What is section 11?

Section 11 of the divorce act is an often overlooked pitfall that can keep you from getting divorced if you cannot meet its requirements.

The section reads as follows:

Duty of court--bars

11.(1) In a divorce proceeding, it is the duty of the court...b. to satisfy itself that reasonable arrangements have been made for the support of any children of the marriage, having regard to the applicable guidelines, and, if such arrangements have not been made, to stay the granting of the divorce until such arrangements are made; and...


This provision imposes a duty on the judge to stay (that is to say, postpone indefinitely) the granting of the divorce if reasonable arrangements have not been made for the support of a child. What is reasonable will depend on what the parent or parents should be paying under the applicable Child Support Guidelines.

This can present the problem in cases where the divorce applicant and their ex-spouse have reached an agreement on child support but the amount being paid is less than what should be paid according to the Guidelines. It can also be a problem where the person applying for divorce does not have any information about their former spouse's income and therefore the court cannot determine what should be paid.

In cases where the ex-spouses have agreed on child support, but the amount is too low, the court will not intervene and order a greater amount to be paid, but it may refuse to grant the divorce unless the amount of child support is revised. It is then up to the divorce applicant to decide whether to seek a greater amount of support. If they do not, then the divorce will be postponed indefinitely.

Sometimes the problem lies with a lack of information. The other spouse may have refused to provide financial disclosure or their whereabouts may be unknown. In these cases, the lack of information may cause the judge to doubt whether the requirements of section 11 have been met, leading to frustrating delays.

It is not always necessary for child support to match exactly the amount set out in the applicable Table of the Child Support Guidelines. Even when the amount being paid is less than required under the guidelines there are several ways around the problem of section 11. For example, it may be possible to convince the court that even though the amount being paid per month is less and what a person would normally pay based on their income, the child may be the deriving other benefits which make the payment reasonable in the circumstances. For instance, the parent paying child support may have also transferred their equity in the family home to the custodial parent and this transfer may represent a lump sum of child support, making it reasonable to give them credit and a reduction in their monthly payments.

This area of the law is surprisingly complex and many self represented litigants seeking to complete their divorce on their own run into roadblocks and problems with section 11. We used a picture of a missing puzzle piece to illustrate this article because Section 11 is very often the missing piece of the puzzle that can keep you from resolving your divorce.

It is not possible to provide a detailed roadmap because every case is unique. We encourage you to contact our office to discuss this or any other legal issues you may have.