Family/Divorce Lawyer in Etobicoke (Toronto)
Abogado hispano de Derecho de Familia/Divorcios en Etobicoke (Toronto). My name is Diego S. Diego S. Cariaga, J.D.
Cariaga and I am the owner of Cariaga Law in Toronto (Etobicoke). I am a Divorce & Family Lawyer. I have a total of 3 law degrees from various jurisdictions. I first obtained an LL.B in European, International and Comparative Law from the University of Sheffield in England. Thereafter, upon completing a dual degree program, I obtained a J.D. in Law from the University of Windsor in Canada, and a J
.D. in Law from the University of Detroit Mercy in the United States of America. I am also perfectly fluent in both English and Spanish. My firm Cariaga Law proudly serves a diverse clientele across the Greater Toronto Area. Cariaga Law is easily accessible for clients as it is just a few minutes away from Kipling subway station in Toronto. I also regularly meet with clients virtually via online apps such as Zoom. Cariaga Law's rates are highly competitive, and I also pride myself in resolving matters for clients as much as possible out of the courts. At times it is necessary to resort to litigation, but due to the high costs and stress associated with such proceedings I prefer to use them as a last resort. I believe in cooperation with all parties, but if necessary to fight for my clients in court then I do so zealously. Please feel free to reach out to Cariaga Law. I look forward to meeting you. (Canada) J.D. (U.S.A.), LL.B. (Eng)
Tel: (647) 342-5191
Fax: (647) 499-6581 [email protected]
Cariaga Law
910-405 The West Mall
Toronto (Etobicoke), ON
M9C 5J1 www.cariagalaw.com
*Please note that nothing in this profile constitutes legal advice and is for information purposes only. Should you require legal advice, please contact Cariaga Law directly.
10/01/2022
The answer to this question varies greatly depending on marital status and legal ownership.
If you are legally married then leaving the matrimonial home will not generally affect your financial interests in the home (whether the home is in your name or not). Additionally, even if you vacate the home your spouse will usually be unable to sell it without your consent.
Things are a little bit different for common law spouses. If a cohabitation home is not registered in your name and you vacate it then your common law spouse could potentially sell it. You would then likely have to start a complicated court action to try to recoup some of those proceeds of sale, and prove your entitlement to any of it to begin with.
However, if a cohabitation home is in both common law spouses' names then leaving the home will generally not affect your financial interests in the home.
These issues can and should be addressed in a prenuptial agreement/marriage contract prepared by a Family Lawyer.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law. Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Etobicoke, Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
What is one of the first things that a spouse that is thinking of separating from the other spouse (or that has already separated) needs to do?
Other than taking care of their physical and mental health, one of the first things that they should do is retain a lawyer for themselves as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might be unknowingly prejudicing their legal position with the things that they say to their spouse, or to any another person.
Anybody could be recording what you say in calls, texts and emails in order to use it against you in the future. Not only could you be judged for your behaviour during such communications, but you could even be making admissions about relevant issues without realizing it.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law.
Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Etobicoke, Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
The answer is: YES! The relatively recent Ontario Court of Appeal case of Climans v. Latner has confirmed that spousal support may be merited even if a couple lived in separate residences during the relationship.
On the facts of that case, the couple had been together for nearly 14 years. Nonetheless, they were unmarried and had only actually lived together for a couple of months each year. They had not even merged their finances, and did not own any property jointly.
However, since early in the relationship one of them had financially supported the other (the latter of which had also stopped working once the relationship began).
Based on these facts, the Court found that spousal support was merited. What this teaches us is that people may be creating spousal support obligations for themselves and have no idea.
In order to avoid such surprises, couples should look into having a cohabitation/prenuptial agreement drafted by a Family Lawyer.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law. Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Etobicoke, Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
A reminder that children should NOT be involved in any conflicts during a separation or divorce.
A judge will likely be unimpressed, for example, to see a child regularly recording one parent and sharing such recordings with the other parent to try to make the first parent look bad. A court would likely come to the conclusion that the parent using those recordings against the other is coaching the child.
Children should NOT be used as pawns against the other parent. That is parental alienation, and could even result in the loss of parenting time (custody) by the parent engaging in such misconduct. Parental alienation is most damaging to the child involved, which is there are usually harsh consequences.
Unfortunately, this is not uncommon behaviour in Family Law. We can even see this happen in the entertainment world. For example, recently, it appears that Kevin Federline engaged in such misconduct by using his own children to try to make Britney Spears look bad.
