{"id":10855,"date":"2016-03-30T00:50:32","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T04:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/jss-newsletter-vol-4-no-4\/%e3%82%ab%e3%82%a6%e3%83%b3%e3%82%bb%e3%83%a9%e3%83%bc%e3%81%ae%e3%82%b3%e3%83%bc%e3%83%8a%e3%83%bc%e3%80%8c%e9%9b%a2%e5%a9%9a%e3%82%92%e6%b1%ba%e6%84%8f%e3%81%97%e3%81%9f%e3%82%89%e3%80%8d\/"},"modified":"2021-02-17T14:32:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T18:32:50","slug":"divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/jss-newsletter\/jss-newsletter-vol-4-no-4-en\/divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Counsellor&#8217;s Corner: Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Yuka Sato, Clinical Supervisor and Junko Mifune, Counsellor<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11593 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/jss.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Junko-Mifune-1.jpg\" alt=\"Junko-Mifune\" width=\"241\" height=\"269\" \/><br \/>\nIn the previous article, we talked briefly about separation. After one year of separation, a married couple is eligible to apply for a legal divorce under Canadian Divorce Law.<br \/>\n<strong>Filing for Divorce<\/strong><br \/>\nUnlike Japan, being \u201cseparated\u201d in Canada is generally recognized as an official marital status.<br \/>\nIn Ontario, to make a divorce official, it is necessary to legally process an application for divorce. Your legal rights remain the same whether you are separated or divorced.<br \/>\nAlso, unlike in Japan, the breakdown of a marriage needs to be proven in order to file for divorce. The breakdown of a marriage is usually evidence because the couple has lived apart for at least one year. However, the couple can file for divorce within that year, if adultery or physical or mental cruelty by a spouse can be proven in court. A couple can file for divorce jointly, or a spouse can apply for divorce as an individual.<br \/>\nWhereas in Japan you process an official divorce at a local municipal office, in Canada the divorce application is submitted to the Family Court and the judge makes the decision whether or not to grant the divorce. Consulting with a family lawyer is usually recommended when filing for divorce or when separation is being considered although it is possible to file an application for divorce without a lawyer.<br \/>\nEven if the marriage had taken place in Japan, it is possible under Family Law to file for divorce in Family Court if either spouse has lived continuously in Ontario for more than 6 months.<br \/>\n<strong>Spousal and Child Support<\/strong><br \/>\nFiling a divorce application does not mean that the spousal and child support you have been receiving from your spouse will end automatically. This also applies to common-law couples that are not legally married. The amount of financial support is determined mainly by the financial status of both parties and the duration of the marriage. Therefore the support payments should continue according to the specifications of the existing agreement. However, one can request a change or changes in the amount of financial support or other matters in the agreement by applying to the court, such as when the financial status of one or both parties changes during separation or after divorce. Please be mindful that if a spouse leaves Canada during separation or after divorce, support payments enforced through the Family Responsibility Office may become challenging.<br \/>\nWe highly recommend that you consult a lawyer to fully understand your rights and responsibilities before starting to file for divorce, especially if your agreement contains the matter of child custody, division of properties, and spousal or child support.<br \/>\n<em>Resources:<\/em><br \/>\nSeparation and Divorce Child Support:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jss.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Child_Support_Web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/jss.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Child_Support_Web.pdf<\/a><br \/>\nSeparation and Divorce or Death of a Spouse Property Division:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jss.ca\/cms\/uploads\/file\/CLEO_SepDivDeath_PropertyDiv.Web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/jss.ca\/cms\/uploads\/file\/CLEO_SepDivDeath_PropertyDiv.Web.pdf<\/a><br \/>\nBefore Talking to a Lawyer\uff1a<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jss.ca\/information\/before-talking-to-a-lawyer\/\">https:\/\/jss.ca\/information\/before-talking-to-a-lawyer\/<\/a><br \/>\nFamily Law Information Centre:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca\/english\/family\/infoctr.asp\">http:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca\/english\/family\/infoctr.asp<\/a><br \/>\nWhat are my rights if I get separated or divorced?:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/settlement.org\/ontario\/daily-life\/life-events\/divorce\/what-are-my-rights-if-i-get-separated-or-divorced\/\">http:\/\/settlement.org\/ontario\/daily-life\/life-events\/divorce\/what-are-my-rights-if-i-get-separated-or-divorced\/<\/a><br \/>\nFamily Law in Ontario:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca\/english\/family\/familyla.pdf\">http:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca\/english\/family\/familyla.pdf<\/a><br \/>\nLegal Aid Ontario:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.legalaid.on.ca\/en\/\">http:\/\/www.legalaid.on.ca\/en\/<\/a><br \/>\nJustice Net:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.justicenet.ca\/about-us\/\">http:\/\/www.justicenet.ca\/about-us\/<\/a><br \/>\nFamily Service Toronto:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.familyservicetoronto.org\/\">http:\/\/www.familyservicetoronto.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the previous article, we talked briefly about separation. After 1 year of separation, a married couple is eligible to apply for a legal divorce under Canadian Divorce Law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":10856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[288,358],"class_list":["post-10855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jss-newsletter-vol-4-no-4-en","tag-counsellor-en","tag-divorce-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}