Parenting time, decision-making responsibility, and contact:

Talking to children about divorce and separation:

Family Law:

Marriage Contract

Dividing property when a marriage or common law relationship ends

Learn what happens to your property when you divorce or separate, what you might owe or be owed and how to get support.

Dividing property when a marriage ends

In Ontario, property acquired during a marriage must be split equally when a marriage ends for any reason. This can include your:

home
car
business
furniture
pension
money

For property that you owned before the marriage, any increase in value is usually divided equally. This applies to the family home where you lived with your spouse.

You must share the full value of the family home, even if:

one of you owned the home before you got married
you received it as a gift
inherited it

To effect this sharing, money owed to either spouse is called an equalization payment, or an equalization of net family property.

Common law couples are not legally required to split property acquired when they lived together. Learn how the law applies to common law couples.

Time limits

If you need to go to court for a decision on the amount of an equalization payment, you have six years from the day you separated, or two years from the day your divorce is final (whichever comes first) to do so.

Other ways to divide your property

If you both agree, you and your spouse can divide your property any way you want in a separation agreement.

You should each have your own lawyer look over your separation agreement before you sign it. You cannot easily change your separation agreement later.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions that allow one spouse to keep property they own. This is called excluded property.

Examples of excluded property include:

property (other than the family home) that you inherited or were gifted from someone other than your spouse during your marriage
money you received from an insurance company because someone died
money you received or have a right to because of a personal injury, like a car accident
property that you and your spouse have agreed to exclude through an agreement

As mentioned above, if the family home was gifted or received as an inheritance, it does not count as excluded property. It must be divided equally unless you and your spouse agree to a different split.

If the family home is on a large piece of property that is also used for other purposes, only the house and the small area around it are considered the family home. For example, if your family home is on a dairy farm, the whole farm would generally not be considered the family home.

The court can only divide property differently in very special situations and if a 50-50 (equal) split would be extremely unfair to one of you. Talk to a lawyer for more advice.

Marriage contracts or cohabitation agreements

A marriage contract is a legal document signed by couples before they get married to protect their rights if they split up in the future, including rights related to property. Couples in a common law relationship can sign a similar document, called a cohabitation agreement.

These contracts/agreements can set out terms if the relationship ends, such as:

how much spousal or child support you will pay?
how you will divide your property
who will move out of the home?

It can’t say who will have decision-making responsibility or parenting time with respect to your children.

Both of you must sign a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement in front of a witness for it to be legal. The witness must also sign the contract/agreement. Once you have signed it, you must follow what it says. You can negotiate changes to the contract/agreement if they are made in writing and signed in front of a witness.

If you have separated and do not agree with the terms of the contract/agreement, you will have to go to court and ask a judge to make a decision if you and your spouse cannot agree about changing the terms.

You and your partner should speak to different lawyers and exchange financial information before signing a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement.

What you might owe or be owed

Adding up the value of your property and dividing it between you and your spouse can be complicated.

This section includes a general overview of how to calculate what you or your spouse might owe each other. It’s a good idea to consult a lawyer about how the rules apply in your case.

You must be fair and honest when you do this. If you go to court, you must prepare a full financial report of all your property, debts and income. You must swear that it is accurate.

Follow these steps to calculate what you might owe or be owed by your spouse.

Step 1: Add up the value of property you owned as of the day you separated, and deduct the value of your debts and excluded property as of that date

Property can be located anywhere and include:

homes
businesses
cars
furniture
jewelry
savings in the bank including retirement savings, tax free savings accounts and registered education savings plans
an Ontario pension (ask the pension administrator for information about the value of a pension)
anything else that is in your name or belongs to you

If you own some property together in both names, you should each put half the value of the property on your list.

Examples of excluded property include:

property (other than the family home) that you inherited or were gifted from someone other than your spouse during your marriage
money you received from an insurance company because someone died
money you received, or have a right to get, because of a personal injury like a car accident
property that you and your spouse have agreed to exclude through an agreement

Example of debts include:

money owed on credit cards
the amount left to pay on your house (mortgage)
car loan

Step 2: Subtract the value of property you owned, minus the value of your debts, as of the date of marriage

First, add up the value of all the property you owned on the day you got married. Do not include your family home, even if you owned it on the date of your marriage. When your marriage ends, the full value of the family home must be shared even if one of you owned the home before you were married, received it as a gift or inherited it.

Next, subtract all the debts you had as of the date of your marriage, except for debts that were owed for the family home (for example, a mortgage).

Step 3: Calculate the difference

Subtract the number you get in Step 2 from the result you got in Step 1. Now you know your share of the value of net family property. If your share is a negative amount, it is zero.

Step 4: Find out if money is owed to either spouse

Compare the value of your share of the family property to the value of your spouse’s share. Subtract the smaller amount from the larger amount and divide the difference by two.

This is the amount that the spouse with the larger share must pay to the spouse with the smaller share. This is called the equalization payment.

Common law couples

Common law couples are not legally required to split property acquired when they lived together.

Furniture, household items and other property belong to the person who bought them. Common law couples do not have the right to split an increase in value of the property they brought with them to the relationship.

If you contributed to property your spouse owns, you may have a right to part of it. Unless your spouse agrees to pay you back, you may have to go to court to get back your contribution.

Although there is no requirement to divide property on separation, common law spouses may choose to enter into a domestic contract such as a cohabitation agreement or separation agreement that sets out their respective rights to property.

Get legal advice

Getting separated or divorced can be an emotional and complicated process. A lawyer can help you understand your rights around dividing property.

Find a lawyer

The Law Society Referral Service can provide you with the name of a lawyer who practices family law and will provide a free initial consultation of up to 30 minutes. If you are unable to use the online service because you are in a crisis, you may call 416-947-5255 1-855-947-5255.

The Law Society of Ontario also maintains a list of lawyers in Ontario.

If you can’t hire a lawyer for your whole case, you may choose to hire a lawyer who is willing to give “unbundled legal services” or “limited scope services.” This means that the lawyer provides you with initial advice or helps you with specific steps in your case.

Representing yourself

If you choose to go to court, you can represent yourself. It’s important to understand that judges and court staff cannot give you legal advice. Only lawyers can give you legal advice.

People who represent themselves are responsible for informing themselves about the law and the court’s procedures. You will be held to the same standard as people who have lawyers representing them.

Separation Contracts:

Dividing property when a marriage ends

In Ontario, property acquired during a marriage must be split equally when a marriage ends for any reason. This can include your:

home
car
business
furniture
pension
money

For property that you owned before the marriage, any increase in value is usually divided equally. This applies to the family home where you lived with your spouse.

You must share the full value of the family home, even if:

one of you owned the home before you got married
you received it as a gift
inherited it

To effect this sharing, money owed to either spouse is called an equalization payment, or an equalization of net family property.

Common law couples are not legally required to split property acquired when they lived together. Learn how the law applies to common law couples.

Time limits

Other ways to divide your property

If you both agree, you and your spouse can divide your property any way you want in a separation agreement.

