A desk order divorce may be obtained where the only issue between spouses is the divorce itself or where the spouses have already settled all of the other issues, such as child custody and access, spousal support and division of family property, whether through a separation agreement or an agreement reached as to the terms of a court order. To obtain a desk order divorce, court proceedings are initiated but appearing in court before a judge is not usually required.
The following outlines the usual process to obtain a desk order divorce:
(a) Drafting of a Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim, which is filed with the court, together with an original certificate of marriage – we will ask you to review and approve this document before it is filed, but it can be signed by us on your behalf;
(b) Arranging service of the filed Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim on your spouse – please ensure that you provide us with a photograph of your spouse to give to the process server;
(c) Waiting for expiration of the time given to your spouse to file a response (an ‘Appearance’ and a Statement of Defence) – your spouse has 21 days to respond. If your spouse does not intend to defend or contest your claim for a divorce, he/she need not take any step whatsoever;
(d) Drafting of the final documents required to obtain your desk order divorce, including the divorce order and affidavit(s) – again, we will send you the final documents that you must sign for your review and approval. You will then be required to meet with us to sign those documents;
(e) Reporting to you – upon receiving the divorce order, we will send you a copy. You are also required by the Supreme Court Rules to mail a copy of the order to your spouse, which we will do on your behalf.
Your divorce will take effect on the 31st day from the date of the court order. Once the 31-day period has passed, we will request a Certificate of Divorce from the court and send that to you. At that point, our services will be at an end.
Fees:
Our fees will be fixed at $1,600.00 if there are no children and $1,800.00 if there are children, which includes all legal fees, out of pocket expenses, including court filing fees, postage, photocopies, G.S.T and P.S.T.
Our fee of $1,600.00/$1,800.00 does not include our out of pocket expense for service of the documents on your spouse, which generally costs in the range of $50.00 to $150.00.
The information and documents we require to commence the process on your behalf are:
- Your full legal name as on your marriage certificate;
- Your spouse’s full legal name as on your marriage certificate;
- Your address, date of birth and how long you have been resident in British Columbia for;
- Your spouse’s address, date of birth and how long she has been resident (or not) in British Columbia ;
- Your date of marriage and place of marriage (pleasure ensure that our office receives your original marriage certificate – this has to be filed with the court documents. If you do not have an original marriage certificate, then we can order one for you from the appropriate Vital Statistics office);
- When did you commence cohabitation (living together) with your spouse (month and year);
- When did you and your spouse cease to cohabitate together (exact date would be great);
- Please provide full legal names of any children involved including dates of birth and whom they are residing with;
- Please provide the same information if there are any step-children involved;
- Has there been any agreements made regarding support or division of property;
- Spouse’s surname prior to marriage AND at birth;
- Your surname prior to marriage AND at birth;
- Marital status of you and your spouse prior to your marriage i.e. never previously married, divorced etc.