ONTARIO DIVORCE LAW BASICS
There are three grounds for
divorce in Canada:
1. Living 'separate and apart'
for more than one year;
2. Adultery (cheating); and
3. Mental or physical cruelty.
You can be
residing in the same home but be 'living separate and apart' for
divorce law purposes. Some people have been 'separated' for
years even though they may still reside under the same roof for
one reason or another.
There is no such
thing as 'filing for legal separation' in Ontario - you are
legally separated when you and your spouse are 'living separate
and apart'.
You are not
required to have a separation agreement to file for divorce.
If you have no
idea where you spouse is, you must get special permission from
the court to get divorced without serving a copy of the filed
papers on the missing spouse (a "motion to dispense with
service").
In a 'simple
divorce', you cannot ask the court for anything other than a
divorce. In a 'joint divorce', you can also ask for 'consent'
orders relating to children and/or property.
See
DivorceInCanada.ca
for more detailed information.
