How do I apply for a divorce with my partner?

Before you apply to the court for a divorce, you have to decide whether to ask the court for:

• a divorce only, or
• a divorce and other court orders dealing with issues like custody, access, child support, spousal support, and dividing property.

You don't have to go to court and get a court order to deal with these other family law issues. You can deal with them by making a separation agreement or by getting help from a family law professional like a mediator.

But you may choose to ask the court to deal with your family law issues when you apply for a divorce. This might be because:

• You want a court order you can enforce.
• You don't think you can make an agreement with your partner, with or without the help of a lawyer or family law professional.
• There is a history of partner abuse, mental illness, or drug abuse.

There is no time limit to get a divorce. But there are time limits for other claims. For example, you have 6 years from the date you separate or 2 years from the date of your divorce to make a claim to divide property.

If you and your partner agree on these other issues, you can ask the court to make orders about them when you apply for your joint divorce.

Agree on divorce only

You and your partner may only agree on getting a divorce, but can't agree on your other issues. You can still ask the court for a divorce while you work on your other issues.

But if you have children, the court can’t give you a divorce if you haven’t made reasonable arrangements for them. This means the court checks to see if there is child support or other support arrangements for the children.

You can now submit most family law forms and documents for a family court case online, including a divorce application. For more information, read the question How do I file court forms for my family law case online?

To file online, go to ontario.ca/familyclaims. You will need a ONe-key ID. All you need to create this key is a username, password and email address.

You file your documents online, including:

• Form 8A: Application (Divorce): scanned and saved as a PDF.
• Form 36: Affidavit for Divorce: scanned and saved as a PDF.
• Form 25A: Divorce Order: filled out electronically and saved as a PDF.
• A copy of your marriage certificate. If you were married in Canada, your certificate must be scanned and saved as a PDF. If you were married outside Canada, your certificate must be electronically issued and saved as a PDF. It cannot be a scanned PDF. And, if your certificate is not in English or French, you need a certified translation that is scanned and saved as a PDF.  

You need to include other forms if you and your partner agree on your other issues and want the court to make orders about those issues. They have to be scanned and saved as a PDF. For example:

• If you’re asking for custody or access, Form 35.1: Affidavit in Support of Claim for Custody or Access
• If you’re asking for child support or spousal support:
  • Form 13: Financial Statement (Support Claims)
  • Support Deduction Order
  • Support Deduction Order Information Form

Depending on how complex your case is, it usually takes about 30 minutes to file your joint divorce application online. Make sure you have everything ready before you start filing online. Once you've started, your session ends if you're inactive for 15 minutes. Your information won't be saved. You will need to start over again.

After you submit your court forms and documents online, you cannot view them online later. So it's important to keep a copy of everything for your records.

Pay your fees

The total cost to apply for a joint divorce is $632. You can pay filing fees online by Visa, Mastercard, or Interac debit card.

If you can't afford to pay the court fees, you can ask for a fee waiver certificate. This means you don't have to pay most court fees.

You can ask for a fee waiver certificate online. Before you submit your forms and documents online, you're told that if you can't afford to pay the fees, you can use the online service to ask the court to waive the fees.

Look for the "fee waiver" option in the dropdown menu.

If you get a fee waiver certificate, you can submit your documents online without paying any fees. Submit your documents under "Documents submitted with a fee waiver request or certificate".

The Ontario government's A Guide to Fee Waiver Requests tells you which court fees can be waived and how to ask for a fee waiver.

Get a response

If you file your divorce application on a business day between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., you get an email from the court the same day. If you file your application outside regular business hours, you get an email the next business day.

The email from the court will have:

• your divorce application with a court seal, which means your application has been issued by the court
• the date your application was issued
• a court file number
• the court location where your divorce application was filed

Don't delete the email. You should also print a copy or take a screenshot for your records.

A judge reviews your documents to make sure everything is complete and to make sure you meet the conditions to get a divorce. The question Do I have to get a divorce? explain what these conditions are. 

Usually, you don't have to go to court or meet with a judge. But, if the judge has questions for you, the court clerk contacts you with a court date or sends you a copy of the judge’s endorsement that tells you what you have to do.

If the judge doesn't have any questions, you get a divorce order. 

The divorce order has the date it takes effect. This is usually 31 days after the date of the divorce order. This is the date when you and your partner are legally divorced.

The process takes about 3 months. It can take more or less time depending on the court you're applying to and if there are any problems with your paperwork.

If you filed your joint divorce application online and you provided an email address, the court emails a copy of your divorce order to you. You can purchase a certified copy of your order by going to the court where the order was made.

If you filed your divorce application at the courthouse, the court clerk mails you and your partner a certified copy of the order in the stamped envelopes you gave.  You can also pick up your divorce order from the courthouse.

Certificate of divorce

After you get your divorce order, you can apply for a Form 36B: Certificate of Divorce. This certificate confirms the date that you and your partner legally divorced. This is usually 31 days after the date of the divorce order. You need a Certificate of Divorce if you want to get married again.

To get a Certificate of Divorce, you must go to the same court where you applied for your divorce and take a copy of your divorce order.

You have to pay a court fee of $24. You can pay by cash, cheque, or money order made payable to the Minister of Finance.