Getting a trial date and separation judgment can take months or years. However, you can ask a judge to make a temporary decision about urgent issues while waiting for your separation judgment. This is called an application for a “safeguard order.” It takes courts several days or weeks to hear these requests.
Quickly settle urgent issues to avoid harm
You and your ex-partner must prove that your issues are urgent and must be quickly settled to avoid causing harm. Here are some examples of issues that can be settled through a safeguard order.
These can be urgent issues if the best interests of the child are at risk. For example, if a parent subjects their child to physical or psychological violence during their parenting time.
This can be an urgent issue if the best interests of the child are at risk. For example, if a parent refuses to honour an agreement to pay elite sports fees for their child.
This can be an urgent issue if the couple no longer has fair access to the family home. For example, if one partner can’t access a home they co-own because their ex is living there with a new partner.
This can be an urgent issue if there’s a financial imbalance between the ex-partners. For example, if one of them stops honouring an agreement to pay the other partner their share of revenue from a rental property.
Issues that aren’t urgent are settled later at the trial and in the separation judgment.
How do you ask the court to quickly settle urgent issues?
You can get help from a lawyer to prepare your application to the court. An application for a safeguard order can be complex and must follow specific criteria. A lawyer can help ensure your application follows the rules.
Filing an application with the court
You can ask the court for a safeguard order when you file your separation application. You can do this directly in the separation application form. The section for making urgent requests is often included in this “originating application.” Check which form to use because it varies depending on the court.
Be sure to clearly identify which issues are urgent and which ones can be settled later. You must explain why the issues are urgent and what harm could arise if the court doesn’t settle them quickly.
You must attach a written document explaining your version of the facts. You must have a commissioner of oaths validate the document before filing it with the court. You must swear before the commissioner of oaths that everything in the document is true. This document is called an “affidavit.”
Going to court
You and your ex-partner will receive a request to appear in court around 10 days after filing your application for a safeguard order. When you and your partner go before a judge, it’s called a “hearing.”
At the hearing, the court can ask you and your ex-partner questions about your written versions of the facts. You can respond to these questions. But you can’t give your full version of the story as you would at a real trial. The court will decide based entirely on your written versions of the facts, and your responses to the judge’s questions.
How long does a safeguard order last and how do you extend it?
Court decisions settling urgent issues are temporary. They last a maximum of six months.
If your safeguard order expires before your separation trial, you have two options. If you and your ex-partner agree, you can continue to follow the safeguard order. Otherwise, you can ask the court to extend the order. To do this, you must repeat the steps described above.
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Good to know! When rendering the final separation judgment, the court doesn’t have to come to the same conclusions it did when temporarily settling urgent issues. A judge can choose the same solutions, similar solutions, or completely different ones. |