Fees and Process
My fee for a Legal Opinion Letter of a Foreign Divorce Decree/ Court Order depends on urgency:
3 to 5 business days =$200 tax included.
1 to 2 business days =$250 tax included.
Within Several Hours to a Day = $350 tax included (depending on my schedule).
The fee includes the following:
You may be wondering why I cannot charge at a cheaper rate for a simple letter. In fact, the process can be very time consuming and I do not understand how other lawyers can provide the service at a lower rate than what I can offer. I also do not believe that any lawyer should be charging over $400 for a turn around time longer than what I am offering.
A thorough investigation and research is needed to give a proper legal opinion on a foreign divorce to be deemed valid in Ontario. The lawyer needs to actually examine the authenticity of the original document. The foreign divorce document is called by different names and looks differently coming from different countries. Sometimes it is issued by a county or district family court judge through a Judgment of Divorce; sometimes it is called a Divorce Decree by the Supreme Court or Superior Court of a State; sometimes it is called a Divorce Certificate issued by the Census Registry Office of a State or District. The lawyer is also required to confirm the circumstances and residency situation of the former spouses and applying such information to statutory and case law decisions in Ontario in order to conclude whether or not the judge or registrar that issued the court order or decree had jurisdiction to decide the matter and whether or not such an order or decree should be recognized in Ontario in accordance to Canadian divorce laws. In addition, a file must be opened to include written documentation of the matter including personal and contact information of the various parties involved, a retainer agreement must be executed and identification verification of the clients must be completed, and notarization where needed for support documents evidencing the foreign divorce actually occurred. I believe that my fees are fair based on the urgency scale.
My fee for a Legal Opinion Letter of a Foreign Divorce Decree/ Court Order depends on urgency:
3 to 5 business days =$200 tax included.
1 to 2 business days =$250 tax included.
Within Several Hours to a Day = $350 tax included (depending on my schedule).
The fee includes the following:
- Intake: continuous communication via text/email/phone calls wherein you will provide the information required as listed on the home page.
- Execution: Personal face-to-meeting – no virtual verification or mail courier verification. One of you must be present to have a face-to-face meeting with me:
- to sign the retainer agreement;
- to make certified true copies of your identification
- to make certified true copies of the divorce decree/ court order
- to sign and seal your Statement of Sole Responsibility
- to provide you with the Legal Opinion Letter re. the validity and recognition of a Foreign Divorce Court Order/ Decree in Ontario in duplicate
- Receipt provided
- You will walk off with all documents in duplicate properly commissioned, certified and notarized.
You may be wondering why I cannot charge at a cheaper rate for a simple letter. In fact, the process can be very time consuming and I do not understand how other lawyers can provide the service at a lower rate than what I can offer. I also do not believe that any lawyer should be charging over $400 for a turn around time longer than what I am offering.
A thorough investigation and research is needed to give a proper legal opinion on a foreign divorce to be deemed valid in Ontario. The lawyer needs to actually examine the authenticity of the original document. The foreign divorce document is called by different names and looks differently coming from different countries. Sometimes it is issued by a county or district family court judge through a Judgment of Divorce; sometimes it is called a Divorce Decree by the Supreme Court or Superior Court of a State; sometimes it is called a Divorce Certificate issued by the Census Registry Office of a State or District. The lawyer is also required to confirm the circumstances and residency situation of the former spouses and applying such information to statutory and case law decisions in Ontario in order to conclude whether or not the judge or registrar that issued the court order or decree had jurisdiction to decide the matter and whether or not such an order or decree should be recognized in Ontario in accordance to Canadian divorce laws. In addition, a file must be opened to include written documentation of the matter including personal and contact information of the various parties involved, a retainer agreement must be executed and identification verification of the clients must be completed, and notarization where needed for support documents evidencing the foreign divorce actually occurred. I believe that my fees are fair based on the urgency scale.