Divorce is initiated by an agreed request of both spouses or by a lawsuit of one of them according to Ottawa family lawyers.

The husband has no right to sue for divorce during wife’s pregnancy and until the child reaches one year of age.

Spouses may agree on the following legal consequences of divorce; the child’s place of residence, family house or apartment that will represent the family home, the manner of exercising parental care and establishing personal relations with the child, child support, arranging property relations and supporting the spouse.

The spouse agreement relating to joint minor children and children incapable of work is part of the joint parental care plan.

Divorce of a person deprived of legal capacity

A person deprived of legal capacity also has the right to sue for divorce, i.e. a proposal for an amicable divorce in the part relating to personal conditions.

In the proceedings, the court will allow the person deprived of legal capacity in the part relating to personal conditions, to take some or all actions in the proceedings independently, provided that he is able to understand the meaning and legal consequences of these actions.

Mandatory counseling

Spouses who have minor children together are obliged to participate in the procedure of compulsory counseling conducted by the social welfare center before initiating court proceedings for divorce.

The purpose of compulsory counseling is to acquaint spouses with the possibility of referral to family or marital counseling, acquaintance with the legal and psychosocial consequences of divorce, referral for the benefit of the child when making decisions in divorce disputes, informing about the development of a plan of joint parental care, drawing up a plan, as well as getting acquainted with the possibility of family mediation.

Family mediation

Family mediation is a procedure in which spouses participate voluntarily and try to resolve a dispute from family relations by mutual consent. The main purpose of mediation is to draw up a plan for joint parental care. In the mediation procedure, the parties may agree on all other disputed issues of a property and non-property nature.

If spouses who have minor children together have not reached a plan for joint parental care in the compulsory counseling procedure, they are obliged to participate in the first meeting of family mediation, except in cases of allegations of domestic violence and assessment of impossibility of equal participation in family mediation.

Joint Parental Care Plan

A plan for joint parental care is a written agreement by which the parents agreed on the joint realization of parental care upon the termination of the joint life.

The plan can be drawn up independently, during compulsory counseling or during family mediation. The plan may be submitted to the court for review and approval, in order to acquire the status of an enforceable document.

In case of failure to reach an agreement, the court makes a decision on parental care, determines the opinion of the child and appoints a special guardian for the child who will represent the child in a divorce lawsuit. A person in the Center for Special Custody is appointed as a special guardian.

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