Joint Divorce Procedure In Ontario?

[In-Law Trouble]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the joint divorce procedure in Ontario? What it entails, what r the costs and how long does the process take? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

In-Law Trouble

[Lindsay]

Hi In-Law Trouble,

A joint uncontested divorce is much like a simple one. The following are the similarities and differences:

1. Signing the application

With a joint uncontested divorce, both parties sign the application. With a simple uncontested divorce, only the applicant signs.

2. Swearing the affidavit for divorce

With a joint uncontested divorce, both parties must swear an affidavit for divorce once the proceeding has obtained clearance, which takes between 4 and 6 weeks after the application has been issued with the court.

With a simple uncontested divorce, only the applicant swears an affidavit for divorce once the proceeding has obtained clearance and once the respondent has been noted in default after 30 days of being served with the application.

3. Costs

The court costs for a joint uncontested divorce would be the same as with a simple uncontested divorce:

$167.00 (issuing application) + $280.00 (filing of affidavit for divorce) + $19.00 (for each certificate of divorce)

However, if filing jointly, both parties may be looking at additional costs for swearing their affidavits of divorce before a commissioner of oaths or notary public. With a simple uncontested divorce, only the applicant would have to worry about these costs.

4. Timing

Although it is rumoured that an order through a joint uncontested divorce can be obtained faster than through a simple uncontested divorce, it really takes about the same amount of time with both procedures. With a joint uncontested divorce, although the parties don't have to wait 30 days for the respondent to be noted in default, they are going to have to wait between 4 and 6 weeks for the clearance to come in anyway.

Why a simple uncontested divorce is better
Although filing jointly may seem like the most amicable thing to do, it is actually much easier and less risky when parties decide to go with a simple uncontested divorce.

When filing jointly, there is always the possibility that the parties could have a falling out somewhere in the middle of the proceeding. If one of the parties ever refused to swear their affidavit for divorce, the case will be put on hold, and likely eventually discontinued, because the divorce order cannot be obtained without both parties' affidavits for divorce.

With a simple uncontested divorce, however, the applicant does all the work and the respondent has only one job, and that is to accept service of the application and forget about it. Once the respondent is noted in default, he/she no longer has any involvement in the proceeding and he/she does not have the right to stop or hinder the divorce in any way.

Please check out the following thread on simple uncontested divorces:

http://www.ottawadivorce.com/forum/s...tested+divorce

Lindsay

[In-Law Trouble]

Lindsay,

Thanks for providing a detailed info! It provided me with much needed clarity on the subject and greatly helped me in understanding the procedure much better. Thanks for pointing out that a simple divorce is a much better approach than a joint divorce for the reasons u specified! If i have any further inquires on the subject i will send u a post!

Thanks again,

In-Law Trouble