Family arbitration awards can now be filed with court and challenged by motion under Ontario's Family Law Rules

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted

Ontario's Family Law Rules now formally incorporate family arbitration awards filed under section 59.9 of the Family Law Act into the court process. A party who wants to change a filed family arbitration award relating to support must do so by motion under rule 15, the same pathway used for final court orders and filed support agreements. The rule governing which motions to change fall under rule 15 now explicitly lists filed family arbitration awards as a third category alongside final orders and filed support agreements. A new court form (Form 26D) has been added for the affidavit required when filing a family arbitration award for support with the court, and Form 26B and Form 32.1 have been updated. Cases involving the filing of a family arbitration award are also now subject to the restricted-access provisions that protect privacy in sensitive family proceedings. Parties who have resolved support through arbitration and filed or intend to file that award with the court, and their legal representatives, should be aware of these procedural requirements.

Who this affects
parties to family arbitration agreements · family law litigants seeking to change support obligations · family law lawyers and licensed paralegals · family arbitrators · court staff processing filed arbitration awards