if you are experiencing family breakdown,separation or divorce in manitoba and you wish to seek spousal support, child support,custody, access, division of property and/or a divorce, you may do so in the manitoba court ofqueen’s bench. this process begins with the completion and filing of a petition fordivorce, form 70a or a petition, form 70b. if you are asking the court to order supportor division of property, you may also need to file a financial statement, form 70d. thecourt of queen’s bench rules 70.05 subsections 1 to 5 provide information on what you will require. these forms are available on our manitobacourts web-site along with the court of queen’s bench rules that relate to the family courtprocess and some frequently asked questions
that may assist you with the process.if you are married and seeking a divorce, you will begin with a petition for divorce.if you are married and seeking support, custody, access or other relief not including a divorceor if you are not legally married but are looking for relief related to the breakdownof the relationship, you will begin with a petition. if you are married but need the court to determinesomething on an urgent basis, you can file a petition or petition for divorce immediatelyfollowing separation. if you start by filing a petition, you may file a petition for divorceat a later date. the law requires that either you or your spouse has been ordinarily residentin manitoba for at least one year preceding
the filing date of the petition for divorce. to obtain a divorce, you must show that youhave grounds for the divorce. the most common grounds are that the parties have lived separateand apart for at least one year because of a breakdown of the marriage. in that case,although you may file for divorce at any time, a divorce will not be granted until you havelived separately and apart for at least one year. other grounds for divorce are that theother spouse has committed adultery or has treated you with physical or mental cruelty.court staff cannot assist you to determine if adultery or cruelty are applicable. youmay find that these websites are helpful, but it is recommended that you seek the adviceof a lawyer.
once you have carefully considered your circumstancesand determined the type of court order you are seeking, you should be ready to completethe petition or petition for divorce. remember, this tutorial does not replace legaladvice. getting advice from a lawyer about your own situation can help you to save time,money and stress in the long run. once you have determined which form you willuse to begin your proceeding, you will begin to fill it out in order that you can fileit with the court and serve it on the other party. beginning with the cover page,• the title of proceeding identifies who the parties are - the party filing the petitionor petition for divorce is called the petitioner
and the responding party is called the respondent.if you and your spouse are jointly filing a petition for divorce, you identify yourselvesas co-petitioners. • the title of proceeding must identifythe parties’ full legal names at the time the petition or petition for divorce is filed,in order of first, middle and last name. the names should be exactly the same as on themarriage certificate. if, following the date of your marriage, you legally adopted thesurname of your spouse, you are required to use that surname until you are divorced orhave obtained a certificate of change of name from manitoba’s vital statistics agency.• insert the name, address and telephone number of the party filing a petition or petitionfor divorce or the co-petitioners filing a
petition for divorce in the designated areaso you can be contacted by the court or the respondent if necessary. turning now to page 2:• insert the title of proceeding as it appears on the cover page.• insert the name, address and postal code of the respondent.turning now to page 3: • the deputy registrar who issues and registersyour petition or petition for divorce will date and sign in the designated area of thispage. • insert the address of the court of queen’sbench court centre in the area where you reside. a full listing of court locations can be foundon the manitoba courts website.
details of the claim• paragraph 1 is completed if you are seeking a divorce either on its own or together withanother court order for corollary relief that is available under the divorce act of canada.if you have already been divorced in canada, you may seek corollary relief at a later date.please mark your selection(s) with an x or a checkmark.• if you are seeking a court order for spousal and/or child support or division of property,you are required to file a financial statement, form 70d, with your petition for divorce.• if you are not seeking a divorce at this time, you may cross out paragraph 1. • if you are seeking a court order for reliefthat is available under provincial law such
as the family maintenance act or the law ofproperty act mark your selections with an x or a checkmark.• if you are seeking a court order for support your petition.• if you are seeking a court order for declaration of parentage an original or notarized copyof your child’s or children’s birth certificate is required. this will remain on the courtfile. details of the relief claimed,• you must state the legislation that you are relying on to obtain your divorce or courtorder. • if you checked the “other†selectionin either paragraph 1 or 2, you must state the exact relief you are claiming and allmaterial facts you are relying on for each
claim.• if you are seeking a divorce because you and your spouse have been living separateand apart for at least one year, you must reference “section 8(2)(a) of the divorceact (canada). • if you are seeking a divorce because ofadultery or cruelty, you must reference “section 8(2)(b) of the divorce act (canada). • if you and the respondent never cohabitedyou may state that the parties never cohabited, “not applicableâ€â€¢ if you have lived together, you may state “there is no possibility of reconciliationor resumption of cohabitationâ€. you will notice that the form defaults to include thisstatements already.