You should each have your own lawyer look over your separation agreement before you sign it. You cannot easily change your separation agreement later.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions that allow one spouse to keep property they own. This is called excluded property.

Examples of excluded property include:

property (other than the family home) that you inherited or were gifted from someone other than your spouse during your marriage
money you received from an insurance company because someone died
money you received or have a right to as a result of a personal injury, like a car accident
property that you and your spouse have agreed to exclude through an agreement

The court can only divide property differently in very special situations and if a 50-50 (equal) split would be extremely unfair to one of you. Talk to a lawyer for more advice.

Marriage contracts or cohabitation agreements

These contracts/agreements can set out terms if the relationship ends, such as:

how much spousal or child support you will pay
how you will divide your property
who will move out of the home

It can’t say who will have decision-making responsibility or parenting time with respect to your children.

You and your partner should speak to different lawyers and exchange financial information before signing a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement.

What you might owe or be owed

Adding up the value of your property and dividing it between you and your spouse can be complicated.

This section includes a general overview of how to calculate what you or your spouse might owe each other. It’s a good idea to consult a lawyer about how the rules apply in your case.

You must be fair and honest when you do this. If you go to court, you must prepare a full financial report of all your property, debts and income. You must swear that it is accurate.

Follow these steps to calculate what you might owe or be owed by your spouse.

Step 1: Add up the value of property you owned as of the day you separated, and deduct the value of your debts and excluded property as of that date

Property can be located anywhere and include:

homes
businesses
cars
furniture
jewelry
savings in the bank including retirement savings, tax free savings accounts and registered education savings plans
an Ontario pension (ask the pension administrator for information about the value of a pension)
anything else that is in your name or belongs to you

If you own some property together in both names, you should each put half the value of the property on your list.

Examples of excluded property include:

property (other than the family home) that you inherited or were gifted from someone other than your spouse during your marriage
money you received from an insurance company because someone died
money you received, or have a right to get, as a result of a personal injury like a car accident
property that you and your spouse have agreed to exclude through an agreement

Example of debts include:

money owed on credit cards
the amount left to pay on your house (mortgage)
car loan

Step 2: Subtract the value of property you owned, minus the value of your debts, as of the date of marriage

Next, subtract all the debts you had as of the date of your marriage, except for debts that were owed for the family home (for example, a mortgage).

Step 3: Calculate the difference

Subtract the number you get in Step 2 from the result you got in Step 1. Now you know your share of the value of net family property. If your share is a negative amount, it is considered to be zero.

Step 4: Find out if money is owed to either spouse

Compare the value of your share of the family property to the value of your spouse’s share. Subtract the smaller amount from the larger amount and divide the difference by two.

This is the amount that the spouse with the larger share must pay to the spouse with the smaller share. This is called the equalization payment.

Common law couples

Common law couples are not legally required to split property acquired when they lived together.

If you contributed to property your spouse owns, you may have a right to part of it. Unless your spouse agrees to pay you back, you may have to go to court to get back your contribution.

Get legal advice

Getting separated or divorced can be an emotional and complicated process. A lawyer can help you understand your rights around dividing property.

Find a lawyer

The Law Society of Ontario also maintains a list of lawyers in Ontario.

Representing yourself

If you choose to go to court, you can represent yourself. It’s important to understand that judges and court staff cannot give you legal advice. Only lawyers can give you legal advice.

Parenting time, decision-making responsibility, and contact:

Overview

If you are going through a separation or divorce, it’s important that your children feel safe, loved and supported. Parenting arrangements can set out things like:

where children will live
how often they will spend time with each parent
who will be responsible for making major decisions about them

After a divorce or separation children will either:

live with one parent
split their time between both parents
live with someone else

Parenting arrangements help ensure the child’s health and safety are put first.

Parenting arrangements can be:

informal between parents who agree on a parenting plan
part of a separation agreement
ordered by the court

Types of parenting arrangements

There are several types of parenting arrangements.

Decision-making responsibility

In family law cases, a court may assign responsibility to one or more parent, allowing them to make significant decisions about a child’s life and well-being. The decisions may relate to:

health
education
religion
other important matters in respect of the child

In addition to parents, non-parents (such as grandparents) can also apply for decision-making responsibility of a child. There are additional requirements for non-parents seeking a parenting order for decision making responsibility. Sections that apply to parents with decision-making responsibility will also apply to non-parents with decision-making responsibility.

Sole decision-making responsibility

If your separation agreement or a court order gives you sole decision-making responsibility of your children:

you have the right to make important decisions about their care, education, religious instruction and welfare (unless the agreement or court order says otherwise)
you don’t need to involve the other parent when making decisions (unless the agreement or court order says otherwise)

Joint decision-making responsibility

Parents who have joint decision-making responsibility for their children:

share the right to make important decisions about their care
remain involved in making decisions about the children

For joint decision-making responsibility to work, parents must be able to co-operate and communicate with each other even though they are not together.

De facto decision-making responsibility

De facto decision-making responsibility is when your children live with you, but you don’t have a legal decision-making responsibility arrangement.

You have de facto decision-making responsibility if:

you and your spouse (whether married or common law) live separate and apart and your children live with you full-time
your spouse has accepted this arrangement

If you have de facto decision-making responsibility, then your spouse cannot exercise their decision-making responsibility until a separation agreement or court order provides otherwise. It will be more difficult for you to enforce your decision-making responsibility rights if you do not have them clearly set out in a court order or agreement, especially if you and your spouse disagree on what the decision-making responsibility arrangements have been.

You will have legal decision-making responsibility either:

when you and your spouse sign a separation agreement that says you have decision-making responsibility
when a court order says you have decision-making responsibility

Parenting time

Parenting time refers to the time your child spends in your care, regardless of whether the child is physically with you during that time (for example, if the child is at school). You have the right to:

parenting time, unless the court decides it is not in the child’s best interest
know information about your children’s health, education and general situation

Only parents can apply for parenting time. Non-parents will need to apply for a contact order.

Parenting time arrangements:

can be written out in detail in a parenting plan, separation agreement or court order
could state that, for example, the children would be with you every other weekend, or some other arrangement such as the children live at least 40% of the time with each parent (known as shared parenting time)
could be open, letting you work out arrangements with the other parent in a more flexible way (it is difficult to enforce this kind of parenting time arrangement)
do not give the parent without decision-making responsibility the right to be part of decisions about the children’s health, education and general situation

A court may refuse you parenting time with your children if there is a fear that:

you will harm them
you will harm the parent with decision-making responsibility
you will not return the children to the other parent

Shared parenting time

Parents who have shared parenting time share the amount of time spent with the child. Under the Child Support Guidelines, shared parenting time is where a child lives at least 40% of the time with each parent.

Split parenting time

Split parenting time is when parents have more than one child and each parent has one or more children living with them for most of the time.

Supervised parenting time

Supervised parenting time can be arranged if there are safety concerns during visits, or when children are exchanged between parents. When a supervised parenting time arrangement is in place, someone else must be present when you visit with your children.

