respective lawyers, Richard and Kim, to prepare for the one-day settlement session. 

At that meeting, the couple negotiated a parenting plan that included a week-on/week-off schedule, a holiday/vacation schedule, and a resolution that the kids would remain at the same school for the foreseeable future. They also agreed that Bill would provide some extra assistance by way of pickups and drop-offs from school/daycare on the days he works from home.

Through negotiation, the couple resolved that Bill would move out of the family home to a condo in the same neighbourhood to ensure continuity for the children. They decided to sell the cabin and split the proceeds.

Katie and Bill were able to finalize all of their decisions regarding property division, child and spousal support at their one-day session and signed a separation agreement and divorce papers the same day.