Terms of Service

1. The service — what Cairn is and is not

These Terms govern your use of cairnguide.ca and the Cairn application, operated by 11173685 Canada Corporation, a federal corporation carrying on business in Ontario as Cairn ("Cairn," "we," "us"). Cairn provides legal information and preparation tools to adults in Ontario, Canada who are going through family separation or divorce.

Cairn is not a law firm. Cairn is not a paralegal service. Cairn does not provide legal advice. Using Cairn does not create a lawyer–client relationship, a paralegal–client relationship, or any other professional relationship regulated by the Law Society of Ontario.

The information Cairn provides — descriptions of common Ontario processes, suggested preparation steps, form education, and general financial estimates — is general legal information. It reflects Ontario family law as understood at the time of writing but may not reflect the most recent legislative or case law developments. Nothing in Cairn constitutes advice about your specific legal situation.

When you need a lawyer: If you have been served with a court application, have safety concerns, are dealing with complex asset division, or have any situation that requires advice specific to your facts, you should consult a legal professional. Cairn's directory can help you find one.

2. Eligibility

To use Cairn's intake-based features, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be located in Ontario, Canada, or be dealing with an Ontario family law matter
• Be capable of entering into a binding agreement
• Not have been previously suspended or banned from using Cairn

Cairn's public content (blog, directory, general information pages) is available to anyone without restriction.

3. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure. You must not share your account with anyone else. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

You must provide accurate information when creating your account and keep it current. Providing false information may result in termination of your account.

To delete your account, email info@cairnguide.ca. We will process account deletions within 30 days.

4. Subscriptions and billing

4.1 Plans

Cairn offers three tiers: Free, Essentials ($49/month CAD), and Complete ($99/month CAD). Features available on each tier are described at cairnguide.ca/pricing. Prices are in Canadian dollars and do not include applicable taxes.

4.2 Billing cycle and automatic renewal

Paid subscriptions are billed monthly or annually in advance, in Canadian dollars, through Stripe. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period at the then-current rate for your tier, unless you cancel before the renewal date.

For annual subscriptions, we will send you a renewal reminder by email at least 30 days before the renewal charge. For monthly subscriptions, your renewal date is shown in your account at all times. You may cancel at any time before the renewal date without penalty.

4.3 Payment processing

Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. By subscribing, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service at stripe.com/en-ca/legal. Your payment information is collected and stored by Stripe. Cairn does not store your credit card number or full payment details.

4.4 Taxes

You are responsible for any applicable taxes on your subscription. Where required by law, Cairn will collect and remit applicable Canadian sales taxes (HST/GST). The applicable tax will be shown at checkout.

4.5 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings or by emailing info@cairnguide.ca. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. You retain access to paid features until that date. We do not charge cancellation fees and we do not require a reason.

4.6 Refunds

Our refund policy is short:

• 14-day money-back guarantee. If you cancel within 14 days of your initial paid subscription and have not accessed any paid features, email info@cairnguide.ca for a full refund.
• No partial-period refunds once paid features have been accessed.
• Service failures — refunds for documented technical failures preventing access to the service will be considered case-by-case.

Ontario residents: nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002.

4.7 Price changes

We may change subscription prices. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any price increase before it takes effect on your account. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the new price.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use Cairn for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the service or another user's account
• Use the service to harass, harm, or impersonate any person
• Scrape, copy, or redistribute Cairn content without permission
• Introduce malicious code or interfere with the operation of the service
• Use Cairn on behalf of another person without their knowledge and consent

6. Your content

Information you enter into Cairn (intake answers, form data, plan notes) belongs to you. You grant Cairn a limited licence to use this information solely to provide the service to you. We do not use your content to train machine learning models or for any purpose beyond service delivery.

You represent that information you provide to Cairn is truthful to the best of your knowledge. Providing false information that adversely affects another person may have legal consequences outside of Cairn.

Documents you upload. If you have a Complete subscription, you may upload files to your document vault. Those files remain yours, and only you can access them — access is locked to your account. You are responsible for the files you upload: you must have the right to store them, and you must not upload anything unlawful, malicious, or that infringes someone else's rights. We do not review the contents of your vault. You can delete any file at any time, and your files are deleted when you close your account. Keep your own backups of anything important — the vault is a convenience, not a system of record.

7. Intellectual property

All content, design, software, and materials on Cairn — pathway descriptions, action plan content, form guidance, and educational materials — are owned by 11173685 Canada Corporation or its licensors and are protected by Canadian copyright law. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from Cairn's content without written permission.

Ontario family court forms (Form 8, Form 13.1, Form 35.1, etc.) are published by the Government of Ontario and the federal government and are in the public domain. Cairn's guidance and explanations of these forms are our original work.

8. Third-party services and links

Cairn may link to or reference third-party services including the Law Society of Ontario, Legal Aid Ontario, Pro Bono Ontario, and professionals listed in our directory. We do not endorse, control, or take responsibility for third-party content or services. Directory listings are not endorsements.

Professionals listed in the Cairn directory are independent practitioners. Cairn is not responsible for services provided by directory listings. Always verify credentials with the appropriate regulatory body before engaging any professional.

9. Disclaimers

Cairn does not guarantee outcomes. Family law is fact-specific, and the information on Cairn — however carefully written — cannot account for every variable in your situation. Pathway descriptions are general. Estimates are estimates. Step guidance reflects common practice, not a prediction of what a court will do in your case.

Cairn is also software. It may be unavailable at times, and its content may not reflect the most recent legislative or case law changes. We update it regularly, but we do not guarantee that every piece of information is current or complete at the moment you read it.

The plain-language version above is consistent with the formal legal disclaimers below, which are required by law and which also apply:

10. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CAIRN AND ITS OPERATORS, EMPLOYEES, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

CAIRN'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO CAIRN IN THE THREE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR $100 CAD, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Ontario residents: nothing in this section limits your rights under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002 or other mandatory consumer protection legislation.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Cairn and its operators, employees, and service providers from and against any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the service, your violation of these terms, or your violation of any applicable law.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms, if we are required to do so by law, or if we discontinue the service. We will give you reasonable notice where possible.

If your account is terminated for cause, you are not entitled to a refund of prepaid subscription fees.

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us. Sections 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 survive termination.

13. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any dispute arising from these terms or your use of the service will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Ontario.

Before initiating any legal proceeding, you agree to contact us at info@cairnguide.ca and give us 30 days to attempt to resolve the dispute informally.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by a prominent notice in the application at least 30 days before the change takes effect. If you do not agree to the updated terms, you must stop using the service before the effective date.

Your continued use of Cairn after the effective date of updated terms constitutes your acceptance of those terms.

15. General

Entire agreement: These terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Cairn regarding the service.

Severability: If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

No waiver: Cairn's failure to enforce any provision of these terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision.

Language: These terms are written in English. In the event of any conflict between the English version and any translation, the English version governs.

16. Contact

See also: Privacy Policy · Accessibility · Start free — no credit card