Supervised parenting time can provide a neutral and safe setting for visits between children and a parent, or other family member who does not have decision-making responsibility. Parents can agree on a supervised parenting time agreement, or it can be required by the court.

The person supervising a parenting time visit could be:

a friend or relative the parents agree on
a paid professional, such as a social worker
a trained professional or volunteer at a Supervised Access Centre

Ministry-funded Supervised Access Centres provide:

fully supervised on-site visits in a group setting
supervised exchanges when parenting time occurs off-site

Supervised Access Centres provide a setting where visits and exchanges can take place under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers in a safe, neutral and child-focused environment. Children’s Aid Societies may also provide supervised parenting time services for children in their care.

When you agree on parenting arrangements

If both parents agree on where their children will live, how often they will spend time with each parent and how decisions will be made, they can write a parenting plan.

A parenting plan can outline things like when each parent will spend time with the children and who will make major decisions about the child. It can be an informal agreement between the two parents or form part of your separation agreement or court order.

It’s important to know that if the parenting plan is an informal arrangement, it can be difficult to enforce.

When you don’t agree on parenting arrangements

Arranging parenting time and decision-making responsibility when you and the other parent don’t agree can be stressful and complicated.

You may want to consult a lawyer who can help make sure you understand your options and the legal process. You can try negotiation, collaborative family law, mediation or arbitration to come up with a plan you both agree on.

If you can’t agree on who should have decision-making responsibility of your children or on parenting time arrangements, you can go to court to have a judge decide and issue a parenting order. A parenting order is a legal order that sets out decision-making responsibility or parenting time regarding a child and can be enforced by the court.

When you go to court, the judge:

must make an order that is in the children’s best interests
may ask for an investigation and report from an Office of the Children’s Lawyer clinical investigator
may ask for an assessment by a privately-retained social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist who will speak to each parent, the children and sometimes other people
must consider any family violence between any family members
will consider the current living arrangements of the child

When a judge makes a parenting order, they can decide things like:

who will get decision-making responsibility
where the children will live
when and how they will see the other parent

Get a parenting or contact order

Asking for a parenting order

A parenting order is a court order that sets out decision-making responsibility or parenting time in respect of a child and can be enforced by the court. If you need a parenting order, there are certain steps you need to take and forms you need to fill out.

You may want to speak to a lawyer about whether you need a parenting order because you may be able to resolve these issues without going to court.

You might need a parenting order if:

you are not living with your child’s other parent and have not been able to negotiate or mediate parenting time or decision-making responsibility arrangements
you are looking after a child whose parents have died or are unavailable, unable or unwilling to care for the child

You might need a court order to prove you have decision-making responsibility if you have to:

register a child for school
consent to medical treatment
obtain benefits for the child
apply for a passport

When you are the parent

The process for making an application for a parenting order is different for parents and non-parents.

You are a parent of the child if you are:

The person who gives birth to a child unless they are a surrogate.
Where a child is conceived through sexual intercourse, the person who is married to or living with the person who gives birth to the child at the time that the child is born
The person certified as a parent of the child under the Vital Statistics Act
A person recognized by a court as a parent to the child under the Children’s Law Reform Act

There are many other factors that may determine whether you are a parent under Ontario law. If you need more information about whether you are a parent for the purposes of making a parenting order, it is best to speak with a lawyer.
Parents need to fill out the following forms to start a claim for a parenting order:

A general application (Form 8)
Affidavit (decision-making responsibility, parenting time, contact) (Form 35.1, part A only)
Affidavit for child protection (Form 35.1A child protection information) – You only need to fill out this section if you, the other party or the children have been involved in a child protection court case or received child protection services at any time

The affidavit tells the court your plan to care for your child is and why it is a good one. You will also answer questions in the affidavit about family violence, involvement in other family court cases and involvement in civil or criminal proceedings. You can get detailed instructions on how to complete the form and other steps in the Guide to Procedures in Family Court.

When you are not the parent

A person who is not the parent of a child may still apply to the court for a parenting order regarding decision-making responsibility or contact with a child.

You will need to submit the following forms:

General application (Form 8 )
Affidavit (decision-making responsibility, parenting time, contact) (Form 35.1, parts A and B )
Children’s Aid Society Report on Records
Affidavit for child protection (Form 35.1A child protection information) – only if you, the other party or the children have been involved in a child protection court case or received child protection services at any time
police record check

To get a police record check:

complete a Consent Form for Police Record Check for Non-Parent Applicants for Decision-Making Responsibility
take the form to a police station in your area that conducts police record checks
make a note of when you gave the consent form to the police so you can include this information on Form 35.1: Affidavit (decision-making responsibility, parenting time, contact)
when the police send you your police record check, you must serve any other parties and file it with the court within 10 days

If you already have a police record check, you can file it if:

it meets the requirements of O. Reg. 24/10
it was completed within 60 days before you started your application

Children’s Aid Society reports

The affidavit for decision-making responsibility, parenting time and contact requires you to confirm you have asked for a for a report from every Children’s Aid Society (CAS) operating in any place in Ontario where you have lived since you turned 18 or became a parent (whichever came first). Court staff can help you find out which CASs should be listed in your affidavit, based on where you have lived.

The listed agencies will send the form back to the court indicating:

if they have or had any protection records open in your name
when the file or files were opened
when the file or files were closed, if applicable

The CAS will only report records if you were an adult who was:

the subject of a protection investigation
receiving services from the CAS

Situations that would result in a report by the CAS may include:

the CAS investigated an allegation of abuse or neglect where you were a parent or caregiver to the child
the CAS started a court application involving one or more of your children
one or more of your children were or are in the care of the CAS

The report will not include the following situations:

you were a child in the care of a CAS
you were the child of a family receiving service
you were an employee of a CAS
you were a foster parent
you were a kinship care provider
you adopted a child through the CAS

The CAS will return its report to the court within 30 days. If one or more CAS reports having a record relating to you, court staff will contact you.

Filing a motion to seal CAS records

If a CAS sends a report indicating you have a record with them and you do not want this information to be shared with anyone else involved in your case or included in the court file, you have 20 days to file a motion to seal those records.
You must also include a short affidavit (Form 14A) explaining why you were involved with the CAS and why you do not think this information is relevant to the current case. You should also ask the court to seal your motion material so it will not be shared with the other party. This motion must be made within 20 days of the date the court receives the last CAS report. You do not need to tell the other party that you are making this request.

Get a contact order when you are not the parent

A person who is not the parent of a child, such as a grandparent, can also ask the court for an order providing for the child to spend time in the care of the person, whether or not the child is physically with the person during that time.

You may want to speak to a lawyer about whether you need a contact order because you may be able to resolve these issues by speaking to the child’s parents without going to court.

Get a decision-making responsibility, parenting time or contact assessment

An assessment is a report prepared by an assessor, to help you, your spouse (whether married or common law) and the court make decisions about:

decision-making responsibility
parenting time
contact with a child

Decision-making responsibility, parenting time and contact assessors can be psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, or mental health professionals.

