What this meeting does
The Transitions Meeting serves two equally important purposes. The first is immediate: it addresses the practical pressures of the present so that both spouses can step back from crisis mode and engage with the longer divorce process as calm, informed decision-makers. The second is preparatory: it sets both parties up with everything they need to gather financial information, think through their parenting goals, and move into the separation process with confidence.
People who have gone through the traditional system — whether through family law proceedings or divorce proceedings — often describe never knowing what the next step would be: always waiting for something difficult to arrive in the mail, always reacting rather than planning. The Transitions Meeting takes that experience off the table entirely. By the time you leave, you will know exactly what comes next, when it happens, and what you need to do to be ready.
The Fairway Interim Plan™
The centrepiece of this meeting is the Fairway Interim Plan™, a short-term agreement that covers the practical realities of your separation while the longer divorce process unfolds.
This is not a final agreement: nothing decided in the interim plan binds either spouse permanently. It is a temporary, practical arrangement that both spouses agree to so that the household can function, the children have a stable routine, and neither party is left in an impossible position while the real negotiations are underway.
The interim plan typically addresses the following:
- Living arrangements: whether one spouse will move out and on what timeline, and how the costs of running two households will be managed in the short term.
- Day-to-day finances: who pays which bills, how joint accounts will be handled, what happens with credit cards.
- Parenting schedule: for families with children, it establishes a working parenting schedule. Not the final parenting plan, but a functional routine that keeps the children's lives as stable as possible while things are in flux. Where child support is a consideration, your expert will flag that at this stage so there are no surprises later.
The goal is to bring the temperature down. When the immediate pressures are accounted for and both spouses know what to expect week to week, the anxiety that comes with uncertainty starts to ease. That way you cannot make clear-headed decisions about your financial future while you are consumed by immediate fears about whether you can pay this month's mortgage.
