Dividing family property and debt in British Columbia

You have separated and you need to divide what you built together, and separate out what you did not. It applies to married and unmarried spouses alike, because the Family Law Act treats them the same way for property. It covers the home, accounts, pensions, businesses and debt, and it covers the part everyone forgets, which is actually implementing the division once it is agreed.

1. 01Fix the date of separation, which decides what falls into the pool, and build the list from it: everything either of you owns and owes, in whose name, where it is, and what it is worth. Whose name is on something does not decide whether it is shared, and the date it is valued at is a different and usually later date.
2. 02Separate excluded property from family property and trace the exclusion through the records. Property owned before the relationship, and certain gifts and inheritances, can be excluded, while the increase in value during the relationship is generally shared.
3. 03Identify family debt, which is divided in the same way property is. Debt taken on during the relationship is usually shared regardless of whose name it is in, and that surprises people more than any other part of this.
4. 04Deal with pensions properly. They are divided under their own part of the Act, through the plan administrator's own forms and process, and they are frequently worth more than everything else except the home.
5. 05Compare assets on their after-tax value rather than their face value. A registered account, a house carrying a capital gain, and cash in a chequing account are not equivalent even where the figures match, and trading one for another at face value costs somebody real money.
6. 06Where the family home is at risk of being sold, refinanced or encumbered without your knowledge, register a claim against title so it cannot move while the division is unresolved.
7. 07Consider whether an equal division would be significantly unfair on the facts, which is the only basis on which the Act allows a departure from equal, and be candid with you about whether your situation actually meets it.
8. 08Implement the division once it is agreed: transfers of title, pension division forms, transfers between registered accounts, refinancing, and closing joint accounts and cards.

• Two pieces of government-issued identificationOne has to carry your photograph.
• The date of separationIt fixes what falls into the pool of family property and family debt. Where the date is genuinely unclear or disputed, tell us at the start, because it affects everything that follows and it is far easier to address early.
• Title and mortgage statements for every propertyIn British Columbia or anywhere else, including a share in a property held with other family members. Property outside the province still counts, even where dividing it takes a different route.
• Statements for every account, at separation and currentChequing, savings, investments, registered accounts, and pensions. Two sets of dates are needed because what falls into the pool is fixed at separation while the value used to divide it is usually taken later.
• Records of what you owned and owed at the start of the relationshipTogether with documents for any gift or inheritance received during it. Excluded property is traced, not assumed, and the burden falls on the person claiming the exclusion. These are the hardest documents to get later and the ones that decide the largest amounts.
• Every debt, including debt in one name onlyCards, lines of credit, loans from family, tax owing, and any debt secured against the home. Debt incurred during the relationship is generally family debt whatever the name on the statement, and leaving one off does not make it disappear.
• Business interests, with the documents behind themCorporate records, financial statements, and any shareholder agreement. A company adds valuation and tax questions that need an accountant alongside us, and identifying that early saves a great deal of time.
• Any agreement, order, or claim already registeredA cohabitation or marriage agreement can change the whole framework. A claim already registered against title changes what either of you can do with the property in the meantime.