Decision-making responsibility, parenting time and contact assessments are usually ordered by a judge to help them decide what is in the best interests of your child. You and your spouse could agree to arrange a private assessment, at a cost.

During an assessment

During an assessment, the assessor:

will interview the parent, any person applying for contact and children, individually
will observe each parent or person applying for contact with the children
may contact other family members, new partners, teachers or medical professionals

Once the assessment is complete

Once the assessment is complete, the assessor will prepare a report that includes recommendations, for example:

how decisions about the children should be made
where they should live
the time that they should spend with each parent or person applying for contact

Enforcing parenting or contact orders

Going to court

If a court-ordered parenting or contact arrangement is not being obeyed, you can ask the court to enforce the order. The court may ask the parties to explain their side of the story.

If the court thinks the agreement isn’t being followed without a good reason, the court can take action against the person not following the agreement. You can get a fine or go to jail for not following a court order for decision-making responsibility, parenting time or contact.

You can also ask the court to enforce decision-making responsibility, parenting time and contact arrangements made in a separation agreement.

Court file confidentiality

Generally, members of the public can look at family court files, unless a statutory provision, common law rule or court order does not allow it. If you believe that public access to information contained in your court file could lead to physical, mental or emotional harm to someone, including a child, you can file a motion with the court asking for an order restricting access to the court file.

Office of the Children’s Lawyer

The Office of the Children’s Lawyer (OCL) is an independent law office within the Ministry of the Attorney General. In complicated parenting arrangement cases, the OCL may be involved. It might be hard to determine what is in the child’s best interests and the court may ask for assistance from the OCL to provide services to the child. One or both parents could ask the court to involve the OCL, or the judge can decide on their own.

Learn more about the Office of the Children’s Lawyer and decisions about parenting time and decision-making responsibility.

My child could be in danger

If you think your child is in danger or at risk of being taken out of the country, call the police right away.

Get legal advice

You may want to consult a lawyer to help you through the legal process of arranging parenting or contact agreements.

How to find a lawyer

The Law Society Referral Service can provide you with the name of a lawyer who:

practices family law
will provide a free initial consultation of up to 30 minutes

If you can’t use the online service because you are in a crisis, you can call:

The Law Society of Ontario also maintains a list of lawyers in Ontario.

If you can’t afford a lawyer, you can contact Legal Aid Ontario (1-800-668-8258) to see if you qualify to receive legal aid.

Representing yourself

If you choose to go to court, you can represent yourself. It’s important to understand that judges and court staff cannot give you legal advice. Only lawyers can give you legal advice.

Talking to children about divorce and separation:

Find tips and resources for parents and guardians going through a divorce or separation.

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Overview

Divorce and separation can be a stressful and confusing experience for children.

This information will help you answer your children’s questions about:

divorce
separation
how parenting time will be shared
how they might be affected

Explaining divorce and separation

If you are going through a separation or divorce, your children may have questions about what these terms mean and how the law will affect them. You can use the definitions below to help explain legal terms that your children may not understand.

Separation

Separation happens when parents decide not to continue living together. They might be separated but not divorced.

Divorce

Divorce means that parents are no longer married and are allowed to marry someone else.

Parents are still responsible for their children, even if they are separated or divorced. Parents going through a divorce or separation have to make lots of decisions about taking care of their children.

Separation agreement

A separation agreement helps parents agree on questions that may come up during the separation or divorce process. These might include questions about:

parental decision-making responsibility
parenting time
money

Parents can change the separation agreement if they both agree.

Parental decision-making responsibility and parenting time

After separation or divorce, parents usually live in different homes. Children may live with one parent or split their time with both parents. Your children may have questions about what will happen to them after your living arrangements change.

Parental decision-making responsibility

One or more parents may have responsibility to make decisions about a child’s life and well-being. These decisions may relate to the child’s:

health
education
culture
language
religion and spirituality
extra-curricular activities

Children are not expected to choose between their parents. It is up to parents to make these decisions, usually through a parental decision-making responsibility agreement. If they can’t agree, a judge will decide. The judge will consider several factors to determine what is best for the children and their well-being.

Parenting time

Parenting time is the time a child spends in the care of a parent. In most cases, the parent who doesn’t live full time with their children after separation has the right to:

spend time with them
be told about their health and education
know generally how they are doing

Joint parental decision-making responsibility

This means both parents share the responsibility of making decisions about raising their children. These include decisions about:

school
medical treatments
activities
religion

Your children may live primarily with one parent and spend time with the other or they may take turns living with each parent.

Supervised parenting time

The person supervising a parenting time visit could be:

a friend or relative the parents agree on
a paid professional, such as a social worker
a trained professional or volunteer at a Supervised Access Centre

Supervised Access Centres provide a setting where visits and exchanges can take place under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers in a safe, neutral, and child-focused environment.

Free Supervised Access Centres provide supervised visits on-site or off-site.

Children’s Aid Societies may also provide supervised parenting time services for children in their care.

Child and spousal support

Child support

Child support is the money one parent pays to another parent after a divorce or separation.

Your children may have questions about how they will be financially supported during this time. Parents will generally decide on child support at the same time as parenting time and parental decision-making responsibility agreements. Children should not be included in discussions about money.

Parents are financially responsible for their children. The amounts that each parent pays may differ depending on the situation. Your child’s rights to support do not depend on whether a parent is able to spend time with their child.

The amount of child support may change if there are changes to:

your children’s needs or
a parent’s financial situation

Spousal support

Spousal support means one parent supporting (paying) the other parent. This may happen because one parent stayed home to take care of the children and now requires financial support, or it could happen for other reasons.

If one parent forgets to pay support, the other parent can remind them. Parents can also get help from the Family Responsibility Office which collects support payments and gives them to people who are supposed to get them.

Questions your child may have

Children will want to know what the separation or divorce means for your family, and how this will impact their daily life. They will have questions such as:

Will I have to change schools?
How often will I see each parent?
What if my parents don’t agree about when I will see each of them?
Will I need to go to court?
Where can I find help?

Moving and changing schools

It’s important to explain to your children that it is not always possible, after separation, to stay in the same home. Sometimes it is even necessary to move to another school district.

If it is important to your children to remain in the same school, you should encourage them to talk to you about it. But the final decision is up to the parents.

How often they will see each parent

If parents have joint decision-making responsibility, children may live with one parent and spend time with the other. In almost all cases, the parent who doesn’t live with the children after separation has the right to:

spend time with them
be told about their health and education
know generally how they are doing

In other cases, children may move between their parents’ households. Parents make decisions about the frequency of the changes in parenting time based on what works best for the children and their own circumstances.

For example, if parents live near one another, it may be possible for children to go back and forth between their homes frequently.Sometimes children spend some or most weekends with a parent. Many parents agree that they will make special arrangements for summers, vacations, long weekends and holidays.

You may want to discuss these options with your children. You may also want to explain that it may not be possible for children to take turns living with each parent. Also, constant moving may be difficult for the whole family, especially the children.