• this paragraph is only relevant for apetition for divorce which is why it is crossed off in the petition document. • if you are filing a petition for divorcestate “there has been no collusion in relation to this petitionâ€. if you are seeking adivorce on the grounds of adultery or cruelty you must also state “there has been no condonationof or connivance at the grounds for divorce set out in this petition.â€â€¢ if you are filing a petition state “there has been no collusion in relation to thispetitionâ€. and cross out “there has been no condonation of or connivance at the groundsfor divorce set out in this petition†particulars of relationship:• insert date and place of marriage as well
as date cohabitation commenced if you livedtogether before marriage. in the case of a common law union, just insert ``date cohabitationcommencedâ€. if you never cohabited with the respondent, this subparagraph may be crossedout. • insert date cohabitation ceased. if younever cohabited with the respondent this subparagraph may be crossed out.• insert surname of each party immediately before marriage: mark with an x or a checkmarkwhether or not the parties changed their surname. if you or your spouse changed surnames followingthe date of marriage, you must state the legal surnames immediately before marriage. if theparties were never married, this subparagraph may be crossed out.• insert the wife’s maiden name which
is her surname at birth. if the parties werenever married this subparagraph may be crossed out.• insert the marital status of you and your spouse at the time of marriage. you are requiredto select from the following options ``never married` or `divorced` or `widowed`.• insert the petitioner`s place and date of birth.• insert the respondent`s place and date of birth.• insert the petitioner`s complete address. • insert the respondent`s complete address.• insert “one of the parties has been ordinarily resident in the province of manitobafor at least one year preceding the date of the filing of this petition.â€
children• insert the names and dates of birth of all the children of the parties or eitherof them, and of any child for whom either party stands in the place of a parent. thisinformation is required whether or not you are seeking support. if there are no children,state that there are no children of the parties. • insert the kind of parenting arrangementyou are seeking, for example joint custody, sole custody, etc. if there are no childrenyou may state `not applicable`. • if you are seeking child support statethe names of the children that you are seeking support for. if you are not seeking childsupport you may state `not applicable`. • complete this section if you are proposingchild support arrangements. if not you may
state `not applicable`. • insert the dates of all written or oralagreements between you and your spouse or common-law partner. if there are none youmay state that there are no written or oral agreements between the parties. particulars of all court proceedings,• if there is an existing court file or other court proceedings affecting you andyour spouse or common-law partner, insert the court file number and specify the natureof the proceeding. financial information,• mark with an x or a checkmark if you are attaching a financial statement, form 70d.• if you are not asking for a court order
of child or spousal support or division ofproperty, it is not necessary to attach a financial statement.• if you are only asking for a table amount of child support under the child support guidelinesand your children are under the age of majority it is not necessary to attach a financialstatement. • if you are asking for child support underthe divorce act of canada and either you or your spouse live outside of manitoba, youmust add: ``attached is the respondent`s affidavit containing the documents required under section21 of the federal child support guidelines`` and mark “yes†with an x or a checkmark.if this section does not apply, mark “noâ€. • insert the legal description of real propertyor if there is no real property you may state
``not applicable``.• insert the property`s address or if there is no property you may state ``not applicable``.• insert the name or names that the property is registered to or if there is no propertyyou may state ``not applicable``. • insert the property`s market value orif there is no property you may state ``not applicable``.• insert any liens or encumbrances registered against the property or if there is no propertyyou may state ``not applicable``. declaration of petitioner,• as the petitioner, you must declare that you have read and understand the statementscontained in your petition and make a declaration about the truth of the statements, beforeyou date and sign in the areas indicated.
• if you and your spouse are filing a petitionfor divorce jointly, you must change paragraph 13 to read: “declaration of co-petitioners†– “wehave read and understand this petition. those statements contained in this petition of whichwe have personal knowledge are true, and those of which we do not have personal knowledge,we believe to be true.†both you and your spouse must sign as co-petitioners.• if you are not represented by a lawyer, cross out the “statement of lawyer†sectionas shown. once you have completed your petition or petitionfor divorce, you must attach an acknowledgement of service, form 70c, to your petition orpetition for divorce. insert the title of
proceeding as it appears on the cover page.the respondent is expected to complete and sign the acknowledgement of service when servedwith the petition or petition for divorce. a witness’ signature is required. if therespondent does not sign the acknowledgment of service when served with the petition,the affidavit of service should indicate that the respondent was requested to sign the acknowledgmentof service but declined to do so. if you and your spouse are filing as co-petitioners,it is not necessary to serve the petition for divorce nor is there a need to includethe acknowledgement of service, form 70c. a certified or notarized copy of your marriagecertificate must be filed with your petition for divorce. a certified copy of the registrationof marriage from manitoba’s vital statistics
agency is also acceptable. if yours is a foreignlanguage marriage certificate, a translation certificate must also be filed. a church-issuedcertificate will not be accepted as proof of marriage. now that you’ve completed the document,you may proceed to the courthouse in your area. you will be required to file two originalcopies of the document. you may bring two copies with you or you may pay a fee for courtstaff to certify a second copy. there is a cost involved in filing a petition or petitionfor divorce. all court fees are available on the manitoba courts website.
