DivorceFiling for Divorce in Nova ScotiaQ- What court do I use to get a divorce?
In the Halifax Regional Municipality, and Cape Breton, you petition or apply for divorce at the Supreme Court (Family Division). In all other areas of Nova Scotia, you petition or apply for divorce at the Supreme Court. The rules, forms and procedures in the Supreme Court (Family Division) are somewhat different from the Supreme Court. Q- Can either spouse petition for divorce?
Yes. Either spouse can petition for divorce based on one year's separation but only a spouse who did not commit adultery or cruelty can petition for divorce on those grounds. The spouse who files the Petition for Divorce is called the petitioner. The other spouse is called the respondent. Q- I don't like the idea of petitioning my spouse for divorce. I want us to do it together. Is this possible?
Yes. If you are petitioning for a divorce based on one year's separation, and have agreed on everything relating to your divorce, you can apply for an uncontested divorce together. In a Joint Petition for Divorce, the spouse listed first on the divorce petition is called the petitioner and the other spouse is called the co-petitioner, rather than the respondent. If you decide to apply as co-petitioners, you do not have to serve the Petition for Divorce on your spouse, since he or she is co-signing the Petition for Divorce. Q-I was married outside of Canada. Can I get divorced in Canada?
Yes. You can petition for divorce in a province if either you or your spouse has lived in that province for at least a year immediately before you file the Petition for Divorce. You will need to obtain an original marriage certificate from the place you married. Q- I just moved to Nova Scotia. Can I petition for divorce here?
You can only petition for divorce in Nova Scotia if you or your spouse has lived in Nova Scotia for at least a year. If you just moved to Nova Scotia from another province, and your spouse has lived in his or her province for at least a year, you can ask your spouse to petition for divorce instead. Q- I don't know where my spouse is. Can I still get a divorce?
Yes. First you should do everything you can to find your spouse. You can call friends or relatives to try to locate him or her. There are also companies that specialize in locating people in order to give them documents. Look in your Yellow Pages under Tracing Bureaus or Bailiffs. If you still cannot locate your spouse, you can apply to a judge for a substituted service order. This is a court order that tells you what you must do to make sure your spouse is aware that you have petitioned for divorce. The judge will want to know that you have made every reasonable effort to find your spouse before he or she will grant a substituted service order. Q- My spouse and I want to try to make our marriage work. Can I put the divorce on hold?
Yes. Divorce law encourages spouses to reconcile (get back together) if at all possible. Once the Petition for Divorce is filed, the petitioner has 60 days to serve it on the respondent. If it is not served, the court allows up to six months for the petitioner to apply for an extension. If the petition is not served within six months, the court discontinues it. If you wish to restart the divorce after six months, you will need to either file a new petition for divorce (and pay a new fee) or apply to the court to re-activate the old petition. You can get back together any number of times without affecting your date of separation as long as the total number of days that you live together as spouses does not exceed 90 days. If you get back together for more than 90 days and then file for divorce again, your separation date changes to the date your last reconciliation ended. A change in your separation date may affect your division of property as well. You can find a marriage counsellor or family therapist by looking in the Yellow Pages under Marriage, Family and Individual Counsellors, or Psychologists. Q- My spouse and I just got back together. Can I cancel the divorce?
If your divorce was finalized you cannot cancel or revoke it, but you can re-marry. If the divorce is not final, the petitioner (but not the respondent) can stop the divorce by filing a Notice of Discontinuance. You should send a copy of the Notice of Discontinuance to your spouse. If you discontinue the divorce and later decide to restart it, you will need to issue another Petition for Divorce and pay the fee again. Q- What's the difference between a contested divorce and an uncontested divorce?
A divorce is contested if one spouse disagrees with the other on the grounds for the divorce, or on custody, access, support, or division of property and debts. A contested divorce requires a trial before a judge, who will decide whatever issues the spouses cannot agree on. An uncontested divorce is one in which the spouses agree on the grounds for the divorce (usually one year's separation) as well as custody, access, support, division of property and debts. The spouses file the necessary forms with the court and a judge reviews the forms in his or her office. There is usually no need for a court hearing. Q- How do I get an uncontested divorce?