If their parents disagree on parental decision-making responsibility and parenting time

If parents are unable to reach an agreement, they may want to see an expert trained to help with family issues, such as a:

social worker
psychologist
psychiatrist

Parents should explain to children that this does not mean that there is anything wrong with them or their family. The expert may wish to speak with the children to get their point of view.

Sometimes, when parents continue to disagree, a court case is started. This does not necessarily mean that there will be a trial. In fact, even when court cases are started, most parents eventually make an agreement about parental decision-making responsibility and parenting time and don’t have to go to trial.

Parents may also choose to see a mediator. This is someone who can help make a plan that might involve how children will share time with each parent, parental responsibility for childcare and other financial issues. Sometimes children are also involved in mediation sessions.

Going to court

Your children may have questions about whether the divorce or separation process will involve going to court. Sometimes parents may disagree on the terms of a parental decision-making responsibility agreement and may need to involve a lawyer or mediator. If parents continue to disagree, they may need to take the decision to a judge.

A judge will hear evidence about parental decision-making responsibility and parenting time, and any other things the parents have not agreed upon. The judge will decide based on what is in the children’s best interests.

Your children may want to know if they will need to be involved in a trial. This decision is up to the judge. Sometimes the judge decides it would be helpful if children have their own lawyer or for a clinician to investigate or assess and make recommendations to the court.

The judge could ask the Office of the Children’s Lawyer to have a lawyer or a clinical investigator speak with your children.

Children’s lawyers represent the best interests of the child and do not represent or provide legal advice to parents.

Where children can find help

Your children may have a lot of questions about their feelings or the law. Try to encourage them to talk to you. If they don’t want to talk, suggest they reach out to people they know and feel comfortable around, such as:

relatives
friends of the family
teachers and guidance counsellors
your family doctor
religious leaders

They may also want to speak with their brothers, sisters or friends, especially those who have been through similar experiences.

Kids Help Phone

If your children wish to speak with someone privately, they can call Kids Help Phone. Kids Help Phone counsellors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. Children can contact a counsellor from anywhere, at anytime, for free:

by phone at 1-800-668-6868
by sending questions online through the Kids Help Phone website

Seek help from professionals

Your children may want to seek help from professionals. You will need to assist your child in finding professional help if it is needed. You can get help from professionals and organizations that specialize in helping children, such as:

social workers
psychologists
psychiatrists
Family Service Ontario

You can also get free information and answers to your children’s questions about separation and divorce and other family law matters at the Family Law Information Centre at a courthouse close to where you live.

How support payments work in Ontario:

In Ontario, when a person is ordered by the court to pay child or spousal support payments, the support order is automatically filed with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO).

FRO is a program of the Government of Ontario that helps families get the support they are entitled to by collecting, distributing and enforcing child and spousal support payments.

FRO plays an important role in ensuring the financial security of families who count on court-ordered support. We:

collect payments from the person who pays the support (the payor)
send payments to the person who is entitled to it (the recipient)

We do this under the authority of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 and the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002.

FRO does not:

make payments to a recipient when the payor misses a payment
change the terms of support orders or domestic contracts, including the support amount
get involved in child custody or access issues

Register your case

FRO enforces:

support orders
domestic contracts filed with the court

Support orders and support deduction orders

At the time of separation or divorce, the court may issue a support order and a support deduction order.

The support deduction order gives FRO the authority to ask the payor’s employer to deduct the support payments from the payor’s income.

Once we have the support order or support deduction order, we register your case by:

contacting you (we contact both the payor and the recipient) to:
- welcome you to the program
- confirm the contact information in the order
- explain how the program works and your responsibilities
assigning a seven-digit case number to your case

We will also mail you a welcome package. When you are completing the forms in the package, please provide as much information as possible. We use this information to enforce and maintain your support order or domestic contract.

Domestic contracts

A domestic contract is a formal written agreement between people setting out their family law rights and obligations towards each other. There are five kinds of domestic contracts:

marriage contracts
cohabitation agreements
paternity agreements
separation agreements
family arbitration agreements

If you want FRO to enforce your domestic contract or agreement, you must register it with us.

To register:

File the domestic contract or agreement with the Ontario Court of Justice or Superior Court of Justice with an affidavit for filing domestic contract with court form (26B).
Mail FRO copies of:
- the domestic contract
- the affidavit for filing domestic contract with court form (26B) that has been signed by the court
- a completed FRO registration package

Keep copies of all the documents for your own records.

Learn about family law in Ontario.

After you are registered

After you are registered, we will mail you a letter with the following information:

Your confidential PIN for the automated information line accessible via telephone
Your one-time enrolment ID and registration instructions for FRO Online

Do not share your PIN with anyone, including our staff. You need your PIN to access information about your case through the automated information line.

Once you have access to FRO Online, you can see your case details, print transaction history, submit documents to FRO and more.

Learn more about FRO Online.

Paying support

We know you want to do the right thing and support your family. We’re here to help you meet your responsibilities.

Making support payments

When you’re registered to pay support through FRO, make your support payments through us.

Do not pay the support recipient directly.

Payments sent directly to the recipient will not show up on your FRO account. We will charge you $100 every time we have to adjust your account to make it show the correct amount.

Once we receive the money, we send it to the support recipient usually within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the support payment.

We recommend you keep records of your support payments. We do not issue year-end statements.

If you or the recipient live outside of Ontario there is a different process. Learn about child and spousal support when one person lives outside of Ontario.

Payors who are employed

When the Ontario court makes a support order, it also gives us the right to send a support deduction notice to your employer. Your employer will then deduct the amount of support that you owe from your net pay and send it to us.

It may take some time for your employer to set up the automatic deductions. Until they are set up, you must send us the support payments directly.

Payors who are self-employed, unemployed or not on a regular payroll

If you are self-employed, unemployed or not on a regular payroll, you must pay us directly. There are several ways you can do that.

Option 1: pre-authorized debit (PAD) from your bank account

You can make pre-authorized support payments by completing the pre-authorized debit application for payors form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

Option 2: through your bank

The Family Responsibility Office is a registered payee with most banks and credit unions. You can arrange to make your payments online or by telephone banking.

To make your support payments through online banking:

login to your bank’s website or app
go to the section where you pay bills
add the Family Responsibility Office as a payee or bill – you may find us listed under “Ontario”
for the “account number,” please enter your Family Responsibility Office case number, which always starts with 0 or 1 and is seven digits long.

To register for telephone banking, call your bank directly. Make sure you have your FRO case number with you.

Option 3: cheque or money order

Make your cheque or money order payable to the Director, Family Responsibility Office and mail it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 2204, Station P
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 3E9

Remember, always include your seven-digit FRO case number and your full name (including first and last names) on your payments and in all correspondence with us. Do not include your personal identification number (PIN).

If you do not include your case number and name on the cheque, we will be unable to process the payment and you will be at risk of enforcement action.

Alternative payment orders

Alternative payment orders allow a support payor to pay by a method other than automatic income deductions under a support deduction order. Alternative payment orders are made by a judge in limited circumstances.

