1. Talk to your partner
You and your partner can talk about changing your to deal with the changes in your situation. You can talk to your partner on your own, with the help of someone you both trust, or with the help of a lawyer or mediator.
If you can agree on changing your court order, you do not have go to court to have a judge make a decision for you. But you still need to documents with the court and get a new order based on your agreement. This called a .
You can also now file most family law forms and documents for a family court case online, including a consent order. For more information, read the question How do I file court forms for my family law case online? If you’re not allowed to, or don’t want to file your documents online, then you have to file them in person at the courthouse.
If you file in-person, take your completed documents at the same level of court that made your court order. So, if the Superior Court of Justice made the order, you must go back to a Superior Court of Justice in the jurisdiction that your child currently lives to change it.
There is a guide on how to file documents.
Child support
If you and your partner agree to change an order for child support only, you need to fill out:
- Form 15D: Consent Motion to Change Child Support, which sets out the new arrangements you and your partner agree to. You and your partner have to sign the form in front of a . You cannot witness each other’s signatures. Attach a copy of your existing order.
- Form 25: Order, where you write the orders you want the court to make. Be specific about which terms of the existing order you’re asking to change.
- Support Deduction Order.
- Support Deduction Order Information Form.
- Confirmation of Assignment form, if you don’t know whether your support payments are or was assigned to a social services agency. This means the payments go through an agency such as Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.
- 2 self-addressed, stamped envelopes, one for each of you if you want your order mailed to you. Otherwise you can pick it up from the court or have it faxed to you.
Other issues
If you and your partner agree to change an order for child support and other things, like your custody and access order, you need to fill out:
- Form 15C: Consent Motion to Change, which sets out the new terms you and your partner agree to.
- Form 14B: Motion Form, where you write the orders you want the court to make.
- Form 13: Financial Statement, if the change is about support. You have to give information about your finances such as your income, living expenses, and and .
- Form 13A: Certificate of Financial Disclosure, where you list all the documents that prove what you said in your .
- Form 35.1: Affidavit in Support of a Claim for Custody and Access, where you answer some personal questions about your family situation and tell the court about your .
- Form 25: Order, where you write the orders you want the court to make. Be specific about which terms of the existing order you’re asking to change.
- Support Deduction Order, if the change is about support.
- Support Deduction Order Information Form, if the change is about support.
- 2 self-addressed, stamped envelopes, one for each of you if you want your order mailed to you. Otherwise you can pick it up from the court or have it faxed to you.
