Who Is Eligible to Divorce in Canada?
Canadians are known for our accommodating nature and our eagerness to resolve conflicts with as little confrontation as possible. Therefore, it stands to reason that it should be easy to get an amicable divorce. In fact, dissolving a domestic partnership can be as simple as parting ways; Canada recognizes certain rights of unmarried domestic partners, but if the court did not legally formalize your marriage, you can also break up without involving the court. If you are legally married, though, the court must legally dissolve your marriage. It does not always involve a lot of drama; even if you and your spouse disagree substantially about property division, so that you cannot get an uncontested divorce, the odds are in your favor that you can resolve all the disputes in family court mediation, and the judge will not have to do anything besides sign the agreement that you and your spouse have signed. The first step, though, is to determine whether you are eligible to apply for divorce in Ontario. After you do that, you can move forward with your divorce application with the help of a Mississauga family lawyer.
Residency Requirements for Filing for Divorce in Ontario
To file for divorce in Canada, you must be legally married. In the case of some couples, this means that they married in Canada in a manner that complies with Canadian marriage laws. For other couples, it means that they married in another country, and then at least one of them moved to Canada.
You must file for divorce in a province or territory where at least one spouse has lived for at least one year. If you married in Canada but later moved to another country, you can dissolve your marriage in Canada only if your current country of residence does not recognize your Canadian marriage as legally valid. This can happen if you and your spouse belong to different religions, but your country does not recognize interfaith marriage, or if you and your spouse are the same sex, but your country does not recognize same-sex marriage.
How Do You Prove to the Court That Your Relationship With Your Spouse Is Over?
Canada does not require you to prove that one spouse is at fault for the breakdown of the marriage. You must only prove that you and your spouse have irreconcilable differences, in other words, that your marriage is beyond repair. You can prove this if you and your spouse have lived apart for at least a year or that there was physical or emotional abuse in your relationship. Not everyone who breaks up with their spouse can afford to move out of the marital home. You may be able to prove to the court that you and your spouse are not together even though you are still living together under the same roof.
Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Pleadings in Family Law Cases
A family lawyer can help you apply for divorce in Ontario. Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.
Source:
justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/divorce/app.html#ex