If you want to ask the court to make an alternative payment order, complete the appropriate sections of the alternative payment order form before your court date.

If you or the support recipient has a lawyer, the lawyer will complete the rest of the form based on what the judge orders. If neither of you has a lawyer, give the form to the court clerk and the court will complete the rest of the form based on what the judge orders.

Paying arrears

Most of our clients willingly pay their support fully and on time.

Unfortunately, sometimes people fall behind on their support responsibilities.

If you fall behind on your support responsibilities, the money that you owe is called arrears.

If you fall behind in your support payments, contact our office right away at:

Together, we can work out a voluntary payment plan, called a voluntary arrears payment schedule.

Through a voluntary arrears payment schedule, you and FRO work together to develop a plan that will help you pay down the amount you owe while also paying ongoing support. You will need to complete two forms:

If you do not meet your support responsibilities, we have the legal authority and responsibility to take enforcement action to recover the money that you owe.

Ending support payments

Generally, you should keep making payments until we tell you in writing that you can stop.

Ontario laws do not set automatic end dates for child or spousal support payments. For example, support does not automatically end when a child turns 18. However, support orders and domestic contracts may set a date or an event called a ‘terminating event’ that ends support payments.

When an order or contract does not say when support payments end, the support payor and support recipient must both agree to end the payments. If they cannot agree on ending the payments, they may have to go to court and have a judge decide.

If there is a terminating event

Some support orders or domestic contracts set a ‘terminating event’ that ends support payments. For example, a terminating event for child support could be the child leaving school or starting full-time work. A terminating event for spousal support could be remarriage.

Both the payor and recipient must agree that a terminating event has occurred for FRO to stop enforcing support payments without a court order. Keep us informed. If you have a court order that ends support, send a copy of it to us. Or if you believe a terminating event has happened, contact us. We will review your file and take appropriate action.

If you tell us that support should end

If you believe that your support should end or has ended, you can tell us by completing the application to discontinue enforcement of ongoing support form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

After you contact us, we will send a letter to the support recipient for confirmation. How the recipient responds will determine what we will do next.

If the recipient denies that support should end, we will continue to enforce the support order. If you still believe that support should end, you may have to go back to court.
If the recipient does not respond to our request, we can stop enforcing support payments or enforce a lower amount of support. However, if the recipient tells us later that payments should not have ended, we can start enforcing payments again.
If the recipient agrees in writing to end support, we will tell you in writing that you can stop making support payments.

Our office will continue to collect support for other dependents on the support order (if there are other dependents on the support order), as well as any arrears, or money you still owe. Sometimes that means paying us even after your support payments have ended because you may still owe us money for:

enforcement costs
administrative costs, including banking fees
court costs

When support payors should contact us

To help us keep accurate information about you and help avoid possible enforcement actions, contact us immediately if:

your financial situation changes, such as due to losing your job
you fall behind on your payments
your name, address or employer/source of income changes
you believe that your obligation to pay support has ended
you receive a notice of enforcement action from FRO

You may also wish to contact a lawyer to find out what your options are. We cannot change the amount of support you pay. Only a judge can change the amount of support in your support order or domestic contract.

Receiving support

When you will receive your first payment

If there are no complications with enforcing the payments, you can expect to start receiving them within 30 to 60 days of registration. If the payor is not making payments or if we do not know who their employer is, it may take longer to receive your first payment.

If you or the payor live outside of Ontario there is a different process. Learn about child and spousal support when one person lives outside of Ontario.

Receive your payments by direct deposit

When we register your case, we will send you a registration for direct deposit form. This form gives us permission to deposit support payments directly into your bank account.

When we receive a support payment, we deposit it in your account usually within 48 hours, as long as we have all the correct account information. Make sure you let us know immediately if any of your banking information changes.

If there are changes to your banking information, please send us a new registration for direct deposit form.

Tell us right away if you get a payment directly from the payor. When your case is filed with us, the payor must make all support payments through our office.

Delayed payments

If you haven’t received a payment in more than 30 days, please contact us:

Toronto: 416-326-1817
Toll-free: 1-800-267-4330
Toll-free TTY: 1-866-545-0083

Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Do not contact the payor’s employer or income source.

Payments may be late for several reasons, including:

postal delays
payments with missing or incorrect information (such as the wrong seven-digit case number)
a change in the payor’s employment

If you need us to send you a new cheque because a previous cheque was lost, please fill out the affidavit for a lost cheque form and mail it or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

If the payor has not been making payments, we will first try to work with them to develop a payment plan for the amount that is owed, while making ongoing support payments.

If the payor does not set up a payment plan, we can take enforcement action.

Interest on late payments

We do not automatically add interest to arrears on your case. If your court order includes a condition for interest, fill in the interest portion of the statement of arrears form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

FRO will work to collect interest on your case.

FRO can only take enforcement action on interest that has built up because the support payor didn’t comply with the support order.

If payments are coming from the payor’s employer or other income source, the payor has no control over the schedule of payments. In this case, we will not enforce any interest owing for delays in payments.

If your order does not include an interest amount, you may still be eligible to receive interest. Based on the date of judgement (date of your court order), you can claim interest at a set percentage amount. For more information, please see the instructions on claiming interest in the statement of arrears form.

When support recipients should contact us

your name, address, telephone number or banking information changes
you have any new information about the person who is paying your support, such as a new name, address, telephone number, job or financial situation
you believe that the support obligation has ended
you receive a letter from us requesting that you confirm or deny that support has ended
the support payor has used or is using a different name from the one on the support order, including nicknames, aliases or different spellings

Get information about your support payments

FRO Online

If you are already registered for FRO Online, or if you received an enrolment letter and need to complete the registration, click the Sign in button below.

Sign in

FRO Online is an easy-to-use, self-service option for FRO clients. FRO Online gives you safe, secure access to:

your case status
any outstanding arrears
your contact information
current obligations
active enforcements

FRO Online enables you to:

send us questions, information and documents
access real-time financial information
view and print your statement of account

Sign up for FRO Online

To register for FRO online:

you must sign up and request for an enrolment ID
we will mail you an enrolment ID
you use the enrolment ID to complete registration for FRO online

Sign up

Please ensure to read all instructions while you are signing up for FRO online.

During the sign up process, we will confirm your:

7-digit case number
date of birth
current mailing address

After we confirm your information, we will mail you an enrolment ID so you can complete registration for FRO Online. From the time of request, it will take five to seven business days for you to receive the enrolment ID.

Get help with FRO Online

Call us:

Please have your seven-digit FRO case number ready.

Technical help with Public Secure accounts

FRO Online uses Public Secure, Ontario’s secure login tool, which gives users access to a range of Ontario programs and services through a single login.

Get help with your Public Secure account.

FRO’s automated information line

FRO’s automated information line lets you use your phone to access general information about your case, including recent transactions, 24 hours a day.

Call FRO and select the option for automated information:

To use FRO’s automated information line, you will need your:

personal identification number (PIN)
seven-digit case number you received from FRO after your case was first registered

The PIN is designed to protect your personal information. Do not share your PIN with anyone, including our staff. Treat your FRO PIN the same way you would treat any other PIN assigned only to you, such as for your bank or credit card.