There are many steps and this process can be complicated. You should consider hiring a lawyer to do this for you. If you cannot afford a lawyer, it is possible to prepare the necessary documents yourself but representing yourself in any court proceeding, even an uncontested proceeding, has its risks. Your divorce will have a permanent impact on your life, including your rights and obligations. Judges and court officers cannot give you legal advice. Make sure you understand the risks involved before you decide to do-it-yourself. If you do decide to do-it-yourself, these are the steps you should follow: 1. Prepare and file a Petition for Divorce with the Supreme Court (Family Division) in HRM or Cape Breton, or with the Supreme Court, outside HRM or Cape Breton. 2. Have the Petition served (personally given to) your spouse by another adult, who will then swear an affidavit of service. An affidavit is a sworn, written statement. You can hire someone serve the Petition for Divorce and prepare an affidavit of service for you. Look in your Yellow Pages under Bailiffs. A friend or family member can also do this but the Divorce Act does not allow you to serve your spouse yourself. If you and your spouse are Co-petitioners, you do not need to serve the Petition for Divorce on your spouse, because both spouses sign the Petition for Divorce. 3. Order a long form marriage certificate from the Department of Vital Statistics in the province, state, or country where you married. You will need to file the certificate with the court. You do not get it back. 4. Each spouse must gather up copies of his or her last three income tax returns and Notices of Assessment or Reassessment along with copies of all current financial documents, such as bank statements, investments, etc. 5. Exchange financial information with your spouse. Each of you should receive full financial disclosure from the other spouse of all of your assets, debts, and financial affairs. 6. You and your spouse must agree on custody, access, support, and division of property and debts. The court cannot process a divorce if you have not reached agreement on all issues. If you need help reaching agreement, consider hiring a family mediator. 7. Once you have agreed on everything, you and your spouse should sign a separation agreement setting out how you decided to deal with custody, access, support and division of property and debts. The separation agreement should be in writing, signed and dated by each spouse. Each spouse should sign in the presence of an adult witness (it does not have to be the same person for both spouses), and the witness should then sign the separation agreement to show that he or she witnessed it. Both spouses should get legal advice before signing the separation agreement. 8. If you are seeking the divorce based on one year's separation, you must wait until the full year has passed before asking the court to grant your divorce. 9. Once a year has passed since you separated, you will need to prepare the documents to apply for an uncontested divorce. You need to sign some of the documents, and your spouse needs to sign some of the documents. There are several places you can go to get the forms you will need: a. They are available for free in editable Word format on the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society website
b. The forms are also available on disk with a brief instruction book from the Supreme Court (Family Division) in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton, and from the Supreme Court elsewhere in Nova Scotia. There is a small fee for this kit. Visit www.courts.ns.ca for court contact information;
c. You can hire a lawyer to prepare the forms for you. If you already have a signed separation agreement, this should not be very expensive. 10. If you decide to complete the documents yourself, you should have a lawyer review them before you file them with the court. 11. File the necessary documents with the court and wait for the court to grant your divorce. This usually takes about three months. Make sure you send copies of everything filed with the court to your spouse. 12. When the court grants your divorce, you must wait 31 days from the date on your Divorce Judgment, then write to the court to request a Certificate of Divorce. You will need the Certificate of Divorce to remarry. 13. Make sure you have divided all of your property and review your financial affairs in light of your divorce. Read the After the Divorce is Final section of this website for more information. Q-How long will it take to get an uncontested divorce?
It depends. Either spouse may petition for divorce as soon as you separate, but a court will only grant a divorce after you have been separated for one year, unless the spouse seeking the divorce can prove the other spouse committed adultery or intolerable cruelty. It often takes 12-18 months for spouses reach agreement on all of the issues relating to their separation, such as custody, access, support, and division of their property and debts. Some spouses reach agreement sooner than this; others take longer. Once you and your spouse have been separated for a year, and have reached agreement on all issues, you can apply for an uncontested divorce. If you filled out all the forms correctly and provided all of the necessary information, it takes about three months for the court to process the forms and grant an uncontested divorce. Once the divorce is granted, it does not become final until another 31 days have passed. Once 31 days have passed since a divorce was granted, either spouse may apply to the court for a Certificate of Divorce. The total amount of time is usually around 18-24 months. Q-How much does it cost to get an uncontested divorce in Nova Scotia?
