Yes. Given the GTA housing market in 2026, “separation under the same roof” is very common. To qualify, you must demonstrate that you are living separate lives. This typically means:

• Sleeping in separate rooms.
• No longer eating meals together or vacationing together.
• Managing finances independently.
• Presenting yourselves to friends and family as separated.

If you are filing based on a one-year separation, you must wait until the 12-month mark to receive your Divorce Order. Once a judge signs the order, the divorce becomes final 31 days later. If you have a signed Separation Agreement and all issues are resolved, the “uncontested” paperwork usually takes 3–6 months to process through the GTA courts.

In Ontario, the Matrimonial Home has a special legal status. Unlike other assets where you only share the increase in value during the marriage, if you own a home on the date of marriage and it is still the family home on the date of separation, its entire value is usually included in the equalization calculation. You typically cannot “deduct” the pre-marriage value of the home.

Yes. You do not need your spouse’s “permission” to get a divorce in Ontario. If they refuse to cooperate, we can serve them with an Application. If they fail to respond within 30 days, we can ask the court to proceed with an uncontested trial, where a judge can grant the divorce and make orders regarding support and property without their involvement.

A divorce order is actually the last step. The court will not grant a divorce until it is satisfied that “reasonable arrangements” have been made for the children. This means your child support and parenting plan must be finalized (either by agreement or court order) before the judge will legally end the marriage.

Yes. The Divorce Act allows couples to live together for up to 90 days for the purpose of reconciliation. If the attempt fails, you can continue your divorce process as if those 90 days never happened. If you stay together for 91 days or more, the one-year separation clock resets.

As an experienced family law lawyer in the GTA, I know that spousal support is often the most misunderstood part of a separation. Unlike child support, there is no “automatic” right to it.

Here are the most frequent questions I’ve addressed over the last decade of practice regarding the 2026 legal standards in Ontario.