Markham Divorce Lawyers & Family Lawyers

Family matters originating in Markham are filed at the Newmarket Superior Court of Justice, Family Division, at 50 Eagle Street West, Newmarket. The same courthouse hears matters from Vaughan, Aurora, Richmond Hill, and King. Together, these municipalities make up York Region.

For non-urgent matters, six to eight months from filing is typical. Urgent matters can be brought forward through an urgent case conference, or through an urgent motion under the Rosen framework where the facts meet the legal test for urgency.

Many appearances are now scheduled by Zoom. In-person attendance still applies for trials, certain motions, and some case conferences depending on the judge's preference. Our lawyers attend Newmarket in person regularly.

The MIP is a required educational session before most family law matters proceed in Ontario. It is now delivered online with short scheduling windows. Most judges expect both parties to complete it; some check directly.

Yes. Section 7 of the Family Law Act allows unequal division of net family property where equal division would be unconscionable. Marriages under five years where the matrimonial home was brought into the marriage by one spouse are one of the narrow cases where Section 7 succeeds. The Court of Appeal's decision in Pope v. Pope includes pre-marital cohabitation toward the five-year threshold.

In Canadian family law, adultery is irrelevant to property division and support amounts. The only narrow exceptions are (1) significant marital funds spent on an affair partner, which can be clawed back as a dissipation claim, and (2) absence from parenting because of a new relationship, which can affect a parenting-time analysis.

Yes. The firm acts for both sides in roughly equal measure. A lawyer who has only ever represented one side of the table has a blind spot. Acting for both teaches you what the other side is preparing.

Cost is a function of conflict and complexity. Files where both spouses reach a quick resolution can settle in the low-thousands range. Highly contested matters with business valuations, hidden assets, or extended parenting disputes can extend into six figures. At consultation, your lawyer will give you a realistic range for your file based on the facts. The range is an estimate, not a guarantee.

Yes. You have the right to self-represent. The risk is that family law statutes are full of permissive language. A judge may order something. Lay readers see "may" and assume the order will follow. Experience tells you how rare it is for a judge to exercise that discretion. A senior practitioner will tell you they have seen a particular order made twice in fifteen years. The other recurring trap is filing under the wrong act. The Divorce Act, Family Law Act, and Children's Law Reform Act each cover overlapping ground for different categories of family, and filing the wrong relief delays cases. It can also foreclose arguments that would have worked under a different statute.

Approach carefully. AI tools confidently quote case law that does not exist. One of this firm's own lawyers caught her first hallucinated authority recently. The cited case looked clean, but the reasoning ran against everything an experienced family law lawyer would expect. Self-represented parties without that baseline cannot tell the difference, and they file the brief anyway. AI is a useful drafting assistant in trained hands. It is a serious liability without legal expertise to verify what it produces.