Family lawyers in Toronto

Divorce is federal law, so the rule is the same across Canada: the only ground is marriage breakdown, usually shown by living apart for one year or more. You or your spouse must have lived in Ontario for a full year before applying.

Married spouses share the value of what they built up during the marriage. Each spouse's 'net family property' is worked out, and the one with more pays the other half the difference — an equalization payment. The family home gets special treatment: its full value is shared even if one spouse owned it before the marriage. You must claim within six years of separating or two years of the divorce, whichever comes first.

Not for property. Common-law couples in Ontario are not legally required to split property acquired while they lived together — it generally stays with whoever bought it — unless they have a cohabitation agreement. Common-law partners may still be able to claim support, and both parents owe child support whatever their relationship was.

Toronto has no Family Court branch: divorce and property division go to the Superior Court of Justice (361 University Avenue), and the Ontario Court of Justice hears other family matters. Ontario's Family Court branch of the Superior Court hears every family matter in its 25 locations; elsewhere, divorce and property division go to the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice hears other matters such as parenting and support.

To practise law in Ontario a lawyer must be licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, which also licenses paralegals. You can look up anyone in the Law Society's public Lawyer and Paralegal Directory, which shows their status and any discipline history. Each lawyer on these pages was checked in that directory before being listed, but people move firms, so check again before you hire. Complaints about a lawyer go to the Law Society.