If you and your spouse have already agreed on everything and you decide to hire a lawyer to provide independent legal advice and prepare a separation agreement and the necessary forms, you can expect to spend about $1,500.00 - $3,000.00 for legal fees plus $262.30 to file the Petition for Divorce and $28.50 for a Law Stamp. There will also be some office expenses (photocopies, postage, couriers, etc.) These expenses are called disbursements. You or your lawyer may also need to arrange to serve your spouse with the Petition for Divorce. This costs about $50.00 - $80.00 if your spouse lives in the same community. Generally, it costs more to hire a senior lawyer than a junior one. If you are concerned about the cost, ask about the lawyer's hourly rate, and whether there is a junior lawyer at the firm who can help with the paperwork to save money. In addition to this, the other spouse will need to obtain independent legal advice from a different lawyer. If the separation agreement is fair to both spouses and no major changes are necessary, this will cost a few hundred dollars. Contested divorces will cost much more. Q- I can't afford the court filing fees. Is there a program to help me?
Yes. Low income Nova Scotians can ask the court for a Waiver of Fees application. You will need to provide proof of your income. Q- Can I get my spouse to help me pay for an uncontested divorce?
In an uncontested divorce, usually each spouse pays his or her own legal costs. The Petitioner pays the court filing fees and other court-related costs. Sometimes spouses agree to share these costs. Q- How long will it take if my divorce is contested?
The vast majority of spouses are able to eventually settle their divorces without the need of a trial, but even where spouses are able to settle all of the issues arising from their separation, it can take 12-18 months to do so. If a divorce trial is necessary, it will probably take two or three years to finalize your divorce. Q- How much does a contested divorce cost?
The cost is entirely dependent on how reasonable the spouses are with each other and how complicated the issues are. If both sides hire lawyers and reach agreement quickly, it may only cost a few thousand dollars each for legal fees. If one or both spouses are unreasonable, or if there are complicated issues to resolve, it may cost each spouse $5,000.00 or more in legal fees even if the spouses eventually reach agreement. If the spouses cannot reach agreement and a divorce trial is necessary, it will probably cost each spouse a minimum of $5,000.00 and can cost $20,000.00 or even $40,000.00+ in complicated cases. These are general figures. You should ask your lawyer for an estimate as to how much your divorce will cost. Q- Can I ask the court to change my name?
Yes. Your petition for divorce should indicate that you are seeking a name change and the new name you want to use. Your Application for Judgment should confirm that you are seeking a name change and your Divorce Judgment should contain a paragraph relating to the name change. See the specific forms for more details. You can return to using your unmarried name or a previous married name at any time, without waiting for a court order. After you change your name, you will need to change your identification and inform all of the government offices, agencies, and businesses you deal with. If you changed your name in your Divorce Judgment, you can show a copy of the Judgment as proof. If you changed your name informally, you can use your birth certificate or previous marriage certificate as proof of your previous name. Q- I want to change my children's names, too. How do I do this?
In an uncontested divorce, the court will only change your children's names with the consent of both spouses. You will need to obtain a written consent from your spouse and file it with your Application for Judgment. You should also include a paragraph in the Application for Judgment explaining what the children's names are, what you want the names changed to, and confirming that both spouses consent to the name change. If the court orders the children's names changed, the custodial parent should inform the children's schools, doctors, and other organizations of the change. Q- I need help with the forms. Where can I go?
In HRM and Sydney you can meet with a Summary Advice Lawyer at the Supreme Court (Family Division). The Summary Advice Lawyers provide brief , basic legal advice free of charge. In the Halifax area call 424-5616, and in the Sydney area call 563-2200. The Family Law Information Centres (FLICs) at the courts offer free Do-it-Yourself divorce workshops. Contact the FLIC in Sydney at 563-5761 or in Halifax at 424-5232 for further information. Call the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia at (902) 455-3135 in the Halifax Regional Municipality or toll-free outside metro at 1-800-665-9779 to find out where to go for more information. Check out these Other Resources. Neither court staff nor LISNS staff can give legal advice. Only a lawyer can give you legal advice. return to top of page
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