Family law of Canada (Marriage, Divorce, Property & Child support)

To marry in Canada, you will need to get a marriage license, find a

Person authorized to perform the ceremony, and arrange for two

witnesses to be present during the ceremony. You can usually find

witnesses where you get your license. No medical tests are mandated.

The processes for applying for licenses and having ceremonies are

different from region to region. Further, there may be some differences

If you are having a religious ceremony rather than a civil ceremony,

which your religious officiate should be able to tell you about.

For general information on marriage in the regions,

License

Either party may appear at the local license issuer and apply for a

license, but must provide the following information and documents

for both intended spouses:

 A birth certificate or passport

 Photo id

 Consent forms filled out by a parent if under 19

 Proof of divorce if divorced within the last 31 days

On July 20, 2005, a law approved by the Canadian parliament

went into effect allowing same-sex couples to marry on an equal basis

with different-sex couples in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada.

While courts had been ending marriage discrimination on a province by

province basis since may of 2003, this law made Canada one of seven

countries in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry. Belgium, the

Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Norway and Sweden are the other six,

but most have requirements which make it difficult for non-citizens to

marry, by contrast, there are no residency requirements anywhere in

Canada, so qualified couples from anywhere in the world can marry

there.

Divorce in Canada

To get a divorce in Canada, you will have to show that your marriage has broken down. The law says marriage breakdown has occurred if: Continue reading →