How Pathway Family Law Services Help You

The Pathway Legal Services

At Pathway Legal, we help individuals and families across BC resolve a wide range of family law matters. Using our Path approach, that is:

Practical 
Action-Oriented
Trustworthy 
Human 

Whether you are seeking advice on divorce or separation, need help with parenting agreements, support issues, or want guidance on marriage, cohabitation, or separation agreements, our skilled team provides comprehensive services. We are real humans helping real humans. 

Explore our services to see how we can assist you with mediation, negotiation, court matters, or unbundled legal help—every step along your family’s path.

In summary, we offer legal services for many of the most common family law needs, including:

Why Use Pathway Legal's Family Law Services?

Our family law lawyers are not just here to draft documents — we’re here to support you through one of the most important transitions in your life.

Here’s how Pathway Legal makes a difference in your journey:

• We can help at the start with Pre and Post Nuptial agreements with confidence and clarity.

And if there is an unexpected twist and divorce becomes inevitable, we can help you do it BETTER with the following approaches:

We’re not just here to draft documents — we’re here to support you through one of the most important transitions in your life.

Here’s how Pathway Legal makes a difference in your journey:

• We can help at the start with PreNups and Post Nuptial agreements with confidence and clarity.

And if there is an unexpected twist and divorce becomes inevitable, we can help you do it BETTER with the following approaches:

• Court as a last resort:
  Our Divorcee Lawyers focus on resolution, not escalation. If we can keep you out of court, we will.
• Dispute resolution:
  Our divorce lawyers have training in dispute resolution, making it easier to reach fair outcomes without unnecessary conflict.
• Plain language:
  We explain the law clearly — no confusing legal jargon.
• Financial transparency:
  We inform you of the costs and expenses on every step of the way so you know where and why our fees are being used.
• Real care:
  You’re not just a case file. We genuinely care about you, your outcome, your family, and your future. We have a history, a philosophy and a policy that guides our approach to family law. You can discover it in our "About Pathway Legal section"...

How Our Pathway Family Lawyers Demystify Divorce  For You

So, if a "divorce" is the final step, what comes first?

What Kind of Family Law Services Do You Need?

There are many types of legally binding agreements that we can support you with. These include:

Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

• A prenuptial agreement is a financial agreement made before marriage.
• A postnuptial agreement is the same idea — just created after you’re already married.
• These agreements offer clarity, reduce future conflict in the event of a separation, and protect both of you. They resolve future potential conflict because if you separate, each of you will have a clear understanding as to your rights and obligations relating to child support, spousal support, and division of property.

Need a DeepER Dive?

• If you are divorcing with children and need to understand child support in BC, then we cover The Basics of Guideline Child Support in our child support section.
• You may also need spousal support, and we do a deep dive into the legal framework for determining spousal support here.
• Finally, depending on your circumstances, dividing your property can be complex or relatively simple, so we explain the process of dividing property in divorce in BC, here.

Legal Separation Agreements

• In British Columbia, if you have lived together for a continuous period of 2 years or more, you are legally recognized as spouses (this is also known as common law spouses).
• Similarly, if you have lived together for LESS than 2 years but have a child together, you are also considered as spouses, at least for support purposes. Both of these situations are relevant in a separation because Spousal Support and child support can be a factor.
• If you have shared property, debts, children, or support obligations, a separation agreement is a crucial document. It records your agreed division of responsibilities and entitlements, property division, and enables you both to move forward with certainty.

Discover more about legal separation agreements...

Uncontested Divorce

Contrary to popular belief, a divorce is nothing more than a fancy court piece of paper (a court order) waving goodbye to your marriage. Your Separation agreement (or court order if you went to trial) is doing the heavy lifting in terms of getting closure and determining your rights and responsibilities including dividing your assets and debt, your parenting plan, and support obligations or entitlement.

Cohabitation Agreement (Common-Law Relationships)

In BC, if you live with someone in a marriage-like relationship for two years or more, you may have the same legal obligations as if you were married — whether you knew it or not! A cohabitation agreement can help define rights and responsibilities in the event you separate.

Already Agreed on Everything? Perfect!

• If both you and your former partner are cooperative and in agreement, our flat-fee uncontested divorce or legal separation packages may be a great fit.
• We’ll handle the paperwork, ensure it’s legally binding, and guide you through every step — so you can move forward with confidence.
• ⚠️ If things become more complicated, we’re still here to help. We may not be able to assist utilizing our flat fee model, but we’ll always be transparent about what’s involved and any other potential costs. If your matter is transitioned from our flat fee model to our hourly rate model, you will be the first to know. Our hourly rates are clear and transparent.

What's Next?

• If you are ready to take advantage of our family law services or need to discover more about how our devirce lawyers work, simply contact our team. 
• If you are still deciding whether you are ready to take the step of separation or divorce, you may find our dedicated Pathway Legal Better Divorce series of emails very useful. You can subscribe here, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Your address will not be sold for information, and you will not be sent marketing material.

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Services

Services Delivered By The Pathway Legal Family Law Team

Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Litigation and alternative dispute resolution are two different ways of resolving your family law matter. 

Litigation is when you resolve your family law matter through the court system. Your family law lawyer presents your case to a judge. Decisions about dividing your assets, your parenting plan, and how much support is paid is handed over to a judge. That judge has never met you, never met your spouse and has never met your kids. 

Alternative dispute resolution, on the other hand, offers a vast range of methods available to resolve your family law matter. For example, if you are looking for an alternative dispute resolution lawyer in Vancouver, British Columbia, or anywhere else in British Columbia, for that matter, alternative dispute resolution strategies, include four-way meetings, negotiation, mediation, mediation-arbitration, and collaborative family law. 

When choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, consider alternative dispute resolution. It tends to be much quicker, less expensive, less stressful, and more flexible than litigation. 

This is why at Pathway Legal we like to avoid litigation whenever possible!

Alternative Dispute Resolution Lawyer

Alternative dispute resolution requirements include lawyers taking many hours of additional training which includes in-depth negotiation strategies, interest-based mediation and bargaining. Ironically, even if you are headed for a high-conflict divorce choosing the right divorce lawyer will mean that you want them to be committed and trained as an alternative dispute resolution lawyer. 

At Pathway Legal we firmly believe that choosing the best divorce lawyers for our clients means that their lawyer is committed to taking the additional training necessary for the alternative dispute resolution requirements necessary to qualify to be a divorce mediation lawyer. If you're considering alternative dispute resolution, here are some examples that can help you and your ex navigate through the various agreement options, in order to reach an amicable divorce.

Uncontested (Amicable) Divorce Legal Services

Amicable Divorce Lawyer

An amicable (friendly) divorce lawyer at Pathway Legal in BC is a legal professional who can guide you through an amicable divorce process that will not only save you money but will also save you time and the associated stress that comes with a long, emotionally taxing, expensive drawn-out process.

When choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, be sure to ask them what percentage of their cases stay out of the litigation process. If it is super-high they will be a good candidate.  Here's more about getting an amicable divorce in British Columbia.

Ready for a Pathway Legal Amicable (friendly) lawyer to help you? Request a Consultation.

Collaborative Divorce Lawyer

If you are hoping for an amicable divorce, you might want to discover more about collaborative family law in British Columbia. If you and your ex-spouse are relatively amicable, choosing the right lawyer might just be one that is trained in the collaborative family law process. 

Not all lawyers can practice using collaborative family law. They have to qualify first, with additional training and have to have significant family law experience.

Divorce Mediation with Lawyers

The most common method an alternative dispute resolution lawyer will choose is to resolve our matter is divorce mediation with lawyers. This means that you, your lawyer, your ex-spouse and their lawyer sit with a trained family law mediator. The mediator, who is neutral, guides you to resolve your matter. 

When you have a successful divorce mediation with lawyers it means that you have settled all the issues of your family law matter using the divorce mediation process. That is what a “win” is when using mediation. 

At Pathway Legal, we can often get a case resolved in one day of divorce mediation with lawyers. Compared to litigation, that is a fraction of the time to see your matter resolved.

At your initial consultation, your Pathway Legal lawyer will describe the benefits of mediation to you and why you will want to consider it for your situation, depending upon your circumstances.

Ultra High Net Worth Divorce Lawyer

Perhaps your circumstances are different than a lot of other people in British Columbia. If you see yourself and your family as having a high net worth, you will want to ensure you choose the right kind of lawyer for your high net worth circumstances. At Pathway Legal we are experienced in applying the Family Law Act and the common law to our clients’ circumstances when they have high net worth. If this is a situation you find yourself in, then we have more information related to high net worth divorce lawyers, here. 

Spousal Support Lawyer

Simply put, spousal support is money paid by one spouse to the other after they separate. Other words for spousal support are alimony or spousal maintenance. We also need to draw a careful distinction between spousal support, and child support, as they are two uniquely different topics. 

Discover more about how Pathway Legal's Spousal Support lawyers have helped our clients.

The Best Divorce Lawyers at Pathway Legal, British Columbia

What is the best divorce lawyer for you and your unique circumstances? 

Ask your Pathway Legal lawyer about what to look for in:

• The best divorce lawyer for men
• The best child custody lawyer
• Best divorce lawyers for women

The above are just a few examples of how the divorce process can differ from one person to the next. 

As you can see, there is no simple one-size fits all formula to choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, that is why you will discover more about the Pathway Legal difference at your initial consultation.

Your initial consultation is geared so that we can get to know each other and what is best for your case when deciding on choosing the right divorce lawyer. 

Serving you virtually

Our legal team can even can serve you virtually!

What happens if you...:

• Don’t live close to our offices, or reside in a remote community?
• Don’t have access to easy transportation?
• Are unable to get away from work or home to visit us? 
• Want excellent legal help, but don’t reside in Victoria. 

Find out how Pathway Legal can work with you at remote locations, away from the centre of British Columbia.

What clients say about some of our services

Customer reviews on Google

Rebekah Veilleux

If you need a reliable and effective Divorce and Family Law firm that excels in mediation and strives for positive outcomes, I can confidently say that Pathway Legal is the best choice. They truly care about their clients' well-being and deliver exceptional service, providing a peaceful resolution for families in need. Thank you, Pathway Legal, for guiding me through this difficult time and securing a brighter future for me and my children.

Lana Morris

I had the pleasure of having both Katie Sutherland and Val Hemminger as my lawyers! They both have a passion for family law and it showed in each and evening time I met with them. Not only were they both professional but they truly care about their clients… with both of them I could cry, express my frustrations and even though this was a hard year… we even had a lot of laughs together. Val and Katie always put my children first and encouraged me to seek counselling for myself! It was never only about the law to either of them, it was first and foremost about family.

Nick Accarion

I highly recommend this firm because they were able to understand our family dynamics even though we were coming from a place of desperation and it was complicated. They were able to navigate our needs in a courteous professional affordable way, and make our separation amicable. I hope to never go through an experience like this again but knowing there's a firm like this made it much easier for me and my loved ones. Highly recommend.

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It is with our honour and gratitude that we live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.