5,310
edits
Changes
→The law about divorce
A divorce order ends a marriage. When a marriage is terminated by divorce, the parties stop being spouses and lose all of the obligations and benefits that come from being a spouse. A divorced person is free to marry again.
===What if spouses we wait to get a divorce order?===
Getting a divorce is often a low priority for spouses married people and some spouses wait for many years before starting a court proceeding for divorce. This isn't unreasonable, and usually happens for one of three reasons:
However, there delaying your divorce for too long can be cause some complications...
====No divorce without a divorce order====
Firstly, no matter how long spouses wait to get divorced, they <span class="noglossary">will</span> always be remain married to each other until one of them dies or they finally get a divorce order. There's no such thing as an automatic divorce; the passage of time alone won't do it. You actually have to get that order.
====New relationships====
Secondly, separated spouses often move on with their lives, meet new people and get into new romantic relationships without having been divorced. There's nothing wrong with this and the new relationship won't stop the married person from getting a divorce when the time is finally ripe.
However, if it takes too long and a separated spouse moves in to live with someone new, it's entirely possible that the spouse can find themselves in a new spousal relationship with their new partner without being divorced from their spouse. (Remember that under the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' people can become spouses without getting married.) If that relationship also doesn't work out, the spouse may wind up being obliged to pay spousal support to more than one other spouse!
===Are foreign divorce orders valid in Canada?===
Under section 22 of the ''[[Divorce Act]]'', a divorce order made outside of Canada will be recognized in Canada, and be effective to determine a person's marital status in this country, as long as at least one of the spouses was "habitually resident" — normally lived — in the country that made the divorce order for at least one year before the divorce court proceeding was started in that country.
==The law about children==