How Do I Find Out if I'm Divorced?

If you or your spouse has started a divorce action and you want to know whether or not your divorce order has gone through, just call the family registry of the courthouse that the action was started in. Ask them if your order has been approved yet, and, if not, when you can expect it to be approved.

If you and your spouse have been separated for a long time, and you want to find out whether your spouse ever applied for a divorce, contact the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings in Ottawa, Ontario. They're the folks who keep track of all Canadian divorce actions. You will need to complete the form located on their website with the relevant details about you, your partner, and your relationship, and send it to:

Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings
Department of Justice Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8

If you ask for the information by telephone, make sure you have the following information at hand when you call:

• the full name and date of birth for both you and your former spouse, and
• the date you married.

You can find out more about divorce in the chapter Separating & Getting Divorced within the section Divorce and the Law on Getting Divorced.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Mark Norton and Stephanie Pesth, September 18, 2023.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Normally referred to as the "Supreme Court of British Columbia," this court hears most of the trials in this province. The Supreme Court is a court of inherent jurisdiction and has no limits on the sorts of claims it can hear or on the sorts of orders it can make. Decisions of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court; decisions of the Supreme Court are appealed to the Court of Appeal. See "Court of Appeal," "jurisdiction," "Provincial Court" and "Supreme Court of Canada."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

Under the Divorce Act, either of two people who are married to one another, whether of the same or opposite genders. Under the Family Law Act, spouse includes married spouses, unmarried parties who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, and, for all purposes of the act other than the division of property or debt, unmarried parties who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together. See "marriage" and "marriage-like relationship."

A court proceeding in which one party sues another for a specific remedy or relief, also called a "lawsuit" or a "case." An action for divorce, for example, is a court proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of a divorce order.

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

(1) A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched, and reviewed, or (2) a courthouse.