The role of a divorce lawyer is to assist you in determining what legal process would be most efficient to resolve the legal issues arising from the breakdown of your marriage and to help you navigate that process.

Depending on your circumstances, this may include assisting you with parenting, support, and/or property issues, or may be limited to formalizing the end of the relationship through a divorce application.

Your Barrie divorce lawyers at Chapman Steffler LLP will help you negotiate spousal support, child custody (now referred to as parenting time), represent you in family court (if needed), and more. We understand this is a difficult time for you and your family; as your family lawyer in Barrie, we bring extensive experience, dedication, and a caring approach to ensure that all your family law matters reach the best outcome possible. 

For a simple, uncontested divorce, once the application for divorce has been issued by the court, a copy of the application must be served on the other party, and the other party then has 30 days to respond to the application (or 60 days if served outside Canada and the US).

If the other party does not respond to oppose the divorce, the remaining paperwork required for the divorce can then be filed after that 30 days (or 60 days) has passed. The longest part of the divorce process is often waiting to receive the signed Divorce Order from the court after all of these documents can be filed. Depending on how busy the court is, this can take a few weeks to several months.

For simple, uncontested divorces, we charge for our services on a flat-fee basis, with this fee covering all of the typical costs of obtaining the Divorce Order, including the time required to prepare the necessary documents and the court filing fees.

If there are complicating factors, such as if the other party does not cooperate with service and must be served personally, or if you were married outside of Canada and certified translation of your marriage certificate is needed, or if the other party contests the divorce, this adds to the cost and time required to finalize the divorce.

It is not mandatory to have a lawyer to apply for a divorce. However, the divorce process requires the preparation and proper service and filing of various documents, which can be confusing and, if these are not completed properly, the divorce may be held up. Having a lawyer assist with the divorce helps to make the process go more smoothly.

Separation agreements usually address the costs of a divorce application, and parties often agree to share the costs equally. Otherwise, the costs of the divorce are typically paid by whichever party starts the divorce application.

Our lawyers can assist you throughout the divorce process by completing the necessary paperwork, arranging service and filing, and communicating with you to make sure you understand the process and are kept up-to-date on its progress.