We Both Agree — Can We Use the Same Lawyer for Our Separation Agreement? Toronto Chinese Family Lawyer: No, One Each

The two of you sat down and worked everything out. How to split the house, how to split the money, who the kids live with and how visits work — every item agreed. Now you just want a lawyer to write it up, sign it, and be done. Can both of you share one lawyer? You’ve already agreed on everything — just write it down and sign, right? Saves a legal bill too.

The answer: no. One lawyer each. No exceptions.

Why can’t one lawyer sign off the agreement for both of you?

The law requires that when two people sign, both clearly understand what the agreement says and what it means. No signing in a fog — once you sign, you own it, and unwinding it later isn’t easy.

And the lawyer’s job is to explain the agreement clearly — to take the dense legal language apart and explain it piece by piece until you truly understand. After explaining, the lawyer also guards your interests: this clause helps you, that one costs you, do you want to change it before signing.

Here’s the problem. A separation agreement divides money, the house, and parenting — the two sides’ interests are naturally opposed. What’s good for you can be bad for them.

Take an example: the agreement says one side waives spousal support. If the lawyer represents the wife, they’d have to tell her straight: “This costs you. You could have gotten support — this much a month, for this many years. Are you sure?” But if that same lawyer also represents the husband, those words can’t come out. Say it, and you’re helping the wife against the husband; don’t say it, and you failed the wife. One mouth can’t argue both sides.

Or the house. The lawyer has to run the numbers for their own client: what the house sells for now versus later, whether taking the cash or keeping the house is the better deal, who pays the mortgage and until when. Those words can only be said to one person — not to the other.

So one lawyer can be loyal to one person only, can explain the agreement through and protect only one side’s interests. Two people means one lawyer each — each lawyer explains to their own client, guards their own client’s interests, both truly understand, and only then does the signature count and the agreement stand up later.

Think about it the other way: if one lawyer writes it for both sides anyway, the agreement is flawed from the root. The moment the other side changes their mind, one line — “I never got independent legal advice” — puts the whole thing in danger. You saved a legal bill today and buried a landmine for tomorrow.

The other side doesn’t want a lawyer — can they just sign on their own?

Technically yes. But you need to know the risk.

They can sign by themselves. The signature goes on, and the agreement looks done. But the consequence: this agreement can be torn up later. Wasted paper.

Ontario’s rule is that the other side needs independent legal advice — their own lawyer, explaining the agreement clause by clause, signing only once they understand. That’s not red tape. That’s what makes the agreement solid.

What does a court look at later? Whether they truly understood when they signed, whether it was voluntary, whether they were misled. Without ILA, that door stays open.

If they sign without a lawyer and without ILA, and change their mind later, they can go to court and say: I didn’t understand, I didn’t know what I was signing, I was talked into it. A court can set the agreement aside.

The classic scenario: two years later house prices jump, they feel they got too little, and they go back to court saying they didn’t understand back then and were talked into signing — asking to throw the agreement out and re-divide. What do you do? Litigate it all over again, money and time down the drain a second time.

Skip making them get a lawyer today, and tomorrow they change their mind and the agreement is void. So having the other side get their own lawyer and complete ILA before signing isn’t making life hard for them — it protects the agreement, and it protects you.

Can the other side come sign at our firm?

No. They sign with their own lawyer — at the lawyer’s office or by video, their choice.

Why? Because their lawyer has to confirm face to face: this is voluntary, nobody’s forcing them; the agreement’s been explained and they genuinely understand. That has to happen in front of their own lawyer. We don’t take part, and we don’t control it.

We produce the documents. Once drafted and both sides are fine with it, each goes to their own lawyer to sign. The other side doesn’t come to us — nothing to do with our firm.

What about fees and the process?

Our side: drafting the separation agreement is $2500 plus tax plus disbursements.

The process goes like this: sign the retainer agreement and pay the deposit first. Then we send you a checklist of what we need: your personal information, the terms you’ve both agreed on, and financial disclosure of what’s in your name. Why disclosure? Because the agreement divides property — what you own and how much has to be on the table. Hide it, and later one line from the other side — “you hid assets back then” — causes trouble all over again. Once everything’s in, we start drafting.

The draft goes to you first. You’re good with it, then the other side takes it to their own lawyer, who explains it, makes sure they understand, and each side signs with their own lawyer. When that signing step is done, the agreement is truly settled.

Agreed on everything and want it written up? Remember two things: one lawyer each, and the other side completes ILA before signing. Get those two steps right and the agreement stands solid — nothing to overturn later. Book an initial consultation (30 minutes, $220+HST). Call 647-930-6688.

This is general legal information only. Not legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship.