Family Law Glossary

Access used to mean the time a parent spends with a child they usually don't live with. For most family law cases, the term "access" has changed to parenting time. Now, all parents usually have parenting time. If you have a child protection case, the term access may still be used. Parenting time or access can be on a strict schedule, such as every other weekend, or on a flexible schedule. In some cases, it might be supervised, which means someone else, like a Children's Aid Society worker or relative, watches the visit. A person who has parenting time or access usually also has the right to information about the child's well-being, such as information about their health and education.

Advice counsel are private lawyers or Legal Aid Ontario staff lawyers located in all family courts who give basic information on family law. For example, advice counsel can explain legal terms, how to start or respond to a court application, and the court process. If your income is low enough, advice counsel can also give you legal advice about decision-making responsibility and parenting time, child support and spousal support, dividing property, divorce, and most other family law matters. Decision-making responsibility and parenting time used to be called custody and access.

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or family dispute resolution processes are different ways or processes that try to get people to agree on their legal issues without going to court. Some of these processes are collaborative family law, mediation, and arbitration.

Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution process or family dispute resolution process where partners meet with a neutral person, called an arbitrator, to solve their issues without going to court. An arbitrator is usually a lawyer. A non-lawyer can also be an arbitrator if they have special family law training. If you and your partner cannot reach an agreement, the arbitrator makes a decision to solve your issues. Their decision is called a family arbitration award.

Assets are money and anything you own that has value and can be exchanged for money. This can include cars, jewellery, property, and investments such as an RRSP or a pension plan.

Balance of probabilities is the standard or legal test of proof usually required in a family law case. The judge has to decide who is more believable - you or your partner.

The "best interests of the child" is a legal test used to decide many things about children. The test is different for different family law issues. For example, when making decisions about decision-making responsibility and parenting time, which used to be called custody and access, some of things the test considers are: the child's physical, emotional, and psychological safety, security, and well-being the relationship between each parent and the child the child's views and wishes, unless there's no way to find out what they are if there's been abuse against any family member or any child

A case conference is a meeting between a judge and you and your partner, and your lawyers if you have any. The purposes of a case conference include: figuring out the issues that need to be solved in your case talking about ways to solve those issues without going to a trial figuring out the information you and your partner need to share

Child support is the amount of money that one parent pays to the other parent to support their child financially. The money is paid to the parent who has the child living with them most of the time. The person who pays child support is called the payor parent. The amount of child support that the payor parent pays is usually based on the Child Support Guidelines.

The Child Support Guidelines are the rules used to calculate how much child support a parent pays to help support their child financially. The Guidelines include amounts of monthly child support that are based on the income of the parent who is paying support and the number of children they have to support. There is a separate table with amounts for each province. The table amounts cover expenses like clothes, food, and basic school supplies. The Guidelines also include special or extraordinary expenses that may be paid in addition to the table amounts.

A Children’s Aid Society (CAS) is a government agency that has a legal duty to make sure that children are protected from harm. In some places in Ontario, these agencies are called Child and Family Services.

A closing statement is a summary of your evidence that you give the judge to tell them why you should get the court order you’re asking for. It can only refer to the evidence that you, your partner, or other witnesses talked about at trial. It cannot contain any new information.

Collaborative family law is an alternative dispute resolution or family dispute resolution process where you and your partner try to solve your issues without going to court. Collaborative family lawyers have special training and agree in writing not to go to court. You and your partner each have your own collaborative family lawyer. They work together with you and your partner to help you agree on your issues. Usually, this happens after many meetings. If you or your partner cannot agree and later decide to go to court, you cannot use your collaborative family lawyers as your lawyers in court.

A common-law relationship is one where partners of the same or opposite sex live together in a marriage-like relationship, without being married. This is sometimes called “cohabiting”. You don’t have to live together for a certain amount of time to be in a common-law relationship. But the law gives different rights to common-law partners depending on how long they’ve lived together or whether they have a child together.

A consent order is a type of court order that is based on what the parties in the court case agree to.

A contact order is a court order that allows a child to have contact with a person who isn't a parent and who doesn't stand in the place of a parent, such as a step-parent. For example, contact can include visits or telephone or webcam calls with a grandparent or an aunt or uncle.