Statement of your account

If you would like FRO to mail you an official statement of your account, which is sometimes required by the court, you need to fill out a request for director’s statement of arrears form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 622
Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Fax: 416-240-2468

The first statement of account is free of charge. Subsequent requests cost $25.

You can access your statement of account daily at no charge using FRO Online.

Learn more about FRO Online.

You can also get a transaction history by calling FRO and asking for a copy of your Schedule A.

Allow someone to act on your behalf

If you would like to designate and authorize someone other than you (a third party) to act on your behalf in relation to your case at FRO, please complete a third party authorization form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

Once authorized, the person you designate will be able to request and receive information from FRO about your case.

To stop a third party from accessing your case, please complete a cancellation of third party authorization form and mail or fax it to us.

Change a support order

Let us know if the terms of your domestic contract or support order change.

We need this information to update our records and collect the correct support amount.

There may come a time when you feel the support terms of your order or domestic contract should be changed. For example, your:

income may change
former spouse may remarry
child may finish his or her education or get a job after reaching age 18

Only the courts can change your order. The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) cannot change any of the terms in your support order or domestic contract. Under certain circumstances, FRO may be able to stop enforcing your support payments or reduce the amount of support being enforced.

How to change a domestic contract

The support payor and the support recipient must negotiate a new domestic contract with new support terms.

The new contract must be filed with the Ontario Court of Justice or Superior Court of Justice (Family Court) with an affidavit for filing domestic contract with court form (26B). You must mail or fax us the completed form:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

How to change a support order

You must ask the court to change a support order by filing a motion to change form.

For more information about this see the Ministry of the Attorney General’s self help guide for motions to change. You will also need to fill out the appropriate sections of the:

You may be able to set up or update child support without having to go to court by using the Ministry of Attorney General’s child support online service.

Once your support order is changed, you must mail or fax us a copy:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

The process for changing a support order is different if either the payor or recipient lives outside of Ontario. Find out what to do when one person lives outside of Ontario.

Withdraw your case

If you would prefer to arrange for support payments to take place privately, without FRO’s involvement, you can withdraw your case.

Both the payor and the support recipient must agree in writing to withdraw.

Complete a notice of withdrawal form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

Withdrawing if the payor is behind in making payments

If the case is in arrears, only the support recipient may withdraw without the payor’s consent.

The support recipient must complete a notice by support recipient of unilateral withdrawal form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
Fax: 416-240-2401

After we receive the form we will notify the payor and stop all enforcement on the case.

Re-register a case

If you withdrew your case from the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) and decide you would like to reopen your case, please complete the notice of re-filing form and mail or fax it to us:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 622
Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Fax: 416-240-2468

Either the recipient or payor can complete this form and submit it to FRO. Both parties will have to pay a $50 re-filing fee.

You will also have to submit a registration package, if you have not submitted one already.

If you want us to enforce any arrears that may have accumulated since the case was closed, you will need to complete and submit a statement of arrears form.

If there has been a change in the status of a child (for example, the child is no longer eligible for support payments), you must let us know in writing.

How you can contact us

Before you contact us

To get case information, you must have your 7-digit case number.

You will need your personal identification number (PIN) to get automated information only.

Do not share your PIN with anyone, including our staff.

If one person lives outside of Ontario, please contact the interjurisdictional support orders unit.

If you’re looking for information about your support payments, you may be able to get the information you need without speaking to someone. Learn more about our self-serve options to help you get information about your support payments.

Phone

Call us to:

get general information about FRO
speak to or leave a message for us
access automated information about recent transactions on your case

Toronto: 416-326-1817
Toll-free: 1-800-267-4330
TTY: 1-866-545-0083

Agents are available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Automated information about your case is available 24 hours a day.

Mailing us payments

Mail payments to:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 2204, Station P
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 3E9

All payments must:

be payable to “Director, Family Responsibility Office”
include your case number and first and last name

This address is for payments only. Do not send correspondence to this address.

Mailing or faxing us a letter

Mail correspondence and forms without payments to:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 200, Station A
Oshawa, Ontario
L1H 0C5
416-240-2401

This address is for correspondence and forms only. Do not mail payments, such as cheques or money orders, to this address.

Serving court documents on FRO

You can serve court documents on FRO by mail, fax or email:

Legal Services Branch
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
7th Floor-125 Sir William Hearst Avenue
North York, Ontario
M3M 0B5

Fax: 416-240-2402

Email: FROlegalservice@ontario.ca.

This email is not for client service-related inquiries or for the delivery of other documents to FRO. For case-related inquiries, please contact us at toll-free: 1-800-267-4330.

If the payor or recipient lives outside of Ontario, please contact the interjurisdictional support orders unit.

Payors or recipients living outside of Ontario

For information or questions about payors or recipients who live outside of Ontario, contact the interjurisdictional support orders unit:

Toronto: 416-240-2410
Toll-free: 1-800-463-3533

Family Responsibility Office
Interjurisdictional Support Orders Unit
PO Box 600, Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8
Canada

Do not send payments to this address. Please send payments to:

Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 2204, Station P
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 3E9

All payments must:

be payable to “Director, Family Responsibility Office”
include your case number and first and last name

Unresolved issue or service complaint

FRO is committed to delivering excellent service.

If you have an unresolved issue or service complaint, or if you would like to submit feedback, you can contact FRO’s director.

Freedom of information requests

If you would like to get access to government records using the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act or to correct your personal information, please complete the freedom of information access or correction request form and mail it to:

FIPPA Representative
Family Responsibility Office
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
PO Box 611, Steeles West Post Office
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 0K8

Learn about making a freedom of information request.

You must include a $5 cheque or money order payable to “Minister of Finance” and mark the envelope as “private and confidential.”

(END OF SEPERATION CONTRACTS)

Restraining Order:

Overview

There are laws to help protect you or your children from threats and violence. If you are fearful that your current or former partner will harm you or your children, you can ask the court for a restraining order.

A restraining order is a family court order to help protect your health and safety. It can limit:

what someone can do
where someone can go
who they can contact

If you have children, the order can apply to them too.

A restraining order includes a list of conditions that can either be:

general, for example the person must stay away from you or cannot communicate with you or your children
specific, for example the person cannot go within 500 metres of your home, workplace or your child’s school

These conditions can be tailored for your specific situation. Not following the conditions in a restraining order is a crime.

Who can get a restraining order

You can apply for a restraining order at family court if you are concerned about your or your children’s safety and you:

were married or lived together for any period of time
have a child with the person

You cannot file a restraining order against someone you have never lived with, or don’t have children with, but you can ask a court for a peace bond, which can be made against anyone.

Getting legal advice

You don’t need a lawyer to apply for a restraining order, but it can be a good idea. A lawyer can help you to navigate the process, especially if your case includes complicating issues like immigration or parenting arrangements for a child. Judges and court staff cannot give you legal advice. Only lawyers can give you legal advice.

