FAQs & Resources

If there is a high level of conflict between you and your former partner, a lack of respect and a significant imbalance of power, mediation may not be the right service for you.

The Government of Quebec pays for several hours of mediation for all couples separating in Quebec:

• 5 hours of family mediation for couples who are separating with dependent children.
• 3 hours for couples who are separating without dependent children.

If you have already used family mediation or have a court judgment and have new issues to address, you could be eligible for 2.5 more hours.

***Please note that these hours include both the sessions with the mediator and the mediator’s work outside of the sessions.

If you begin with the hours paid for by the Government of Quebec, any additional hours will be at the fixed rate of $130 per hour, plus tax, that you will pay directly to your mediator.

If you have already used all of your five hours with one mediator and you did not come to an agreement, but now would like to change mediators, you will pay the new mediator’s private hourly rate.

Mediation begins when the decision to separate has been made and both parties agree to begin the mediation process.

No. You can begin mediation as soon as you have made the decision to separate and both parties accept to begin.

• The time and schedule for when the children will be with each parent.
• Parental responsibilities (decisions concerning health, religion, education, etc.).
• Child support payments and other costs for the children.
• Division of the property (ex: home, car, pension plans, etc.).
• Common debts.

The Summary of Agreements is a reference or consultation tool. It is not a contract and does not have legal weight on its own, and it is important that you do not sign the Summary of Agreements. If you would like to put what you have agreed to in mediation into a legally binding agreement, please consult Joint Agreements page. 

Yes. In this case, the parties must agree to suspend the proceeding during the mediation and
obtain the authorization of the court to begin mediation.

• No. You will obtain a summary of agreements. This is a working document indicating what you agreed on. It is not a contract.
• If you would like to get divorced, I can then prepare a joint application for divorce for you. I offer this service for a set fee.

• The needs and interests of your children will be at the centre of the mediation process. The Civil Code of Quebec provides that “every decision concerning a child shall be taken in light of the child’s interests and the respect of his rights”.
• In some cases, if both parents are in agreement, the mediator may meet with the child.

• Yes. You can use mediation anytime there is a new issue to address in your co-parenting relationship.
• Each time there is a new issue to address, you can benefit from 2.5 hours of mediation, paid for by the government (this includes the mediator’s work in and out of the sessions). Remaining hours if required will be borne by the parties at $130 per hour plus tax.

• The Government of Quebec provides a free, remote information session on parenting after separation. During this session, you will learn more about family mediation and the legal aspects of your separation. You can register here.
• You can consult Educaloi’s website to learn more about mediation.
• You can learn more about how mediation works on the JuridQC website.

• You can file your application for divorce after you have lived separate and apart for one year.
• You can begin mediation or preparing your joint application for divorce before you have been separated for one year.
• After filing your joint application for divorce, it will usually take several months for the Court to review your joint application and provide you with your judgment.

• You could first attend mediation to come to an agreement on all aspects of your separation. Even if you think you already have an agreement, mediation would offer you the opportunity to have this written down and to have child support calculated, for example. There may also be aspects of the law that you are not aware of, for example, the division of the family patrimony or matrimonial regime that would be addressed in mediation.
• Following mediation or once you have an agreement on all aspects of your separation, you would submit a Joint Application for Divorce and other documents to the Superior Court. I can draft this for you for a flat rate fee.
• You could also use the collaborative law process, where each party has his or her own lawyer, and the parties and lawyers negotiate an agreement. The lawyers will then prepare the joint application for divorce to submit to the Court.

Yes. If you have an agreement on all aspects of your separation, I can prepare a joint application for divorce for you. I offer a fixed rate for this.

Child support is an amount of money that one parent receives from the other, typically every two weeks, to ensure that the child has its basic needs covered when with each parent.

• Child support is used to cover the nine basic needs of the child: food, housing, communication, housekeeping, personal care, clothing, furnishings, transportation and leisure.
• I would calculate child support with you in mediation or at the time of drafting a joint agreement.

The parents will pay for daycare for the child on a pro rata basis. What this means is in proportion to their income. For example, if each parent makes $50 000, each parent would pay 50% of the daycare fees.

If your children are financially autonomous and both parents are in agreement to cancel child support, I can draft a joint application to cancel child support that would be submitted to the Superior Court. After the Court grants your application, child support would be cancelled and the judgment would be automatically transmitted to Revenu Quebec.

I offer a fixed rate for this service.

Yes. There are two primary benefits to this:

1. This allows you to have a Court judgment that specifically sets out the parental time with each parent, including weekly schedules, holidays, birthdays, etc. This can provide parents with peace of mind and also be useful if ever there are disagreements in the future.
2. Revenu Quebec would then be involved in collecting child support and the yearly indexation of child support. You can either pay this through Revenu Quebec or, if both parents are in agreement, directly to the other parent (while paying a security to Revenu Quebec).

**Please note that if you are in a parental union, it will be necessary to obtain a judgment to partition your parental union. This judgment would also address parental time and child support.