Divorce

A divorce comes down to three things; a simple uncontested divorce, Joint divorce or a contested divorce. 

To initiate a divorce application you file the divorce papers with the Superior family court branch, you then either sign the court documents jointly with your spouse or serve the court documents on your spouse with the assistance of a third party. If your spouse does not contest the divorce within the required time period, the divorce will proceed as an 'uncontested' divorce. If your spouse contests the divorce, then becomes a contested divorce. 

To file a simple divorce, you will need your original marriage certificate for a divorce. You must also be a resident of Ontario for at least one year. If your marriage certified is not in English then it also needs to be translated into English by a certified translator. There are three valid grounds for divorces and they are separation for longer than 1 year, adultery and spousal abuse. 

On average, it takes about 2 to 3 months from when your Application is filed with the court until the court grants the divorce. However, it could take much longer occasionally. If you are planning to remarry, you are strongly advised to obtain the divorce order from the court before making any plan for divorce. 

It is extremely technical and time consuming to do a divorce Application on your own and there is much room for errors.