How to Legally Change Your Name in Nunavut
In Nunavut you change your name by applying to the Nunavut Court of Justice under the Change of Name Act. You need one year of residence, age 19, a $10 filing fee, an affidavit, and a Sheriff's certificate.
Getting Divorced in Canada Checklist
The admin checklist for ending a marriage in Canada, in order: the court filing under the Divorce Act, telling the CRA, and updating your will, power of attorney, and legal name.
Applies in: CA
The short answer
A divorce in Canada ends a marriage through a court order, and the admin work around it runs in a fixed order. Only a married couple can get a divorce, and only a court can grant one, under the federal Divorce Act. At least one spouse must have resided in a Canadian province or territory for at least one year before applying, and the marriage must have broken down in one of the three ways the Act states: one year of living separate and apart, cruelty, or adultery. The items below walk that order: the filing, the wait for the order to take effect, telling the Canada Revenue Agency, and updating the documents that still name your former spouse. This checklist describes process only. It gives no legal advice, no advice on custody, parenting, support, or property, and no advice about whether a divorce, a separation agreement, or any other step suits your situation. Family-law advice about your own circumstances comes from a family lawyer.
Before you file
1. Get family-law advice about your own situation
Family law can be complicated. The Justice Canada fact sheet states that it is a good idea to consult a lawyer about family law issues even for a single meeting, and that provincial and territorial bar associations offer lawyer referral services, some of which provide a brief consultation for free or at a reduced rate. Our filing guide carries the same point and the same sources, and it is the guide to read before deciding anything this checklist describes.
2. Confirm the ground and the residence rule
Two federal conditions must hold before anything is filed. At least one spouse must have resided in a Canadian province or territory for at least one year before applying. If neither spouse lives in Canada, a divorce under the Divorce Act is not available, although Justice Canada notes limited circumstances under the Civil Marriage Act. The second condition is breakdown of the marriage, shown in one of three ways: the spouses have separated and lived apart for at least one year, cruelty, or adultery. Where the ground is separation, you do not have to wait to apply as long as you are living apart when you apply, but the divorce cannot be granted until you have lived apart for at least one year. All of this is stated on the Justice Canada fact sheet, and our filing guide walks the same conditions in full.
3. Look at mediation and family justice services before going to court
Your province or territory may have family justice services, such as mediation, that can help you and your spouse work out some or all of the issues before you go to court, as the Justice Canada fact sheet states it. This item points at the filing guide rather than at a mediation-career guide: our filing guide describes the family justice services route as part of the court process, while our guide to becoming a mediator describes the career, not the service. Whether mediation fits your situation is a question for the family-law advice in item 1, not for this checklist.
Filing
4. File the application, serve it, and get the order and the certificate
To get a divorce, submit an application to a court in the province or territory where you or your spouse resides. Divorce application forms and procedures vary from one province or territory to another. Our filing guide covers the court process only: the application shapes, the documents the court asks for, filing, service, and the order and certificate at the end. In most cases a divorce takes effect 31 days after the judge grants it, and the divorce certificate comes from the court that processed the divorce. If you are not sure which court processed it, the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings may be able to give you the court's address and a reference number. The filing guide states the fee figures it verified for Ontario only; no fee figure for any other province is stated here, because no other province's fee schedule could be verified.
After the order
5. Tell the Canada Revenue Agency your marital status changed
You must tell the Canada Revenue Agency about your new marital status by the end of the following month after your status changed. If you are separated, do not tell the Agency until you have been separated for more than 90 days because of a breakdown in the relationship. You can change it online through your CRA account or by sending Form RC65, Marital Status Change. The Agency recalculates benefit and credit payments from your new adjusted family net income, and it will not share your new marital status with other government departments. Our Canada Child Benefit guide also states the RC65 route and the reporting duty for a change in marital status, and our CRA My Account guide walks the online account the update runs through.
6. Check whether the change affects your Employment Insurance
A change in work or income around a separation can change an Employment Insurance claim, and the claim rules are the place to check that, not this checklist. Our Employment Insurance benefits guide walks the benefit streams, the application route, and the reporting duties. This checklist states no EI amount or eligibility figure, because no EI figure was verified on a linked page.
7. Make a new will
A divorce does not rewrite a will. If your existing will names your former spouse, the document that replaces it is a new will made under your province or territory's rules. Our guide to making a will in Canada walks the process, and the province will guides carry the province-specific steps. This checklist states no rule about what a divorce does to an existing will, because that rule is provincial law and no province's wills page could be verified.
8. Review your power of attorney
A power of attorney that names your former spouse as attorney is another document to review once the divorce is final. Our guide to making a power of attorney in Canada walks the process and the choices the document carries. This checklist states no rule about what a divorce does to an existing power of attorney, because that rule is provincial law and no province's page could be verified.
