Family Lawyer in Ottawa

Ottawa is one of only 25 locations in Ontario with a Family Court, a branch of the Superior Court of Justice created by section 21.1 of the Courts of Justice Act. The Ministry describes it as the only court in Ontario that can hear all types of family law case.

Where there is no Family Court branch, jurisdiction splits. The Superior Court alone hears divorce, division of family property and claims relating to the family home. The Ontario Court of Justice alone hears adoption and child protection. Both hear parenting, child support and spousal support. Neither Toronto nor Brampton is a Family Court site, so a case there can involve two courts.

The Ottawa Courthouse is at 161 Elgin Street, 2nd Floor. The family counter is on 613-239-1274. Court offices are open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and counter service runs from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Rule 5 of the Family Law Rules decides the municipality. You generally start the case where you or your spouse lives, or where the children live if parenting time or decision-making responsibility is in issue. Living in Ottawa does not automatically mean the case belongs here.

Under section 126 (4) of the Courts of Justice Act, a party who speaks French has the right to require the proceeding to be conducted as a bilingual one. Hearings are then presided over by a judge who speaks both languages, and evidence and submissions given in either language are received, recorded and transcribed in the language they were given in. The right exists everywhere in Ontario, and raising it at the outset matters, because it governs which judge can preside.

A separation does not require a court file at all. Property, support and parenting can be settled in a written separation agreement, with independent legal advice on each side. A Family Court file is what you need when agreement fails, when something is urgent, or when you need an order a contract cannot give you, such as the divorce itself.