How it works

You can submit a request to file family court documents to the Ontario Court of Justice, Superior Court of Justice, including the Family Court Branch of the Superior Court of Justice and the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice (but not the Ontario Court of Appeal).

After you submit your family court documents, court staff will notify you within 5 business days if your documents have been accepted or rejected for filing with the court.

Filing your family court documents online may not be the right choice for you, depending on your circumstances. Contact a lawyer for more information and advice.

What you can file online

You can submit most family court documents online, including to:

  • apply for a simple or joint divorce
  • start or answer an application for things like child support, spousal support, or division of property
  • attend a family conference
  • make or respond to a motion
  • bring a motion to change a final court order or agreement for things like child support
  • register a domestic contract, such as a separation agreement, for support enforcement
  • file documents in a child protection case
  • request a fee waiver certificate
  • bring an appeal to the Superior Court of Justice or the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice

Get help before you file

Contact a lawyer

It’s best to contact a lawyer before filing documents online or in court. A lawyer knows what documents you must file, as set out in the Family Law Rules or any court Notices and Practice Directions. A lawyer can provide advice on your options and legal risks, the evidence that should be provided to the court and the consequences of not providing the required information or following court procedure.

If you need to contact a lawyer, you can find one through:

Get free online help to complete your court forms

Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has a free online tool to help you complete your court forms.

The Family Law Guided Pathways asks you questions and puts your answers into the required court forms. When you’re finished, you can save or print your completed forms before filing them online.

You can also find more information about family law on CLEO’s Steps to Justice website.

How to file online

Before you file online, make sure you complete, sign and date all required documents according to:

In some circumstances, you must also swear or affirm an oath in front of a notary public or commissioner of oaths that your documents are true.

Find official up-to-date forms.

Deadline to apply online

You cannot submit documents online:

  • to request an urgent hearing
  • for a court date that is 5 business days or less away (for example, if you are attending court on Tuesday, January 9, you can submit documents online up to and including Monday, January 1)
  • if you need to meet a deadline established by legislation, court rules, court practice direction or a court order that is 5 business days or less away

If you cannot submit online, file your documents in person at the courthouse or by email in accordance with the Family Law Rules and any orders, Notices and Practice Directions issued by the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice.

Before you file online

Before you file, make sure you have:

  • an online My Ontario account
  • all your documents completed, signed, dated, commissioned as required and saved as individual PDFs or in Word (.docx) format
  • your Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard or Debit Mastercard, if there are filing fees in your case
  • your court file number, if you are filing documents for an existing case

Find official up-to-date forms.

You need Adobe Acrobat® Reader version 5.0 (or higher) installed on your computer to complete these forms.

Fees

The fees to file documents online or at a court counter are the same. For the:

Learn about the fees applicable in family proceedings.

You must use Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard, or Debit Mastercard cards to pay filing fees online.

If you can’t afford to pay the fees in your case, you can ask the court to waive the fees by requesting a fee waiver certificate.

Family Submissions Online portal

Use the Family Submissions Online portal to submit your family court documents for an Ontario Court of Justice or a Superior Court of Justice case.

If you cannot afford to pay the applicable filing fees, you can also use the Family Submissions Online portal to:

  • submit a request to the court for a fee waiver certificate
  • submit documents without paying any fees, if you already have a fee waiver certificate

In addition, when submitting documents you must indicate if you have a fee waiver or want to apply for a fee waiver.

  • If you are submitting a document and applying for a fee waiver certificate at the same time, choose “Fee waiver request” to upload the request forms and “Documents submitted with a fee waiver request or a certificate” for any document that would normally have a fee.
  • If you are submitting a document and you already have a fee waiver certificate, choose “Documents submitted with a fee waiver request or a certificate” for any document that would normally have a fee, including your fee waiver certificate.

Please note, if you are making a claim for divorce and applying for a fee waiver, or already have a fee waiver certificate, choose “Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings (for divorce proceedings with a fee waiver request or certificate only)” for your application or answer form. The Ministry of the Attorney General is responsible for collecting a $10 clearance report fee for divorce filings on behalf of the federal Department of Justice’s Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings. This fee cannot be waived. 

Civil Submissions Online portal

Use the Civil Submissions Online portal to submit your court documents for an appeal to the Divisional Court of a family law matter.

When submitting documents you must indicate if you have a fee waiver or want to apply for a fee waiver.

  • If you are submitting a document and applying for a fee waiver certificate at the same time, choose “Fee waiver request” for any document that would normally have a fee.
  • If you are submitting a document and you already have a fee waiver certificate, choose “Document is being submitted by a person with a fee waiver certificate” for any document that would normally have a fee.

File your documents

Your session will expire if you’re inactive for 15 minutes. Your information will not be saved.

File your documents

Privacy

Family court forms are public documents. The information you provide in the forms can be viewed by the public whether you file in-person or online. Learn more about public access to family court files or find a family court location.

Be careful when entering personal information online, where people can see and/or capture it on camera. Try not to open an online account or enter your password in public – and if you are in public, shield any forms you are completing.

Keep copies of your documents

You should keep a copy of all your documents for your records. After you submit your documents online, you cannot view the documents online.

After you submit your documents online

You will receive confirmation that your documents have been submitted but not yet filed with the court. Take a screenshot or print a copy of this screen for your records.

Court staff will review your documents within 5 business days to determine if they are accepted or rejected for filing with the court. If your documents are:

  • accepted, you will receive an email confirming your documents have been filed
  • rejected, you will receive an email stating your documents have not been filed, the reasons for the rejection and confirming your credit or debit card has not been charged

If your documents are rejected, you can address the reason(s) for the rejection by revising your documents and resubmitting the revised documents together with any applicable court filing fee(s) to the court.

If the court issued your document, you will receive the issued document by email.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about your specific case, contact the court office where your documents were submitted or filed. You can find a list of courthouse addresses and phone numbers here.