Before you use this site to complete the forms needed for your family law case you must determine if a King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan court can hear your case. The Form Wizard on this site can only be used to apply to a Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench. Whether a Court of King’s Bench in Saskatchewan can hear a particular case, as opposed to a court in another province, depends on the type of case and where the parties and any children live.
Divorce Cases
Married spouses can only be granted a divorce under the Divorce Act. Married couples asking the court for a divorce can also ask for custody, access, child support and/or spousal support orders. A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can hear a divorce case if either spouse has been ordinarily resident here for at least one year.
You are ordinarily resident in Saskatchewan if you live here. You are still considered to be ordinarily resident even if you leave temporarily. However, if you leave for an indefinite period of time, even if you do plan on returning at some time, you are no longer ordinarily resident here.
Support Cases without Divorce
Unmarried individuals asking for child or spousal support are dealt with under The Family Maintenance Act. Married couples who are asking for child or spousal support but not a divorce are also governed by this Act.
A support case under The Family Maintenance Act can be heard by a King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan if both parties live here or if the party who is being asked to pay support lives in Saskatchewan.
A party living elsewhere, however, may not want to start their court case in Saskatchewan, even though the paying party lives here. They may not want to travel here or may not want to hire a lawyer that can practice here. Individuals in this situation should contact the Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders office in the province where they live.
If you live here and want to ask for child or spousal support but the paying parent does not live in Saskatchewan the Family Law Information Centre can provide help with requesting a support order.
Custody Cases without Divorce
Unmarried spouses and parents asking for custody or access are dealt with under The Children’s Law Act. Married couples who are asking for custody or access but not divorce are also governed by this Act.
Under this Act the child must be habitually resident in Saskatchewan when you start the case unless both parties agree to have the case heard here or certain other requirements are met. The court can always decide not to hear the case if the court thinks it would be more appropriate for a court in another jurisdiction to hear the case.
A child is considered to be habitually resident in Saskatchewan if…
- the child lives here with both parents
- the child lives here with one parent under a custody order or agreement, or
- the child lives here with one parent and the other parent has agreed to this or has not objected to it.
If the child’s habitual residence cannot be determined using these rules (for example a child splits their time between their parents who live in different provinces) a child’s habitual residence will be determined based on the closeness of the connection to each jurisdiction. When the child is not habitually resident in Saskatchewan and the parties do not both agree to have the case heard here, a court in Saskatchewan can still hear the case if the following requirements are met:
- the child is physically present in Saskatchewan when the proceeding is started
- there is substantial evidence available in Saskatchewan regarding the child’s best interests
- the child has a real and substantial connection with Saskatchewan
- no one has applied for custody in another province where the child is habitually resident
- no order from another province has already been recognized by a court in Saskatchewan
- no application has been made or is about to be made to enforce in Saskatchewan a custody order made in another province
- the court decides on the balance of convenience that it is appropriate for the case to be heard in Saskatchewan
Changing Support Orders
Before you can determine if a court in Saskatchewan can hear your case to change a support order you need to know what legislation the order was made under.
Your order should say what Act it was made under. If not, you can look at court documents, such as the Petition or the Notice of Application, to see what Act(s) the orders were requested under.
If orders were requested under both The Family Maintenance Act and the Divorce Act you can consider your order to be a Divorce Act order provided that divorce and support was requested. If you and the other party were not married, or you were married but neither of you asked for a divorce, your order will have been made under The Family Maintenance Act.
Family Maintenance Act Orders
A Court of King’s Bench in Saskatchewan can hear your case to change a support order made under The Family Maintenance Act if the person who is paying support lives here.
Even if the paying parent lives in Saskatchewan, if you live elsewhere you may not want to have your court case heard here. You may not want to travel here or may not want to hire a lawyer that can practice here. In this case you should contact the Inter-jurisdictional Support Orders office in the province where you live.
If you live here and the payor does not, the Family Law Information Centre provides help for changing a support order.
Divorce Act Orders
A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can hear your case to change a support order made under the Divorce Act as long as you or the other party are ordinarily resident here. If the other party is not here the court may make a provisional order. This means that the order will not be in effect until it is confirmed by a court in the province where the other party lives.
Changing Custody Orders
Before you can determine if your custody order can be changed in Saskatchewan you need to know what Act your order was made under.
Your order should say what Act it was made under. If it not, you can look at court documents, such as the Petition or the Notice of Application, to see what Act or Acts the orders were requested under.
If orders were requested under both The Children’s Law Act and the Divorce Act you can consider your order to be a Divorce Act order provided that you or the other party asked for a divorce as well as a custody/access order. If you and the other party were not married or you were married but neither of you asked for a divorce, your order will have been made under The Children’s Law Act.
Children’s Law Act Orders
A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can hear your case to change a custody/access order made under The Children’s Law Act if the child is habitually resident here or both parties agree to have the case heard in Saskatchewan or certain requirements are met. See the information under Custody Cases without Divorce.
Divorce Act Orders
A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can hear your case to change a custody/access order made under the Divorce Act if either you or your spouse is ordinarily resident in Saskatchewan. However, if the child does not live in Saskatchewan it is unlikely that a court in Saskatchewan will hear the case.
Enforcing Custody/Access
A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can hear your case to have a custody/access order enforced even if the order was not made in Saskatchewan. However, the court can refuse to enforce a custody/access order made in another province if the child is here in Saskatchewan but the court is satisfied that:
- the person who has custody under the out-of-province order was not actually exercising their rights under that order when the child was removed, and
- they agreed to or did not object to the removal of the child, or
- the child would suffer serious harm if the out-of-province custody/access order was enforced or the child was removed from Saskatchewan
Property Cases
A King’s Bench Court in Saskatchewan can make orders concerning any family property that is in Saskatchewan. In making these orders they can also take into consideration the value of any family property outside of Saskatchewan.