| What you should know:
- At least one of the spouses must have habitually lived in the province where the action is brought, for at least one full year, prior to the start of your divorce action.
- You must be living separate and apart at the time the divorce action is started.
- You must have lived separate and apart for one full year before the court will grant an order that the parties are divorced.
- Filing jointly (if possible) is easier, quicker, less adversarial, and less expensive than filing a sole action.
- You should only begin a joint divorce action if you are confident that you have your spouse's full cooperation.
- Divorce Actions on the grounds of adultery or cruelty can become very expensive and often take more than a year to resolve. If possible it is best to file on the ground of a one year separation.
- You cannot file jointly if your grounds are adultery or cruelty.
- Divorce actions on the grounds of separation typically take from 2 to 4 months to conclude but it is not necessary to wait until one year of separation to begin the process. You may begin the divorce action once you are separated and a divorce judgment will usually be granted one year after your date of separation.
When selecting a separation date you can use the date you physically separated or the date you stopped doing things together as spouses - you can be considered separated even if you continue to cohabit for financial or similar reasons. You can apply for divorce even before the year is up although the divorce will not become final until the year has expired. Filing early does speed up the process once the year is up.
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Required Documents:
- A copy of your
 marriage certificate or a copy of the registration of your marriage.
- A copy of all (if any) Court Orders, Separation Agreements, Domestic Contracts and any other written arrangements which pertain to the marriage or any children of the marriage.
- If you have only an oral agreement, describe the terms and provide the date of the agreement.
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