Uncontested divorce in Ontario - how it works

An uncontested divorce in Ontario is one where your spouse does not oppose the divorce — either because you apply jointly, or because they were served and chose not to respond. It is the cheapest, fastest, and quietest way to end a marriage in this province: mostly paperwork, no courtroom, no fight over the divorce itself. Most Ontario uncontested divorces finish in four to six months for about $670 in court fees. The substance — parenting, support, property — has to be settled separately, usually in a separation agreement.

The Ontario family court system is built to absorb uncontested divorces efficiently. Once the application is filed and the response period passes without an answer, the file moves on a paper track through the Superior Court of Justice. No conferences, no motions, no trial. The judge reviews the affidavit, signs the order, and the marriage is over (ontario.ca/document/guide-procedures-family-court).

When this does apply

You can run an uncontested divorce when three things are true. First, you have been separated for at least one year by the time the divorce is granted — you can file earlier, but the court will not finalize until the year has passed. Second, you and your spouse agree on the parenting of any children under 19, including child support at the Federal Child Support Tables amount; the court will reject a divorce that does not show child support is in place. Third, you either file together as a joint divorce — both spouses signing the application — or one of you files a simple divorce, serves the other, and the served spouse chooses not to file an Answer within 30 days (60 if outside Canada). At that point the file becomes uncontested by default.

When this doesn't apply

You cannot run an uncontested divorce if either of you wants the court to decide something the other does not agree to — parenting time, support amounts, property division, or any other relief. The moment a contested claim attaches, the file becomes a contested divorce — a general application — and the process changes completely. Costs jump from $670 to $7,500 and up per side, and the timeline stretches from months to years. The path back to uncontested is to settle those underlying issues in a separation agreement first, then file the divorce as a separate, simple step.

What to do

If your separation is amicable enough, sit down with your spouse and write — even informally — what you have already agreed about parenting, support, and property. Then get that into a formal separation agreement, with each of you taking Independent Legal Advice before signing. Once that document is signed, an uncontested divorce is the cleanest next step: file Form 8A, attach your marriage certificate, pay the court fees, and let the paperwork run. The agreement does the heavy lifting; the divorce is the easy part.

See your specific Ontario plan at cairnguide.ca/signup.