Appendix 1: divorce act

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 515-549

 

DIVORCE ACT

Current to May , 

R.S., , c.  (nd Supp.)

An Act respecting divorce and coroll ary relief

Short title

. is ActmaybecitedastheDivorce Act.

INTERPRETATION

Def‌initions

. () In this Act,

“ageofmajority”,inrespectofachild,meanstheageofmajorityasdeter

-

mined by the laws of t he province where the child ordi narily reside s,

or,ifthechildordinarilyresidesoutsideofCanada,eighteenyearsof

age;

“appellatecourt”,inrespectofanappealfromacourt,meansthecourt

exercising appel late jurisdiction with respect to that appe al;

“applicable guideline s” means

(a) where both spouses or former spouses are ordinarily resident in

the same provi nce at the time a n application for a chi ld support

orderoravariationorderinrespectofachildsupportorderis

made, or the amount of a ch ild support order is to be recalc ulated

pursuant to sec tion ., and that provi nce has been desig nated



 CANADIAN FAMILY LAW

by an order made under subse ction (), the laws of the prov ince

specif‌iedintheorder,and

(b) in any other cas e, the Federal Child Suppor t Guidelines;

“child of the marriage” means a child of two spouses or former spouses

who, at the mate rial t ime,

(a) is under the age of majority and who has not wit hdrawn from

their charge, or

(b) is t he age of majority or over a nd under their c harge but unable,

by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to withdraw from

theirchargeortoobtainthenecessariesoflife;

“childsupportorder”meansanordermadeundersubsection.();

“corollary relief proc eeding ” means a proceed ing in a cour t in which ei-

ther or both former spouse s seek a child support order, a spousal sup-

portorderoracustodyorder;

“court”,inrespectofaprovince,means

(a) for the Provinc e of Ont ario, the Superior Cour t of Ju stice,

(a.) for the Province of Pr ince Edward Island or New foundland, the

trial division of the Supreme Cou rt of the Province,

(b) for the Province of Quebec , t he Super ior Cour t,

(c) for the Provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia, the Su-

premeCourtoftheProvince,

(d) for the Province of New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or

Alberta,theCourtofQueen’sBenchfortheProvince,and

(e) for t he Yukon Territory or the Northwes t Territories, the Su-

premeCourtoftheterritory,andin Nunavut,the NunavutCourt

of Justice,

and includes such other c ourt in the province the judges of wh ich are

appointed by the Governor General as is designated by the Lieuten-

antGovernorinCounciloftheprovinceasacourtforthepurposes

of this Act ;

“custody”includescare,upbringingandanyotherincidentofcustody;

“custody order” means a n order made under subsection ();

“divorce procee ding” mea ns a proceed ing in a cour t in which either or

both spouses se ek a divorce alone or toget her with a chi ld support

order, a spousal support order or a c ustody order;

Appendix 1: Divorce Act

“Federal Chi ld Support Guideli nes” means the guidelines m ade under

section .;

“provincial ch ild support service” mea ns any service, agenc y or body des-

ignatedinanagreementwithaprovinceundersubsection.();

“spousal support order ” means an order made under subsect ion .();

“spouse” means eit her of a man or woman who a re married to each

other;

“support order” means a ch ild support order or a spousal suppor t order;

“variation order” mea ns an order made under subsection ();

“variation proceeding” means a proceed ing in a cour t in which either or

both former spouses seek a variationorder.

Child of the marriage

() For the purposes of the def‌inition “child of the marriage” in sub-

section (), a child of two spouses or former spouses includes

(a) anychildforwhomtheybothstandintheplaceofparents;and

(b) any child of whom one is the parentand for whom the other stands in

theplaceofaparent.

Term not restrictive

() e use of the term “application” to des cribe a proceed ing under

this Act i n a court sha ll not be constr ued as lim iting the n ame under

which and the form and manner in which that proceeding may be taken

in that court, and the name, manner and form of the proceeding in that

court shall be such as is prov ided for by the rule s regulati ng the practic e

and procedure in that court.

Idem

()euseinsection.oftheterms“af‌f‌idavit”and“pleadings”to

describe documents shall not be construed as limiting the name that may

be used to refer to thos e documents in a cou rt and the form of t hose

documents, a nd the name and form of t he documents sha ll be such as is

provided for by the ru les regulat ing the pract ice and procedure i n that

court.

Provincial child support guidelines

() e Governor in Counci l may, by order, designate a province for

the purposes of the def‌inition “applicable guidelines” in subsection () if

the laws of the provi nce establish comprehensive guidel ines for the deter-