Ontario family law · 2026
Separation help in Ontario, in five minutes.
Your Ontario support numbers, how the local family court process works, and general information on common next steps. Free calculator, no signup, no credit card.
Free support calculator
What you would owe in child and spousal support at your income — plus what hits your account each pay period after tax.
Your local family court
Branch, address, and court type for the eight largest Ontario cities — below.
Plan, forms, professionals
On the paid dashboard: an action plan, a document checklist, a two-budget builder, and a vetted directory of Ontario lawyers, paralegals, and mediators.
Most men start a separation by Googling their way through six conflicting opinions on a forum. What you actually need first is a real number — what you would owe in support at your income, what you would keep, what your week looks like once the math is done. The calculator below gives you that number using the same rules an Ontario family lawyer or judge would apply.
Ontario family law is the same in every city in the province. Federal child support rules apply across the country, and Ontario follows the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines — the framework family lawyers and judges use when there is a spousal-support claim. What changes city to city is procedure: which courthouse handles your file, what the scheduling load is, what local mediation services and Family Law Information Centres are within reach.
The calculator below produces your support and take-home numbers. The directory below maps your local family court. The guides at the bottom cover common next steps — an uncontested divorce, a separation agreement, parenting time, or changing an existing order — so you can see which is relevant.
What Ontario men ask first
Two questions. What will I owe in support — and what will I have left to live on. Both come out of the same calculator. The child support number is set by the Federal Child Support Guidelines — a table indexed to the paying parent's income and the number of kids. The spousal support number, where it applies, comes from the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, which produce a range rather than a single number. The take-home view then runs the full tax stack — federal and Ontario income tax, Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance contributions, and support — and shows what would actually land in your account each pay period.
Numbers first, then the conversation. Most men walk into a lawyer's office without a number, pay four hundred dollars for a one-hour consult that mostly establishes basic facts, and leave with the same uncertainty they arrived with. Walking in with a calculator printout — even a self-run estimate — flips the conversation from 'tell me about your situation' to 'here is the question I need answered.'
When local matters
Court scheduling. Each branch has its own caseload. Plan filings against the court's calendar, not the calendar in your head. Every Ontario family courthouse has a Family Law Information Centre — a free walk-in office that can tell you current wait times and what your local branch expects to see in a filing.
Mediation rosters. Each region maintains a roster of mediators with family-law experience. The Family Law Information Centre keeps the local list and it is open to the public.
Local incomes. The spousal support range is sensitive to combined household income. A two-income Toronto household sits in a different band than a household at the Ontario median. The math is the same — the conversation is different.
Ontario family court directory
- Toronto — Toronto Family Court (Unified Family Court) · 47 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto (UFC)
- Ottawa — Ottawa Unified Family Court · 161 Elgin Street, Ottawa (UFC)
- Mississauga — A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse · 7755 Hurontario Street, Brampton (SCJ)
- Brampton — A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse · 7755 Hurontario Street, Brampton (SCJ)
- Hamilton — Hamilton Unified Family Court · 45 Main Street East, Hamilton (UFC)
- London — London Unified Family Court · 80 Dundas Street, London (UFC)
- Kitchener-Waterloo — Kitchener Unified Family Court · 85 Frederick Street, Kitchener (UFC)
- Windsor — Windsor Unified Family Court · 245 Windsor Avenue, Windsor (UFC)
See where you actually stand. In five minutes.
- What you would owe in child support at your current income
- What spousal support range applies to your situation, if any
- What hits your account each pay period after tax
- PDF you can email to yourself — no signup, no credit card
Free to run. No account, no credit card.
Reviewed May 12, 2026 · Plain-language information for Ontario.
When you're ready for the next step
The calculator and this guide are free. The paid dashboard turns your numbers into an action plan, a document checklist, a two-budget builder, a parenting log, and a vetted directory of Ontario lawyers, paralegals, and mediators. Most men keep it for the two to four active months, then cancel.
See what the paid plan addsCommon questions
What men want to know.
Plain-language answers about how this works in Ontario — without the disclaimers that don't help anyone.
Related guides & tools
The First 90 Days — the full guide
A plain-language 35-page map of Ontario separation, written for men. The legal process, the financial rules, and a week-by-week action plan. Free.
OpenUncontested Divorce in Ontario
The path through an uncontested divorce — what you need, what it costs, how long it takes.
OpenOntario Separation Agreement
What goes into a written separation agreement and how to make it stick.
OpenParenting Time in Ontario
How parenting time decisions are made, the 40% threshold, what a parenting plan needs to cover.
OpenWhat separation actually costs in Ontario
Court fees, lawyer retainers, mediator and paralegal rates — the full picture.
OpenAbout Cairn
Cairn is an Ontario-built preparation tool for men going through separation. It gives you orientation, document checklists, and the financial picture in plain language — so you can prepare and then work with a legal professional.