Ontario family court forms · 2026
Form 6B — the affidavit of service, explained.
Form 6B is how you prove the other party actually received your documents. It is small, easy to overlook, and stalls more cases than almost any other form when it is done wrong. Here is how service works and how to prove it cleanly.
Proof, not service
Form 6B does not serve anything — it proves that service already happened, in a form the court accepts.
Method has to match
Special service, regular service, service by mail — the form records the method, and it must match what the rules require.
Small form, big delays
A defective affidavit of service is a classic reason a step gets adjourned. Getting it clean keeps the case moving.
Form 6B is the Affidavit of Service. After you serve a document on the other party, Form 6B is the sworn statement that proves it happened — who served what, on whom, when, where, and how. The court needs that proof before it will move a case forward, so this quiet little form sits on the critical path.
Service rules in family court are specific. Some documents, like the application that starts a case, usually require special (personal) service on the party themselves; other documents can be served in ordinary ways once someone is already in the case. Form 6B records which method you used, and it has to match what the rules require for that document.
This is a guide to what the form proves, not advice about your case. Getting service and its proof right is unglamorous but it is often what determines whether your next court step goes ahead or gets adjourned.
What Form 6B records
The affidavit sets out the essentials of the service: the name of the person who did the serving, the document that was served, the person served, and the date, time, place, and method of service. It is sworn or affirmed, because it is the evidence the court relies on to be satisfied the other party actually got the documents.
The method matters because different documents call for different kinds of service. A document that starts a case usually needs special service — served personally on the party, and often by someone other than you — while later documents in an ongoing case can be served in more ordinary ways. Form 6B has to describe the method actually used, accurately.
The details men get wrong
The first is serving the wrong way for the document. Using ordinary service where special (personal) service was required means service was not valid, no matter how neatly the affidavit is filled in. Check the required method for the specific document before you serve, not after.
The second is who does the serving. For documents that need personal service, it is usually cleaner to have someone other than you serve them, and that server is the one who swears Form 6B. The third is missing or inconsistent details — a date that does not match, a document described loosely, a blank where the method should be. Because it is sworn evidence, sloppiness here reads as unreliability and invites a challenge.
Where Form 6B fits in the process
You will use Form 6B repeatedly — proving service of the application at the start, and proving service of later documents as the case moves. Each time, the affidavit is filed so the court has proof on the record before the related step.
Keeping service tidy from the beginning pays off. A clean chain of properly proved service means the case is never held up on the technicality of whether the other side actually got something, which lets each conference, motion, or hearing proceed on its own merits.
Before you swear Form 6B
- The correct service method for the specific document being served
- The right person to serve it — someone other than you, where personal service is needed
- The exact date, time, and place service happened
- An accurate description of the document served and the person served
- A read-through so no detail is blank or inconsistent
Answer a few questions and see which forms — including service — your situation needs.
- Whether your case starts with Form 8 or Form 8A
- Which financial statement applies — Form 13 or Form 13.1
- Whether you need the parenting affidavit, Form 35.1
- The service form that proves you served the other party
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Reviewed July 1, 2026 · Plain-language information for Ontario, not legal advice · Official Form 6B (PDF)
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