What actually happens once a family court case is started?

Starting the case: application and service

A family case begins when an application is issued by the court and served on the other spouse, along with a financial statement if support, property or the matrimonial home is claimed. The Mandatory Information Program, a short session on the court process and its effect on children, is generally required for parties in a contested case, and the Family Law Information Centre at each courthouse can arrange it.

Service has to follow the Family Law Rules — personal service, or an accepted alternative where personal service is not practical — because the deadline to respond runs from the date of service, not the date the application was issued.

We prepare and issue the application, arrange proper service, and calculate your spouse's response deadline from the date they were actually served.

Answering: the 30-day deadline

A person served with a family court application in Ontario has 30 days to serve and file an answer, extending to 60 days if service happened outside Canada or the United States. Missing the deadline does not end the case for the other side; it can proceed with a request for an uncontested trial or, in a divorce, with the necessary steps taken without your input.

An answer sets out what you agree with, what you dispute, and any claims of your own. It is worth getting right the first time — later changes are possible but add cost and delay.

Conferences: case, settlement, trial management

A judge holds at least one conference in every case where an answer has been filed. A case conference identifies the issues, checks disclosure and sets a schedule. A settlement conference, usually with a different judge, explores settlement directly and can give a non-binding opinion on how a trial might go. A trial management conference, if the case reaches that point, sets the trial date, the issues and the witnesses.

Conferences are not optional formalities. Judges use them to keep a case moving, and unprepared parties are noticeably worse off at each stage than parties who show up ready.

Motions: dealing with something now

A motion asks a judge to decide a specific issue while the rest of the case continues — commonly interim support, a temporary parenting schedule, exclusive possession of the home, or an order compelling disclosure. Motions require a notice, a sworn financial statement where relevant, and supporting affidavit evidence, with the other side given a chance to respond before the judge decides, except in a genuine emergency.

Costs can follow a motion, particularly one brought unnecessarily or one that succeeds because the other side was unreasonable, including over disclosure.

Trial: what is left after everything else

Most Ontario family cases settle before trial. What reaches trial is usually the issue nobody could agree on — often parenting, the value of a business, or spousal support — and a judge decides it based on the evidence, including the financial statements and disclosure exchanged throughout the case. A trial is public, evidence-based, and produces a final order that either side can seek to appeal.

Reaching trial is not a failure of the process; some genuine disagreements need a decision-maker with the power to make one.