The Law Society of Ontario also maintains a list of lawyers in Ontario.

If you can’t afford a lawyer, you may wish to contact Legal Aid Ontario (1-800-668-8258) to see if you are eligible to receive legal aid. If you have experienced family violence and need legal help right away, you might be able to get two hours of free advice from Legal Aid Ontario.

You might also be able to get help from a Family Court Support Worker.

Apply for a restraining order

Step 1: Find a family courthouse near you

Find a courthouse to file your application. You should choose the court in the municipality where you or the other party lives. If your application involves parenting arrangements, you can start your case in the municipality where your children live.

Step 2: Fill out an application

If you have not already started a family court case relating to other issues, you will need to file a Form 8: Application (General) to start the court process. In your application, you can ask for more than just a restraining order if there are other family law issues that you want a judge to decide, but you might need supporting court forms.

For help filling out your court forms, you can use Family Law Guided Pathways, an online service that asks you a series of questions and puts your answers into the required forms. The pathways are free to use.

To support an application for a restraining order you should also complete a:

Continuing Record, including a Table of Contents (not required if you are filing your documents online using the Family Submissions Online portal). You can find more information about the Continuing Record in A Guide to Procedures in Family Court, Part 5: Filing Documents
Canadian Police Information Centre Restraining Order Information Form. This form is only available at the family court counter. If a restraining order is made, this form will be sent to police along with a copy of the order

You will need to provide an address on the application. Be aware that the person you are seeking a restraining order against will receive a copy of these papers and may file a response to your request. If you don’t want to use your own address, you can use another address where you can receive mail. You can’t use a post office box because during the court process, documents must be received by a person.

When you complete the application and accompanying documents, you can

take everything to the family court to be issued. A court clerk signs and dates your application, puts the court seal on and gives you a court file number
file your family court documents online

If you file your documents in person, you should make copies of everything that the clerk returns to you in order to serve a copy on the respondent. You should keep a copy for yourself.

If you need an order right away

If you need a restraining order urgently, you can file a motion at the same time as your application. A motion is a step in a case where you ask a judge to decide issues on a temporary basis (for example, your application may be for child support or parental decision-making responsibility, but you also need a restraining order to be made immediately).

In your motion, you will need to tell the judge why you need a restraining order right away. The application and motion materials must be served (delivered) to the other person so that they are aware that you are starting a court case, and that you are also bringing a motion for a restraining order.

A motion without notice can be made for an urgent restraining order if:

you do not know where to locate the other person
there is an immediate danger that your children will be removed from Ontario or that you or your children will be harmed
providing notice in advance could have serious consequences

A motion for a temporary restraining order (with or without notice) is made by filing these documents with the court:

If your motion was made without notice, the other person will find out later if a temporary restraining order is granted. They will be served with a copy of the order and your motion documents after the order is made.

Step 3: Serve the documents

You will have to serve (deliver) the respondent with:

a copy of your court-issued documents that you filed at Step 2 so that the other person knows that you have started a case against them
a blank copy of Form 10: Answer

Be sure to keep a copy of all documents for yourself.

Someone other than you deliver the documents to the respondent. You can ask a friend or a family member who is over the age of 18 to do this, or you can hire a process server. You can search for process servers online.

If it isn’t safe for a friend or family member to serve the documents and you cannot afford to hire a process server, you can ask court staff to arrange to have your documents served for you.

Whoever serves the documents must complete Form 6B: Affidavit of Service. This is proof to the court that the documents were served on the other person. If the court arranges service for you, the court will also take care of this step free of charge.

When the other person is served with an application, they may set out their response to the application in Form 10: Answer and file it with the court. T ohether person must serve you or your lawyer with a copy of their Answer.

For more information, see A Guide to Procedures in Family Court, Part 6: Service. You can also refer to Rule 6 of the Family Law Rules.

Step 4: Confirm you will be in court on the date of the hearing

Once you have a date for your motion or application to be heard by a judge, you will need to complete and file a Form 14C: Confirmation with the court at least two days before your hearing date. This confirms with the court that you will attend court on the date and time of the hearing. If you do not file the confirmation, the court date may no longer be available for you. This confirmation form is not required for a motion that was filed without notice to the other party.

If you are not proceeding on an urgent basis, you will need to either attend a first appearance court date or a case conference, depending on which court you filed your case.

Step 5: Go to court to explain your case

It is important to be in court on your hearing date. When your application or motion is heard, the judge will consider what you and the other person have written in your court documents and what you tell the court in person. Depending on the circumstances of your case, it could take more than one hearing before the judge decides the matter.

If your motion was made without notice, the judge will decide whether to grant a temporary restraining order without hearing or receiving documents from the other person.

If you do not have a lawyer, it is a good idea to speak with duty counsel when you arrive at court. Duty counsel are lawyers who are paid by Legal Aid Ontario to help people who do not have a lawyer on the day of their hearing and who have a low income. You can find more information about LAO’s services on their website.

Step 6: When a restraining order is made

If the judge makes a restraining order, family court staff will prepare the order for you.

Always keep a copy of the restraining order with you. If you have children who are also protected by the restraining order, it is a good idea to give a copy of the order to the children’s school or childcare provider. A copy could be useful if the person restrained disobeys any of the terms of the restraining order and the police are called.

If a temporary restraining order is made, it will end on the date in the order or may end when you and the other person return to court for another hearing. When you return to court, the judge may:

continue the temporary order
make the order final
end the restraining order

After an order is made

The person who is subject to a restraining order must obey the terms of the order as soon as it comes to their attention. They will find out about the order because they were:

in court to hear the judge make the order
served with a copy of the order

Disobeying a restraining order is a criminal offence. If you think the person restrained has disobeyed the order, you should call the police.

Making changes to a restraining order

If you are in contact with the restrained person to talk about a change to the restraining order, be sure to have a safety plan in place. In addition to women’s shelters, there are community groups and legal clinics that may provide assistance to women involved in the court process.

It is a good idea to have the help of a lawyer if you are thinking about changing your restraining order.

If you and the person who is subject to the restraining order agree to make changes to the order, you will need to complete and file:

If you do not agree, you will need to complete the following forms and have them served on the other person:

Form 15: Motion to Change, with a copy of your existing court order that you’re asking to change
Continuing Record for a Motion to Change, including a Table of Contents
Blank Form 15B: Response to Motion to Change
Blank Form 15C: Consent Motion to Change

For more information, see A Guide to Procedures in Family Court, Part 10: Motions to Change a Final Order or Written Agreement. You can also refer to Rule 15 of the Family Law Rules.

© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2021. Reproduced with permission. This is not an official version. This webpage is subject to change without notice. For the most current version as made available by Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General, please visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/law-and-safety The Ministry of the Attorney General had no role in the creation of the Tahir Majeed Law Firm website content.

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Contents

Family Law:

Marriage Contract

Separation Contracts:

Parenting time, decision-making responsibility, and contact:

Talking to children about divorce and separation:

How support payments work in Ontario:

Restraining Order:

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