Cost consequences are when one party has to pay some or all of the legal costs of the other party. Legal costs usually include lawyer’s fees. It might also include other costs paid, such as the fee paid to have a pension valued. The court decides when to make a court order for cost consequences. For example, it might order you to pay some of your partner's costs if it made the court order that your partner asked for.

A court order is a decision made by a judge that requires a party to do something or not do something. A court order can be a temporary order or a final order.

Cross-examination is when one party, or their lawyer if they have one, questions the other party’s witnesses. The purpose of cross-examination is to test how true and reliable a witness’ answers are.

The new term for custody is decision-making responsibility for most family law cases. If you have a child protection case, the term custody may still be used. Decision-making responsibility or custody is the right to make important decisions about how to care for and raise a child. It includes the right to make decisions about the child's health, education, religion, and important extra-curricular activities. The parents can agree to or the court can give: one parent all decision-making responsibility, 2 or more parents decision-making responsibility, or different parents separate responsibilities, for example, one parent makes decisions about the child's health and another parent makes decisions

Debts are money that a person owes, for example, a mortgage, line of credit, car loan, etc.

Decision-making responsibility is the right to make important decisions about how to care for and raise a child. It includes the right to make decisions about the child’s health, education, religion, and important extra-curricular activities. Decision-making responsibility used to be called custody. The parents can agree to or the court can give: one parent all decision-making responsibility, 2 or more parents decision-making responsibility, or different parents separate responsibilities, for example, one parent makes decisions about the child’s health and another parent makes decisions about the child’s religion.

Direct examination is when one party, or their lawyer if they have one, questions their own witnesses. These are witnesses you ask to testify or speak in support of your court case. Direct examination is also called examination-in-chief.

Property division is the process of dividing a married couple’s assets and debts. This usually happens after they separate or divorce. Married couples usually share the value of their property. This means that the partner who has more property usually pays money to the partner who has less property. Usually, the property itself is not physically divided. This is not true for people in a common-law relationship. They usually don’t have to share the value of their property if they separate.

A divorce is a court order that ends a marriage legally. Sometimes, you don’t need to go to court, but at least one partner needs to fill out court paperwork to get the divorce order.

Duty counsel are private lawyers or Legal Aid Ontario staff lawyers who give legal help right away to people who appear in court that day without a lawyer if their income is low enough. They give free legal advice and can help negotiate and settle issues, but they can’t take on a whole case or represent a person at trial.

An endorsement is the written directions a judge gives you and your partner that says what you must do or not do. It is usually handwritten and put in your court file. To make an endorsement into a court order, you or your partner prepare a document called a draft order, that you both sign. You must do this if you want an order that is enforceable. This means the court can order you or your partner to do what the court order says. Sometimes the court clerk prepares the draft order.

An ex parte motion, sometimes called an emergency motion, is when you bring an urgent motion without notice to your partner. This means you don’t have to serve your documents on your partner before the judge hears the motion and makes a decision. The reason for not requiring service may be because of immediate safety issues or because the delay would likely lead to something serious happening. You can only bring this type of motion in limited situations. For example, if you feel there is an immediate risk that your partner will seriously harm you or your children, or leave the province or country with your children and not bring them back.

Exclusive possession is a court order that says only one partner can stay in, or return to, the home and the other partner isn’t allowed on the property. If there are children, usually the order also includes that the children are allowed on the property. The order is usually temporary. The court doesn't decide who owns the home or who rented it when deciding which partner can stay in it.

The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) is a government agency that enforces child support and spousal support payments. They collect support directly from the person who has to pay support, keep a record of the amounts paid, and then pay that amount to the person who has to get support. If your partner misses payments, the FRO can take action to enforce your court order or separation agreement on support payments. For example, the FRO can take money from their bank account, suspend their driver's licence, or start a court case that can put them in jail.

Family violence refers to the many different forms of abuse, neglect, or harm that an adult or child may experience in their close, personal relationships. It is also called domestic violence or partner abuse when one partner abuses the other partner.

Filing your court documents means giving your court forms and documents to a court clerk at the courthouse to add to your court file. Every court form you fill out and all relevant documents you want a judge to look at have to be filed in court.