9. Change your legal name if you want your former name back
A divorce does not itself change your legal name. Changing it runs through your province or territory's legal-name-change process, with its own application, documents, and fee. Our guide to changing your legal name in Canada walks that process. This checklist states no name-change fee or processing time, because no province's name-change fee page could be verified.
What the linked pages do not state
No court fee figure for any province other than Ontario is stated in this checklist, because no other province's fee schedule could be verified. The filing guide carries the Ontario figures it verified. No processing-time figure for a divorce application is stated, because no court page publishes one. No separation-agreement content is stated, because separation agreements run under provincial law and this checklist covers the federal divorce process and the admin updates around it. No rule is stated about what a divorce does to an existing will or power of attorney, because those rules are provincial and no province's page could be verified. Recheck the court forms and fees pages for your province on the day you file, because the court page governs over this summary.
Related guides
Work the checklist in order, in five moves
- Confirm the ground and the residence ruleAt least one spouse must have resided in a Canadian province or territory for at least one year before applying, and the marriage must have broken down in one of the three ways the Divorce Act states.
- File the application in the right courtOnly a court can grant a divorce. The application goes to a court in the province or territory where you or your spouse resides, and that province or territory's forms and procedures govern the filing.
- Wait for the order to take effect, then get the certificateIn most cases a divorce takes effect 31 days after the judge grants it. The divorce certificate comes from the court that processed the divorce.
- Tell the CRA your marital status changedTell the Canada Revenue Agency by the end of the month after the month your status changed, online through My Account or on Form RC65, Marital Status Change.
- Update the documents that still name your former spouseA new will, a reviewed power of attorney, and a legal-name change each run through their own process, and each is covered by its own guide below.
Questions people ask
Do I have to be separated for a year before I can apply for a divorce?
No. Where the ground is one year of living separate and apart, you do not have to wait to apply, as long as you and your spouse are living apart when you apply. The divorce itself cannot be granted until you have lived apart for at least one year. Applications based on cruelty or adultery can be made at any time. Living together again for up to 90 days in an effort to reconcile does not interrupt a separation-based application, as the [Justice Canada fact sheet](https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact4-fiches4.html) states it.
Can anyone other than a court grant a divorce?
No. Divorce is the legal process a married couple must go through to end a marriage, and only a court can grant one. The [Justice Canada fact sheet](https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact4-fiches4.html) states that provincial or territorial laws apply to married couples who separate without applying for a divorce, and to unmarried couples who separate. A separation agreement is not a divorce, and this checklist does not describe how to make one.
What happens if we try living together again after separating?
If you applied for a divorce based on a one-year separation, you can live together again for up to 90 days in an effort to reconcile. If things do not work out, you can continue the action for a divorce as if you had never spent that time together, as the [Justice Canada fact sheet](https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact4-fiches4.html) states it. The 90 days is the limit the fact sheet gives, so a longer reunion is a different situation, and the filing guide is the place to check what it changes.
When does the divorce take effect, and how do I prove it?
In most cases a divorce takes effect 31 days after the judge grants the divorce. After the court grants the divorce, the former spouses can request a divorce certificate confirming the divorce and the date it took effect, as the [Justice Canada fact sheet](https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact4-fiches4.html) states it. To get a copy of a divorce certificate, contact the court that processed the divorce. The Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings cannot give you a copy, but it may be able to give you the address of the court and a reference number.
When do I tell the Canada Revenue Agency that my marital status changed?
You must tell the Canada Revenue Agency about your new marital status by the end of the following month after your status changed. For example, if your status changed in March, you must tell the Agency by the end of April. If you are separated, do not tell the Agency until you have been separated for more than 90 days because of a breakdown in the relationship. You can update it online through your CRA account or by sending [Form RC65, Marital Status Change](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/update-your-marital-status-canada-revenue-agency.html). The Agency will not share your new marital status with other government departments, so each department that provides you services needs to hear it from you.
Do I need a lawyer to get divorced?
This checklist gives no legal advice and cannot answer that for your situation. The [Justice Canada fact sheet](https://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/fact4-fiches4.html) states that family law can be complicated, that it is a good idea to consult a lawyer about family law issues even for a single meeting, and that provincial and territorial bar associations offer lawyer referral services, some of which provide a brief consultation for free or at a reduced rate. Provinces and territories may also have family justice services, such as mediation, that can help spouses work out some or all issues before going to court.
Sources
- Department of Justice Canada, Fact Sheet — Divorce — the one-year residence rule, the three breakdown grounds, the no-wait-to-apply rule, the 90-day reconciliation rule, the 31-day effective date, the certificate route, family justice services including mediation, and the advice to consult a family lawyer.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Change your marital status — the deadline to tell the CRA, the 90-day separation rule, Form RC65, the online route through My Account, and the fact that the CRA does not share the change with other departments.