Fees
Fees,
Disbursements, Procedure and Timing for Uncontested Divorce
DEFINITION OF UNCONTESTED DIVORCE:
An uncontested divorce is one in which no relief is being requested
other than a divorce, or the terms of the relief have already been settled
by a Separation Agreement or Court Order. There would also be no problem in locating and serving the other spouse.
If the parties have agreed to settlement terms but there are no written Separation Agreements or Court
Orders, no issues as to property or financial
disclosure, the case would be considered an uncontested divorce. In that case, however, there would be an extra charge to draft Minutes
of Settlement setting out the terms of the agreement between the parties.
SOLICITOR’s FEE:
$900.00 plus GST of $45.00 This fee includes:
(a) advising the client as to his/her rights and obligations under the
Divorce Act and the Family Law Act;
(b) drafting, signing, issuing and serving the Application for divorce;
(c) preparing documentation to obtain the Divorce Order;
(d) preparing the documentation to obtain a Certificate of Divorce;
(e) reporting to the client.
| Disbursements |
|
| Issue Application for divorce |
$167.00 |
| Service of Application for divorce (if required) |
$32.00 |
| File Continuing Record to obtain Divorce Order |
$280.00 |
| Certificate of Divorce |
$19.00 |
| Court filing |
$52.00 |
| Photocopying and postage |
$15.00 |
| Marriage Certificate (if original not available) |
$22.00 |
|
$587.00 | TOTAL FEES, DISBURSEMENTS & GST (approx) $1,532.00
PAYMENT OF FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS:
A payment of $850.00 is required at the time of signing the Application for
divorce. The balance of the fees and disbursements is required at the
time of signing the Affidavit for the Divorce Order.
PROCEDURE & TIMING TO OBTAIN AN UNCONTESTED DIVORCE
- Client phones the lawyer with information to draft Application for
divorce (day 1)
- Client signs the Application for divorce (day 4)
- Court issues the Application for divorce (day 6)
- Spouse is served with Application for divorce (day 8)
- Lawyer applies for Divorce Order (30 days after spouse is served
if served in Ontario, 50 days if outside of Ontario)
- Client receives Divorce Order directly from Court (approximately
1-2 weeks after applying, provided there is a Central Divorce Registry
Clearance Certificate). Lawyer applies for Certificate of Divorce
(31 days after judge signs Divorce Order which is approximately
1 week from the applying for Divorce Order)
- Client receives Certificate of Divorce from lawyer (approximately
1 week after lawyer’s application for the Certificate of Divorce)
An uncontested divorce may therefore be obtained within three months after contacting the lawyer. This can be delayed if the Central
Divorce Registry Clearance Certificate has not been received when applying for the
divorce order. This search is controlled by the Court and not the
lawyer.
