An uncontested divorce is not a lesser divorce. It is the same court order, obtained without a fight — which is why the work is procedural precision rather than argument.
Our family law work starts at $1,693.87, taxes included and published on our pricing page. Disbursements and government fees are extra and billed at cost.
A divorce is uncontested when neither spouse disputes it and the issues around it — property, support, parenting — are either already settled or not in play. The federal Divorce Act sets the grounds, and by far the most common is that the spouses have lived separate and apart for one year.
That year must be complete when the divorce is decided, not when the application is filed. You can start before the year is up. People routinely wait unnecessarily because nobody told them that.
Divorce is federal, but it is granted by the Superior Court of Justice — the Ontario Court of Justice cannot grant one, however much of your family matter it otherwise handles.
A divorce ends a valid marriage. An annulment is a declaration that there was never a valid marriage to begin with, available only in narrow circumstances — it is far rarer than internet searches suggest, and being unhappily married is not one of the grounds.
Separation is a factual state, not a court order. You are separated when you begin living separate and apart, which can happen under one roof. There is no such thing as a certificate of separation in Ontario; a separation agreement is a contract, not a court document.
Even uncontested, a judge will not simply rubber-stamp the paperwork. Where there are children, the court must be satisfied that reasonable arrangements for child support have been made. An application that is silent on support is the most common reason an otherwise simple divorce comes back.
The mechanics matter too — correct service on the other spouse, a marriage certificate the court will accept, and forms that match the facts. Most rejected applications are rejected on process, not on substance.
It depends on court volume, which varies by location. The controlling legal requirement is that the one-year separation is complete when the divorce is decided; beyond that, the timeline is administrative.
Yes. The year must be complete when the divorce is granted, not when the application is filed, so the application can be started earlier.
Not strictly, but it is usually the sensible order. Settling property, support and parenting in an agreement is what keeps the divorce itself uncontested.
Then it is not uncontested, and a flat quote for an uncontested divorce would be misleading. We will say so, and price the actual work.
The Superior Court of Justice. The Ontario Court of Justice hears parenting, support, protection and adoption but cannot grant a divorce or divide property.
Government sources for this topic. Rules change — confirm the current position before you rely on it.
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