A financial statement is a court form that has details about your income, expenses, assets, and debts. Usually, you and your partner each need to fill out a financial statement form if either of you are asking for a court order for one or all of the following: child support spousal support property division

Independent legal advice (ILA) is when you and your partner get your own legal advice from different lawyers. The advice is independent because each lawyer is only working for one of you. It is important to get ILA before you sign a separation agreement because: a lawyer can tell you how your rights change once you sign the agreement your agreement is less likely to be challenged later a court is more likely to order you and your partner to do what you agreed on in your separation agreement

Most court forms that start a court process have to be issued. For example, your Application form has to be issued to start a court case. Your form is issued when the court clerk gives you a court file number and signs, dates, and applies the court seal to the upper left corner of your original form.

The Mandatory Information Program (MIP) is a program for partners who are separating or divorcing. It gives them information about: family law issues the family court process how separation and divorce affects adults and children ways to resolve issues without going to court local resources and programs In most situations, both partners must attend an MIP before their court case can move forward. The MIP is available at all family court locations across Ontario.

Married means that two people of the same or opposite sex had a marriage ceremony with someone that has the legal power to marry them. A marriage ends only by divorce, annulment, or the death of one of the partners. Being separated is not the same as being divorced.

The matrimonial home is the property that was usually used by married partners as their family home at the time they separated. There can be more than one matrimonial home. Common-law partners cannot have a matrimonial home.

Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution or family dispute resolution process where partners meet with a neutral person, called a mediator, to try to solve their issues without going to court. A mediator is a person trained to help you agree on your issues without taking sides. Some lawyers, social workers, and other professionals are trained to be mediators. A mediator won’t decide anything and won’t force you or your partner to agree to anything. But, they try and help you speak with each other about your issues and understand each other's position. Their goal is to help you both compromise and come to an agreement.

Minutes of settlement is a document you and your partner sign that describes how you’ve decided to solve your issues. It can be used to get a consent order.

A motion to change is the court process you go through when you want a judge to change a court order or separation agreement that has been filed with the court. Sometimes a motion to change is also called a variation.

A non-removal order is an order a court makes to prevent one or both parents from taking their child out of a specified area, for example, the country or province.

An offer to settle is a written document that is sent by one party to the other party that says what they are willing to agree to in order to settle all or part of the issues.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer (OCL) is the government-funded office that represents children under the age of 18 in some court cases. The OCL is not automatically involved in court cases dealing with decision-making responsibility and parenting time, which used to be called custody and access. They have to agree to accept your case. The OCL has clinicians and lawyers across Ontario. OCL clinicians, who are usually social workers, prepare reports about a child's needs, views, and wishes. OCL lawyers represent children in court.

An opening statement is what you tell the judge when your case starts. In it, you give the judge a summary of the: issues your case is about court orders you’re asking for evidence you will present to support the orders you want

A parenting order is a type of court order that deals with: Decision-making responsibility or who has the right to make important decisions about how to care for and raise a child. This used to be called custody. Parenting time or who has the right to spend time with a child. This used to be called access. Now, all parents usually have parenting time. Anything else that the court thinks is suitable. For example, the court may order that parents use an online program or journal to communicate about their child. The court makes the parenting order based on what’s in the best interests of the child.

A parenting plan is a written agreement between parents who have separated or divorced that says how they will care for their children. For example, a parenting plan can say which parent is responsible for making decisions about their child’s dental care, how they will handle emergencies, and how much time the child will spend with each parent. The plan can be a separate document or can be included as part of a separation agreement or court order.

Parenting time is the time that a child spends in the care of a parent. All parents usually have parenting time. And a person who stands in the place of a parent, such as a step-parent, may also get it. Parenting time used to be called access. Parenting time can be on a strict schedule, such as every other weekend, or on a flexible schedule. In some cases, it might be supervised, which means someone else like a Children's Aid Society worker or relative, watches the visit. A person who has parenting time usually also has the right to information about the child’s well-being, such as information about their health and education.

Parties are the people or organizations directly involved in a court case, contract, agreement, or other legal matter. For example, a party can be one person or a group of two or more people, a corporation, or an agency like the Family Responsibility Office. In most family law cases, both partners are parties but the children are not parties.