However, this seems to have backfired for Mr. Federline in the court of public opinion, and it is reasonably to believe that it would also backfire for him in a court of Law if Ms. Spears made a Family Law motion against him on the basis of parental alienation.
Efforts should be made to stop such parental alienation as soon as possible to avoid further damage to the children and to their relationships with both parents.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law. Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Etobicoke, Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
Common law spouses can have many of the same rights as married spouses when it comes to child support and spousal support.
However, unlike with married couples, property acquired by a common law couple during their relationship is not automatically split 50/50 (unless it is legally registered in both their names). That is a crucial difference.
As a result, upon separation, if they cannot settle through a separation agreement then common law couples often find themselves having to deal with expensive lawsuits. They would have to figure out who should get what on the basis of their historical contributions (monetary or otherwise), which can get complicated.
That is why it is so important for common law spouses to have their financial and other expectations of the relationship formalized in a cohabitation/prenuptial agreement. That way, if and when there is a separation then both sides can part ways much more amicably and economically. Such agreements avoid a lot of headaches down the road for both people in the relationship.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law.
Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Etobicoke, Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
Why is it important for clients wanting a separation/prenuptial agreement to provide full and accurate disclosure of their private financial information?
Similar to our last post, it is because by providing such disclosure you are actually protecting the agreement from attack in the future. Even if the agreement is fully signed by both sides the other party could change their mind and try to get out of the agreement down the road.
If you did not provide full and accurate disclosure of your income, assets and debts then a court might just let that happen, and that agreement that you spent all that time and money getting drafted could suddenly be worthless to you.
Moral of the story: listen to your lawyer, and provide all necessary information. A good lawyer can help you avoid such pitfalls.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law. Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke), Mississauga and across the Greater Toronto Area.
In the context of litigation it often makes the court process faster and more productive if the other side has a lawyer. Self-represented parties are regularly treated with "kid gloves" by the courts, which often leads to delays and postponements of proceedings.
However, even outside of litigation, when dealing with something like a prenuptial or separation agreement it is perhaps even more important that the other side has a lawyer. Otherwise, a court could later revoke the agreement in part or in full as the other party did not have the benefit of independent legal advice to fully understand or negotiate the agreement that they signed.
The other party does not necessarily need a lawyer the entire time, but it is to your benefit if they at least have a lawyer at the time of signing important agreements so that the agreements can be better protected from attack in the future.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law.
Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke) and across the Greater Toronto Area.
“Human rights are women's rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”
Women’s rights are threatened every single day all over the world. Most recently, however, there has been a serious affront to the rights of women to make autonomous decisions about their own bodies and reproductive functions. This could have deadly repercussions across the globe.
But why should we care about the rights of minorities or other targeted groups if we ourselves don’t belong to any of those groups? It is quite simple: because when there is an assault on the human rights of one group it is very likely that other groups will also be targeted sooner or later. That is how tyranny has always worked.
Therefore, not only should we defend others as a matter of humanity, but also because down the line it might just protect us and the ones we love.
Cariaga Law is a Divorce & Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke) and across the Greater Toronto Area.
Many people are unaware that the Table amounts for child support per the Federal Child Support Guidelines may not necessarily be appropriate when a parent’s income is over $150,000.
At such higher incomes a court has discretion to deviate from the table on the basis of various factors:
a.) the conditions, means, needs, and other circumstances of the children entitled to support;
b.) the special and extraordinary expenses of the children (such as medical and dental expenses; orthodontics, sports and other extracurricular activities etc.); and
c.) the financial ability of each spouse to contribute to the support of the children.
For these and other Family Law matters, feel free to contact Cariaga Law.
Cariaga Law is a Divorce/Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke) and across the Greater Toronto Area.
Another interesting study in celebration of Pride Month (as reported by the Washington Post):
"Children of same-sex couples fare better when it comes to physical health and social well-being than children in the general population, according to researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
…
Children from same-sex families scored about 6 percent higher on general health and family cohesion, even when controlling for socio-demographic factors such as parents’ education and household income, Crouch wrote. However, on most health measures, including emotional behavior and physical functioning, there was no difference compared with children from the general population.
…
Crouch suggested the greater social cohesion among same-sex families comes from an equal distribution of work. He said same-sex couples are likely to share responsibilities more equally than heterosexual ones.
…
…children raised by gay and le***an parents showed resilience “with regard to social, psychological and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma.”
…
“Many studies have demonstrated that children’s well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parents’ sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents…”
Cariaga Law is a Divorce/Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke) and across the Greater Toronto Area.
Free consultations are available by telephone.
