{"id":46047,"date":"2013-04-12T12:44:42","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T16:44:42","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-06-13T13:12:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:12:45","slug":"what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","title":{"rendered":"What legal issues will I need to deal with?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you are ending your relationship, here are some common family law issues you may have to decide:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How to divide property and debts.<\/li>\n<li>If one of you needs financial support, called spousal support.<\/li>\n<li>Decision-making responsibility or who will make decisions about your children. This used to be called custody.<\/li>\n<li>Parenting time or how much time your children will spend with each parent. This used to be called access.<\/li>\n<li>Financial support for the children, called child support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You might also want to get a divorce if you are married to your partner. <a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-7-your-rights-under-family-law\/\">Part 7<\/a> has more information about your rights under family law.<\/p>\n<p>If you are worried about your safety, you might need to apply for a restraining order or an order for exclusive possession of the matrimonial home. <a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-6-protecting-yourself\/\">Part 6<\/a> has more information about protection orders.<\/p>\n<p>If the police are involved, you may have to deal with the criminal court system. <a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-4-the-criminal-trial\/\">Parts 4<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-five-protecting-yourself\/\">5<\/a> have more information about the criminal law process.<\/p>\n<p>If you are new to Canada, you might be in the middle of an immigration or refugee process. This process could be affected if you leave your partner. <a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-8-immigration-issues\/\">Part 8<\/a> has more information about immigration issues.<\/p>\n<p>If you are an Indigenous person and living on reserve, it can be difficult to enforce some family court orders. This is because different laws can apply on reserve lands. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-9-issues-affecting-indigenous-women\">Part 9<\/a> has more information about issues affecting Indigenous women.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/part-10-legal-and-community-resources-in-ontario\/\">Part 10<\/a> lists legal and community resources for people who have been abused.<\/p>\n<div class=\"box\">\n<p>For more information about abuse and family violence, and family law, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stepstojustice.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stepstojustice.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46047","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are ending your relationship, here are some common family law issues you may have to decide: How to divide property and debts. If one of you needs financial support, called spousal support. Decision-making responsibility or who will make decisions about your children. This used to be called custody. Parenting time or how much time your children will spend with each parent.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-13T17:12:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with\",\"name\":\"What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-12T16:44:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-13T17:12:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Publication pages\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What legal issues will I need to deal with?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/\",\"name\":\"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","og_description":"If you are ending your relationship, here are some common family law issues you may have to decide: How to divide property and debts. If one of you needs financial support, called spousal support. Decision-making responsibility or who will make decisions about your children. This used to be called custody. Parenting time or how much time your children will spend with each parent.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","og_site_name":"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","article_modified_time":"2025-06-13T17:12:45+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","url":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with","name":"What legal issues will I need to deal with? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-04-12T16:44:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-13T17:12:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-legal-issues-will-i-need-to-deal-with#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Publication pages","item":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What legal issues will I need to deal with?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/","name":"CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications-page\/46047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications-page"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publications-page"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications-page\/46047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62315,"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications-page\/46047\/revisions\/62315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}