These are family law terms that will help you understand the rest of this Guide:
Certified copy: a copy of a document from a court file, like an order, that is authorized as a true copy of the original. Court staff will put a stamp and signature on the copy to show that it is certified. A plain photocopy without a stamp and signature is not acceptable as a ‘certified copy.’
Corollary order: a court order issued as part of a divorce that deals with the outcome of the divorce in terms of arrangements for the children, support amounts, and how property or pensions were divided.
Divorce Act: the law that applies to all divorces filed in Canada. No matter which province or territory your divorce is started in, it is dealt with under the Divorce Act. When you are divorced, and if in the future you need to apply to the court to change your ‘corollary’ order issued as part of your divorce, you will often still use the Divorce Act to apply for this change. This is called applying for a ‘variation’ of the order.
Variation application: an application to change an existing court order.
For more family law terms & definitions, click here.