Ontario family law · 2026
Your uncontested divorce, eight steps, about $632 in court fees.
When your spouse will not file a response, you do not need a contested file. Four to six months from filing to the divorce order. Free guide, free calculator, no signup.
Four to six months
Typical time from filing to receiving the divorce order when your spouse does not respond.
Court fees, not retainers
About $632 in court fees versus a $3,500 lawyer retainer for the same uncontested file.
Built for self-filing men
Written for the man doing the work himself, with general information on when professional help is commonly used.
Most men think an uncontested divorce needs their spouse's cooperation. It does not. It needs their non-opposition — they have to be served, and then not file a response within the deadline. That distinction is the difference between a four-month paper file and a year of waiting for someone else to sign something. Knowing the difference between an uncontested and a joint divorce is a useful starting point.
The work is in the paperwork and the calendar. Most divorces are granted on the ground of one year of separation, so the order itself cannot be issued until the year has passed. Court fees are roughly $632 in 2026 — about $224 to file the application and about $445 to ask a judge to grant the final order. From filing to order is typically four to six months. The court's scheduling load, not your readiness, sets the pace.
What Cairn gives you for free: a forms checklist, the timeline, and the financial picture (child support, spousal support, what gets split) before you walk into the registry. The application you file is clean the first time.
Uncontested vs joint divorce — they are not the same
A joint divorce is filed by both spouses together. Both sign, both swear the supporting affidavit. It is the cleanest path when both of you agree on every issue — the divorce itself, property, parenting, support — and want the order issued together.
An uncontested divorce is filed by one spouse alone. The other spouse is served and does not file a response. They do not need to sign anything. They simply need to not contest the application.
Where a spouse is uncooperative but not opposing the application, the uncontested route is one option many people consider; a legal professional can advise on which path fits. It puts the file on your timeline rather than waiting for a co-signature that may never come.
What you need before filing
Federal law requires three things before a judge will grant a divorce: a valid marriage (either in Ontario or recognized in Ontario), one year of separation, and no other divorce already underway.
On the financial side, the practical requirement is a written separation agreement that covers how property is divided, child support, spousal support, and parenting. The divorce itself does not require an agreement. But a judge can refuse to grant the divorce if the arrangements for the children are not adequate — and 'no arrangements written down anywhere' usually qualifies.
The Cairn calculator gives child and spousal support figures grounded in the Federal Guidelines and the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines — useful context before an agreement is drafted. Numbers grounded in those guidelines almost always survive a judge's review.
When uncontested stops being the right path
If property is contested, if there are credible concerns about the kids' wellbeing, if your spouse is hiding income or assets, or if support is being unilaterally withheld — an uncontested filing alone will not solve any of that. In those situations the process generally requires a separation agreement first, or a fuller application addressing all issues together.
Contested property and parenting issues benefit from a family lawyer's involvement. An uncontested divorce file, by itself, does not.
Documents to assemble
- Original marriage certificate (or a certified copy)
- Government photo ID for both spouses
- Current address for your spouse — needed for service
- Written separation agreement, if property or support is in play
- Application for divorce
- Supporting affidavit
- Draft divorce order
- Court fees: about $224 to file the application, about $445 to ask for the final order
See your numbers before you draft anything.
- What you would owe in child support at your current income
- What spousal support range applies, 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.
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