A procedural order is an order for something that helps move your case along. For example, an order that has a timeline for you and your partner to exchange certain documents, or an order that gives you more time to file documents with the court.

A process server is someone who is in the business of serving or giving documents to a party involved in a court case. To find process servers in your area, look in the yellow pages or visit www.canada411.ca and search for "process server".

To serve a document by regular service means you have to give a copy of that document to your partner or their lawyer by either: mail courier fax document exchange email There are rules about how to serve a document by regular service that depend on how you serve the document. For example, you can serve a document by electronic document exchange or email only if the person you are serving agrees or you have a court order that allows you to serve documents this way. Most documents can be served by regular service. In some cases, such as when you are starting a court case, you have to serve your document by special service.

A restraining order is a court order that says a person cannot go near one or more specific people, or restricts communication with them. For example, it can say: your partner cannot come within 500 meters of you and your children, or your partner cannot communicate with you or your children except through an agency or another person

To separate is when at least one partner decides to end their marriage or common-law relationship, and starts to behave in a way that shows they want to end the relationship. They only have to want to live "separate and apart" from their partner to legally separate. Separation and divorce are two different things.

A separation agreement, sometimes called a domestic contract, is a written contract that partners can make after they have separated or divorced that says how they will deal with their issues. For example, it can say how much spousal support and child support one partner will pay the other, and who will make decisions and spend time with the children. A separation agreement can deal with some or all of your family law issues.

Serving is when one party in a court case gives their forms or documents to the other party in a way that is allowed by court rules. There are 2 main ways to serve documents – regular service and special service.

A settlement conference is a meeting between a judge and you and your partner, and your lawyers if you have any. The purposes of a settlement conference include: talking about ways to solve those issues without going to a trial if possible, obtaining the judge’s view of how the court might decide the case thinking about any matter that may help solve the case

Shared parenting time is when children live at least 40% of the time with each parent. It used to be called shared care or shared custody. Shared parenting time may affect how much child support is paid.

Special or extraordinary expenses are a type of child support that is paid in addition to the table amounts of monthly child support set out in the Child Support Guidelines. The table amounts cover expenses like clothes, food, and basic school supplies. Special or extraordinary expenses cover things like daycare or university costs. These expenses must be reasonable given the family’s financial situation and necessary because they are in the child’s best interests. Both parents usually share these expenses in proportion to their incomes.

To serve a document by special service means you have to give a copy of that document to your partner by either: giving the copy directly to your partner in person giving the copy directly to your partner’s lawyer giving the copy to an adult living at the same home as your partner and also mailing a copy of the document your partner’s address within one day mail

Split parenting time, which used to be called split custody, is where parents who have separated or divorced have: more than one child together, and each parent has one or more of their children living with them most of the time. Split parenting time may affect how much child support is paid.

Spousal support is money paid by one partner to the other partner after they separate or divorce. Spousal support is not automatic. The partner asking for spousal support must show that they have a legal right to spousal support. If spousal support is paid, the partner with the higher income almost always pays support to the partner with the lower income. There are Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines that help lawyers and judges calculate how much and how long support needs to be paid. There is also an online tool that can give you a basic idea of how much and how long support needs to be paid.

The new term for supervised access is supervised parenting time for most family law cases. If you have a child protection case, the term supervised access may still be used. Supervised parenting time is a kind of parenting time when someone else watches a parent's visits with their child. This might be another relative like the child's grandparent or uncle, or it might be someone from an agency like the Children's Aid Society. The purpose of supervised parenting time is usually to make sure the child is safe.

Supervised parenting time is a kind of parenting time when someone else watches a parent's visits with their child. This might be another relative like the child's grandparent or uncle, or it might be someone from an agency like the Children's Aid Society. The purpose of supervised parenting time is usually to make sure the child is safe. Supervised parenting time is sometimes called supervised access.

A temporary order is an order that lasts until: another temporary order is made the period of time, or event, that the order deals with ends a final order is made

A trial management conference is a meeting between a judge and you and your partner, and your lawyers if you have any. The purposes of a trial management conference include: talking about ways to solve those issues without going to a trial deciding how the trial will proceed if you cannot solve your issues setting a trial date, if this has not already been don

A variation is a change to a court order or other legal document. Sometimes the court process that asks for a variation is also called a motion to change.