- Under the federal Divorce Act, "corollary relief" refers to the orders a court can make in connection with a divorce that go beyond simply dissolving the marriage.
- Any or all of these can be claimed as part of a divorce application.
- - Corollary relief answers a different set of questions: what happens to the children, and what financial support, if any, flows between the spouses?
If you've read a divorce application or heard a lawyer use the phrase, you may be wondering what corollary relief actually means in an Ontario divorce. It sounds like legal jargon, and it is — but the idea behind it is simple: it's the label for everything a divorcing couple asks the court to decide alongside ending the marriage, rather than the divorce itself.
Understanding the term matters because it changes how you think about your case. Ending a marriage is one legal question. Deciding who the children live with, who pays support, and how much, are entirely separate ones — and they don't automatically get resolved just because a divorce is granted.
Corollary Relief, Defined
Under the federal Divorce Act, "corollary relief" refers to the orders a court can make in connection with a divorce that go beyond simply dissolving the marriage. It's the umbrella term for parenting and financial claims that ride along with — but are legally distinct from — the divorce itself.
You'll usually see the phrase in the title of a court form, such as an application that combines a divorce claim with claims for support or parenting arrangements.
The Claims That Count as Corollary Relief
| Type of relief | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Decision-making responsibility | Authority over significant decisions for a child — health, education, religion or culture, and major extracurricular activities |
| Parenting time | The time a child spends in a parent's care, during which that parent handles day-to-day (including emergency) decisions |
| Contact | Time a non-parent, such as a grandparent, spends with a child under a contact order |
| Child support | Ongoing financial support for a child, calculated using income-based guideline tables plus a share of qualifying special or extraordinary expenses |
| Spousal support | Support paid from one spouse to the other, where entitlement is established separately — it isn't automatic in every divorce |
Any or all of these can be claimed as part of a divorce application. None of them are mandatory to include — a couple can divorce while asking the court to decide only some of these questions, or none, if they've already resolved them another way.
Corollary Relief vs. the Divorce Itself: Two Different Questions
It helps to keep these separate in your mind:
- The divorce answers one question: has the marriage broken down enough to end it?
- Corollary relief answers a different set of questions: what happens to the children, and what financial support, if any, flows between the spouses?
A court can grant a divorce while corollary relief claims remain outstanding, are dealt with by agreement instead of court order, or aren't raised at all because the spouses already sorted things out in a separation agreement.
How Corollary Relief Claims Are Decided
Parenting-related corollary relief — decision-making responsibility, parenting time, and contact — is decided using the best-interests-of-the-child test: the child's physical, psychological, and emotional safety, security, and well-being come first, and a judge weighs a broad, non-exhaustive list of relevant factors, including any history of family violence.
Support-related corollary relief works differently. Child support amounts come from income-based guideline tables rather than a judge's discretion in most cases. Spousal support has no fixed formula in legislation at all — entitlement has to be established on its own (for example, need, or compensation for economic disadvantage arising from the relationship), and only then does amount and duration get worked out, often with reference to non-binding advisory guidelines rather than a strict rule.
You Don't Need to Be Divorcing to Get These Claims Decided
Here's a detail that surprises a lot of people: corollary relief, as a term, is specific to the Divorce Act — but the underlying claims aren't exclusive to divorcing spouses. Parents who were never married, or who are separated but not yet divorcing, can ask a court to decide decision-making responsibility, parenting time, contact, and child support under Ontario's own family legislation, using largely the same best-interests test and guideline framework. You don't have to file for divorce just to get parenting or support arrangements before a court.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ask for corollary relief before my divorce is finalized?
Yes. Corollary relief claims are typically included in the same application as the divorce, and interim arrangements can often be put in place while the case is ongoing, well before a final divorce order is granted.
What if we agree on everything — do we still need a court order?
You can resolve support and parenting matters entirely by agreement without asking a court to decide them. Some people still ask the court to incorporate their agreement into an order, particularly for support, since that makes it directly enforceable through Ontario's support enforcement system.
Does adding corollary relief claims to my divorce application make it more complicated?
It can add steps compared to a bare, uncontested divorce, especially if the claims are contested. An application that's on consent — where both spouses agree on the terms — tends to move much more smoothly than one where support or parenting is in dispute.
Can corollary relief orders be changed later?
Yes. Support and parenting orders aren't necessarily permanent. A parent or former spouse can ask a court to vary an existing order through a specific court process if circumstances have genuinely changed.
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