Photo by Islander Images
06/18/2022
In celebration of Pride Month, here are some excerpts from a NYT article about this topic:
"Studies in 2006 found that the happiest and most sexually satisfied couples are now those who divide housework and child care the most equally...
Still, fewer than a third of the different-sex couples studied in 2006 had achieved approximate equality in sharing housework...Once children come along, old marital traditions reassert themselves even more. ..
Here’s where same-sex couples can offer their different-sex counterparts useful tips. Since same-sex couples can’t use imputed male-female differences to sort out who does what, they rely less on stereotypes...
A 2015 survey found that almost half of dual-earner, same-sex couples shared laundry duties, compared with just under a third of different-sex couples. And a whopping 74 percent of same-sex couples shared routine child care, compared with only 38 percent of straight couples...
[R]esearchers …. found that g**s and le***ans who discussed a disagreement with their partner did so in less belligerent, domineering and fearful ways than different-sex individuals, possibly because they did not bring the same history of power inequalities to the table.
…
All of us — heterosexual, gay or le***an — face obstacles in figuring out how to replace traditional gender and marriage rules that frustrate our modern values while updating those that are still useful...
But that is all the more reason to welcome the existence and visibility of other models that offer lessons in making our own marriages more successful."
Happy Pride month from Cariaga Law! As members of our societies, we must celebrate love, diversity and inclusivity as not only are we talking about fundamental human rights, but those are also only positive things for our communities. Love is love!
Cariaga Law is a Divorce/Family Law Firm serving clients in Toronto (Etobicoke) and across the Greater Toronto Area.
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My name is Diego S. Cariaga, and I am the owner of Cariaga Law. I was born in Bolivia and was raised in both Bolivia and the United States. As such, I am perfectly fluent in both English and Spanish. I currently have law degrees from England, the United States and Canada.
My firm proudly serves a diverse clientele across the Greater Toronto Area, including my great Hispanic community. Cariaga Law is easily accessible for my clients around the Greater Toronto Area as it is just a few minutes away from both Kipling and Islington subway stations.
I assist clients in areas including:
-Divorce Family Law
-Litigation
-Probate & Estates
-Notarizations and translations
Feel free to call Cariaga Law. I look forward to meeting you.
*Please note that nothing in this site constitutes legal advice and is for information purposes only. Should you require legal advice, please contact Cariaga Law directly.
When contacting Cariaga Law please note that doing so does not create a client relationship with Cariaga Law or Diego S. Cariaga Lema, and information transmitted will not necessarily be treated as privileged or confidential until there is a formal written retainer agreement in place confirming the retention of Cariaga Law/Diego S. Cariaga Lema on your behalf. Please do not send information regarding a specific legal matter before we have been formally engaged as your legal counsel.
Diego S. Cariaga, J.D. (Canada) J.D. (U.S.A.), LL.B. (England)
Tel: (647) 342-5191
Fax: (647) 499-6581
[email protected]
Cariaga Law
405 The West Mall, Suite 910
Toronto (Etobicoke), ON
M9C 5J1
www.cariagalaw.ca
[ESPAÑOL]
Mi nombre es Diego S. Cariaga y soy el dueno de Cariaga Law. Soy un abogado Hispano, nacido en Bolivia y criado en Bolivia y Estados Unidos. Por lo tanto, hablo español e ingles con perfecta fluidez. Actualmente tengo titulos de derecho de Inglaterra, los Estados Unidos y Canada.
Mi firma sirve orgullosamente a una diversa clientela en el Greater Toronto Area, incluyendo a mi gran comunidad Hispana. Cariaga Law es fácilmente accesible para mis clientes en el Greater Toronto Area ya que queda a solo minutos de las estaciones de subway Kipling e Islington.
Sirvo a mis clientes en areas que incluyen:
-Divorcios/Derecho de familia
-Litigación
-Probate
-Notarizaciones y traducciones
Por favor siéntase a libertad de contactarme. Anticipo conocerlos muy pronto.
*Favor tenga en cuenta: que nada en este sitio constituye consejo legal y es solamente para propositos de informacion. Si usted require consejo legal favor contactar a Cariaga Law directamente.
Cuando usted contacte a Cariaga Law por favor tenga en cuenta que eso no crea una relacion de cliente con Cariaga Law o Diego S. Cariaga Lema, y que la informacion transmitida no sera considerada necesariamente como informacion privilegiada o confidencial hasta que se firme un acuerdo confirmando la retencion de Cariaga Law/Diego S. Cariaga Lema como su abogado. Favor no mandar informacion sobre asuntos legales especificos antes de que hayamos sido retenidos formalmente como su representante legal.
