Superior Court - Family Matters

As its name implies, the family section of the Superior Court hears family matters. It decides custody and child support issues when a breakup occurs, even if it’s between unmarried spouses. When two men claim to be the father of a child, it is up to the Superior Court to decide which one of them is the child’s legal father. It judges disputes between parents who disagree about what’s best for their children. It annuls marriages and civil unions, if certain conditions are met.

Again, the family section of the Superior Court is where you would go if you were asking for:

• A divorce;
  
• An end to your civil union (although in some cases, you can also go before a notary for this);
  
• A legal separation.

You may need a judge to do more than just divide up your property and put an end to your marriage/civil union or give you a “legally separated” status. Often, there are financial and personal issues that also need to be resolved: Does one of you need to help the other financially? Who will take care of the children? How much will the other parent have to pay for the upkeep of the children? These issues are called “accessory measures”.

Unless you reach an agreement, it may take over a year to present your case to a judge and obtain a judgment putting an end to your marriage/civil union or giving you a separation. In the meantime, you may need a ruling about who gets to stay in the house until the case is heard and about who will pay the bills. You may also need a quick decision about how much time the children will spend with each parent, the amount of money that will be paid for their upkeep and about any additional sums of money that you will need for your upkeep.

The family section of the Superior Court can hear urgent issues in a matter of days. This is called an “interim hearing”. It is not a full trial; there are no witnesses heard. The judge will hear a summary of what’s written in the legal papers and make a temporary decision. Generally, a few months later, the same issues will be decided again in a full trial with witnesses, evidence, expertises, etc. This is called a “provisional hearing”. Then, finally, you will go to the trial that will put an end to your marriage/civil union or that will give you your separation, and these issues may be re-examined again.

It is even possible for your file to return before the Superior Court, several years down the road, if there are changes that must be made to child support and/or custody.

The decisions made by the family section affect people in the innermost facets of their lives. Since the stakes are high, people are encouraged to try and settle their disputes instead of having a decision imposed on them. That’s why the Superior Court offers a settlement conference lead by a different judge than the one who will eventually hear the case. The judge tries to help the former couple reach an agreement on their own without having to go to trial.


Please Note

The rules presented in the section entitled Step-by-step guide to procedure summarize the rules applicable to judicial proceedings filed as of January 1, 2003. However, the text is not a detailed explanation of every single step a file may go through before a judgment is rendered.

Please also note that the peremptory (mandatory) time limit of one year only applies to proceedings commenced as of July 17th, 2004.