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HOW DOES
ezDivorce WORK?
HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE?
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You place your order
through the web site and then complete an online intake questionnaire.
You indicate whether you want to file a simple
'sole/uncontested' divorce or a
joint divorce:
Sole/Uncontested Divorce - A
simple 'sole/uncontested' divorce is one where you are suing
your spouse for divorce and in which the only request is for a divorce
- as opposed to a 'regular' divorce where you are seeking court orders
with respect to division of property, spousal support and/or
child custody, access and support, etc. After your Application for
Divorce is filed with the court, a copy must be
served on (given to) your spouse. Your spouse then has 30 days (60 days
if served outside of Canada or the USA) to contest the
divorce or make his or her own claim. If he/she
does not contest (by filing and serving you with the
required court forms) within the prescribed time, the
divorce then becomes 'uncontested'.
Joint Divorce
- In a joint divorce, both spouses sign all of the
required divorce papers.
Neither spouse is suing the other for divorce - you are
telling the court that you both want the divorce.
Sole or Joint? - In the end (the granting of the
divorce), there isn't really a significant difference between the two: the cost and the timing
is generally the same.
In some cases, both spouses are willing to sign the joint papers,
however it may be inconvenient because, for example, one of the
spouses lives overseas. This does not, however, make a joint divorce
impossible. It just takes a bit more coordination. Many couples want
to do a joint divorce regardless of any logistical issues. Others
choose to go the 'sole/uncontested' route simply because it is more convenient for one of the spouses to take care of all of the
required paperwork. The timing and cost is the same whether you do a
simple joint divorce or a simple sole/uncontested divorce where both
spouses are cooperative.
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If you paid for the
service through the website, you will be e-mailed the completed initial
forms within a few hours to a day or two, with instructions
for you to print, sign and mail back to us
along with the first court filing fee ($167). If you chose to pay
in person, we make arrangements to meet in our Toronto
office (at Yonge & St. Clair).
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We file the
Application for Divorce with the court.
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In a simple divorce, your spouse
must be served with (given) a copy of the filed Application:
By mail: Our fee covers serving your
spouse by regular mail. For this method to be effective,
your spouse must sign and mail back an included Acknowledgment of
Service form, Note: signing for registered mail or a
courier is not a substitute for this step. If your spouse does not
sign and mail back the Acknowledgment of
Service form, he/she must be
served in person (see below). Your spouse's time to contest the
divorce or make his/her own claim starts from the date that
he/she writes on the post Acknowledgment of
Service form (or the next business day if the date written
on the card is a weekend day or holiday).
In Person: If your spouse is not cooperative with
being served by mail (or if you prefer not to try service by
mail), he/she must be served in person. Your spouse does
not have to sign anything when served in person. The person
who hands the papers to your spouse must swear an affidavit
stating that
he/she served your spouse. You can have
a friend or family member do it for you. If you
need a professional process server to serve your spouse, you
must pay for this yourself (we'll let you know
how). Note: As of March 1, 2010 the
law in Ontario will change such that the
spouse filing the divorce can no longer personally serve the other
spouse with the application for divorce. Any adult other
than the applicant may serve the respondent. This change returns
the rule about this to the way it was before 2004.
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We next make arrangements for you to
swear the required affidavit for divorce.
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'Set-Down' the divorce:
The second of the two required court
filings is referred to as the 'set-down'. The earliest this
filing can be made is 31 days after your spouse is served
with a copy of the Application for Divorce that was filed
with the court, however most courts will not let you
set-down the divorce until it (the court) receives something
called a 'clearance certificate' from the Central Registry
for Divorce Proceedings in Ottawa (this is an internal court
process - you are not involved). This usually takes 6 to
8
weeks from when the Application was initially filed with
the court, but can take longer. Note: the divorce also cannot be 'set-down' until you have
been separated for a full year, so if you file 6 months into
your separation, the 'set-down' cannot be filed (and the
divorce finalized) until 6 months later. The court's final
mandatory fee of $280 is paid at this time.
Note: the
court will not accept the $19 payment for the
'optional' divorce certificate with the $280 (see #9
below).
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After your divorce
is 'set-down', you are waiting for a judge to review and
grant the divorce. On average, parties receive their DIVORCE ORDER (the
actual court paper granting the divorce) in the
mail from the court 2 to 6 weeks after the 'set-down'
is filed. Again, some courts can be much slower
than others (including, recently, Milton and Barrie which
can take several months to grant and mail out the final
divorce order).
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Your divorce will take effect 31
days after the judge grants it (noted as the 'Date of
Order' in the left margin of the final divorce order).
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Divorce
Certificate: The court does not send you a divorce
certificate unless you request one and pay $19 for it. You
are not required to get a divorce certificate - except when
you want to get married again in Canada. (ezDivorce
does
not obtain the certificate for you because you can
obtain it directly from the court by mail after the
divorce takes effect - this helps to keep our fees as
low as possible.)
HOW LONG WILL THIS ALL TAKE?
On average, it takes 2 to 3 months from when
your Application is filed with the court until the court grants your
divorce (it takes effect 31 days after it is granted). However, some courts are
much slower than others -
the courts in Hamilton, Milton and
Barrie have been extremely slow recently - meaning not
getting divorces granted and mailed out to the parties for 2 to 4
months after the 'set-down' was filed (so
4 to 6 months or more from start to finish).
Note: There is no guarantee about timing.
If you are planning to remarry, you are strongly cautioned not to make
any plans until you have your divorce order in your hands. You will
avoid unnecessary angst and heartburn by not assuming when your
divorce will actually be final.
Click here to read what our customers are
saying
*THE FACT THAT THE
OWNER/OPERATOR OF
ezDivorce
IS A LAWYER SHOULD NOT
LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE PURCHASING AND/OR RECEIVING
LEGAL ADVICE OR REPRESENTATION.
The only services
provided by or through
ezDivorce
are (1) the completion and filing of the forms required to
obtain a simple divorce in Ontario, Canada, and (2) the
completion of basic separation agreement templates - in each
case without the provision of legal advice or
representation.
Please review our
terms of purchase and privacy policy.
Copyright 2003-2010. All rights reserved.
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