Difference between revisions of "Simple Divorce Procedure: Step by Step (3:VI)"

'''Service by a friend:''' The friend should know the respondent, but not be involved in the divorce in any way. When the friend serves the respondent, the friend should ask whether the respondent is Mr./Ms./Mx. X, and ask for identification. It would be helpful, although not mandatory, to give the friend a picture of the respondent. The friend will then have to swear an affidavit of personal service and say how they identified the spouse (''Supreme Court Family Rules'', r. 6-3).  

*Asking friends of the respondent about his current address; or

'''Step 6:''' Once the time for the respondent to file a Response to Family Claim has expired, the spouse applying for the divorce must swear an affidavit. The affidavit will need to be sworn before a notary public, the registry staff ($40), or a lawyer. The time limit for filing a Response to Family Claim orCounterclaim, is 30 days, or, in the case of a substitution service order, such time as the order provides for the filing of a Response to Family Claim or Counterclaim.  

*f) An affidavit, sworn within 30 days of the date on which the application is made, in support of the application (Form F38). This affidavit must be sworn after the time for the respondent to file a Response to Family Claim has expired (no earlier than one year after the date of separation if the ground of divorce is that the spouses have lived separate and apart for one year). Th affidavit include proof of the allegations made regarding the breakdown of the marriage or (in the case where the only ground of divorce is that the spouses have lived one year separate and apart) a sworn statement that the facts in the Notice of Family Claim are true;  

*d) One affidavit in support of the application, sworn after the time for the respondent to file a Response has expired, which includes proof of the allegations made regarding the breakdown of the marriage;   

'''Step 4:''' Complete Steps 9 and 10 above.  

In circumstances where the respondent in a divorce action is living outside Canada, '''and''' is willing to go to the [https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/embassies-consulates Canadian Consulate office] nearest to where they live in order to accept service, the Consul will serve the respondent at that office, for a fee. However, this form of service requires the respondent’s cooperation, as they must be willing to attend at the consular office personally when notified by its staff to do so.  

*A copy of the Notice of Family Claim ;  

*A partially completed Affidavit of Service (Form F15);  

*Exhibit “A” to the Affidavit of Service (i.e. a copy of the Notice of Family Claim); OR  

*If the country in which the respondent lives is a contracting state under the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, the respondent can be served using Forms F12, F13, and F14.  See the Supreme Court Family Rule 6-5 for more details.  

 

The client may then serve the documents outside of Canada. The Department of Authentication of Documents will help serve the documents. Their mailing address is:   

Under Rule 8-1 of the ''Supreme Court Family Rules'', a party may amend their pleadings. A party may amend an originating process or pleading issued or filed by the party at any time with leave of the Court, and, subject to Rules 8-2(7), 8-2(9) and 9-6(5):  

Unless the Court otherwise orders, where a party amends a document under 8-1(1), the party shall deliver copies of the amended document to all the parties of record within seven days after its amendment and, where service is required under 8-1(4), the party shall serve copies on the persons required to be served as soon as reasonably possible and before taking any further step in the proceeding.