Responding to a Statement of Claim for Divorce

How to respond to a Statement of Claim for Divorce if you're a defendant.

Overview

We recommend that you talk to a lawyer before taking any steps.

A Statement of Claim for Divorce outlines:

  • details including child support, custody and spousal support
  • other claims made by the person who filed the form (ie, the 'plaintiff')

The grounds for divorce are:

  • 1 year of separation
  • adultery
  • mental or physical cruelty

Determine your response

In the Statement of Claim for Divorce, the details you may wish to contest can be found in the ‘Grounds’ section.

If you don’t want to contest anything in the statement, you:

  • don’t have to do anything
  • will get a copy of the Divorce Judgment in the mail

If you want to contest something in the statement, you must respond within:

  • 20 days – if you were served in Alberta
  • 1 month – if you were served in Canada
  • 2 months – if you were served outside of Canada

If you want to look at the Divorce Judgement before it goes to a judge, fill out a Demand for Notice by Defendant(s) form (PDF, 0.01 MB).

How to contest a Statement of Claim for Divorce

  1. Fill out a Statement of Defence form (PDF, 0.01 MB).
  2. If you also want to file a counterclaim fill out these forms:
  3. Make 2 copies of your filled-out forms.
  4. File your forms at the Court of Queen’s Bench. (The clerk keeps the original and stamps your copies.)
  5. Send the other party and their lawyer – if they have one – a copy of the filed-out forms.
  6. Complete an Affidavit of Personal Service form (PDF, 15 KB) – and file it with the Court of Queen’s Bench.