A couple in a semi near Scarborough Town Centre decide in April that the marriage is over. Neither can afford to move out until the house sells, so one sleeps in the basement, they split the grocery bill and take turns driving the kids to school. By September they’re wondering when they can actually file for divorce, who gets to keep the house if one of them wants to buy the other out, and whether living under the same roof has messed everything up.
Questions like these are where most divorces really get decided. The divorce order itself is usually the simplest part of the process. Everything that comes with it, including the children, support and property, is what takes the time and where mistakes tend to be expensive.
That’s where working with a family lawyer Scarborough residents can meet close to home earns its value. A lawyer helps sort out which issues apply to you, what the law actually says about each one, and how to get through them without spending more than you need to.
Divorce in Canada falls under the federal Divorce Act, and it only applies to people who are legally married. The most common ground is living separate and apart for one year. Other grounds, adultery and cruelty, exist but are used far less often, because they require proof and usually lead to more conflict, not less.
For the couple in the semi, the good news is that the one-year clock can run even while you’re living in the same house, as long as you’re genuinely living separate lives. Sleeping in different rooms, managing money separately and no longer presenting yourselves as a couple all count. A lawyer can help you document that, so it isn’t questioned later.
An uncontested divorce, where you’ve already settled the other issues and simply need the court order, typically takes several months from filing to the divorce order. Applications are filed with the Superior Court of Justice, which hears Toronto family cases downtown on University Avenue.
For married spouses, Ontario’s Family Law Act doesn’t simply split everything down the middle. Instead it uses a process called equalization of net family property. Each spouse works out what they owned on the date of separation, subtracts their debts and what they brought into the marriage, and the spouse with the higher figure pays the other half the difference.
The matrimonial home gets special treatment. Even if one of you owned it before the wedding, its full value is generally included, which surprises a lot of people. Deadlines matter as well, because a claim for equalization usually has to be started within two years of the divorce or six years of separation, whichever comes first.
Common-law couples are in a different position entirely. They don’t have an automatic right to equalization, and property claims between them depend on other legal arguments, which is one reason the advice for a common-law separation looks quite different.
Since 2021, the law no longer talks about custody and access. It uses decision-making responsibility, meaning who makes major decisions about health, education and religion, and parenting time, meaning when the children are with each parent. Every decision is based on the best interests of the child, which is the deciding factor under both federal and Ontario law.
| Issue | Main rule | What it means in practice |
| Child support | Federal Child Support Guidelines | A table amount based on the paying parent’s income |
| Special expenses | Section 7 of the Guidelines | Daycare, activities and tuition shared by income |
| Spousal support | Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines | Entitlement first, then amount and duration |
| Parenting | Best interests of the child | Schedules built around the children’s needs |
Support can be changed later if there’s a material change in circumstances, such as a job loss or a big change in the parenting schedule, but it doesn’t change automatically, so any new arrangement needs to be properly documented.
Equalization gets more complicated when one spouse has a workplace pension, owns a business or holds shares in a private company. Pensions are included in net family property, and Ontario has its own process for valuing a pension and transferring part of it through the plan administrator, so a figure scribbled on the back of an envelope usually isn’t good enough. A small business may need a proper valuation as well. These are the files where an early conversation with a lawyer saves the most money, because getting the numbers wrong at the start tends to be expensive to fix later.
Most divorces in Scarborough never go near a trial. A family lawyer’s day-to-day work is gathering financial disclosure, explaining what’s realistic, negotiating with the other side and drafting a separation agreement that will hold up. Both spouses should get independent legal advice before signing one, since an agreement signed without it is much easier to challenge later.
Legal Solutions Law Firm has its head office in Scarborough at 10 Milner Business Court, and handles contested and uncontested divorces, separation agreements, support and parenting matters across the east end and the wider GTA. The firm was founded by Ryan Manilla, who was called to the Ontario Bar in 2008. It offers a free, no-obligation consultation, flat fees and payment plans, and one lawyer stays with each matter from intake through to resolution.
For the couple in the semi, an hour with a lawyer now would probably settle half their questions and keep the next year from being any harder than it needs to be.
This article is general information and isn’t legal advice for any particular case.
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