Family Law Motions & Interim Orders

Common motion matters in practice include: temporary living arrangements and parenting time for children; temporary child support and temporary spousal support; exclusive possession of the matrimonial home; orders to sell property or authorize one party to lead the sales process; orders for document disclosure or consequential arrangements for non-disclosure; restraining orders to prevent asset dissipation and freezing specific assets; and interim costs (having the financially stronger party prepay the other party's legal fees). The criterion is not whether the issue is important, but rather whether it can wait until trial.

According to the Ontario Family Law Rules, a Case Conference generally must be held before a motion can be brought. There are primarily two exceptions: urgency or hardship (e.g., child safety is threatened, assets are actively being transferred), and mutual consent. "Urgency" has a specific procedural meaning and does not equate to a party's subjective sense of anxiety. Packaging an ordinary issue into an emergency motion typically results in dismissal, unfavorable cost consequences, and damage to your credibility before the judge.

Family law motions generally do not call witnesses to testify viva voce; judges read the Affidavits submitted by both sides along with attached evidence:
• Write facts, not emotions: Saying "he is very selfish" has no effect; providing objective facts like pickup/drop-off records does.
• Claims must be backed by exhibits: WeChat/text records, bank statements, school records, etc.
• Do not exaggerate: Once a single point is proven exaggerated, the weight of the entire affidavit decreases.
• Pay attention to electronic evidence integrity: Cherry-picking favorable parts of a conversation can backfire once the opposing party fills in the context.

Many parties understand interim orders as "casual arrangements to be sorted out later at trial." This is a costly misunderstanding. Once a temporary arrangement runs for a period of time, it establishes a status quo, and the status quo itself has a practical impact on the final outcome. This is especially evident in child arrangements: a residential and care schedule that has run stably for a year gives the court reasons to maintain it at trial. Therefore, concessions made at the temporary stage are never truly "temporary".

Not all urgent issues must be resolved through adversarial motions: if both parties have no substantive disagreement on an arrangement, they can directly apply for a Consent Order, at a cost far lower than a motion; procedural matters without substantive disputes can follow simpler procedural motions; and many issues should naturally be addressed during case conferences. Experienced lawyers can judge which issues are worth a separate motion and which should be discussed at a conference to save budget and the judge's patience.

When assets or one of the parties are located in China, additional factors must be considered during the motion stage: whether jurisdiction will be challenged by the other party; whether an Ontario interim order can be practically enforced abroad; and whether expert evidence is needed to explain rules of ownership under Chinese law to the court. Leaving these issues until right before trial often means missing the most effective window.