A stipulated divorce in Quebec is a joint application for divorce on a draft agreement (demande conjointe en divorce sur projet d'accord), where both spouses agree on every issue in writing. As of January 2026, it costs CAD $118 to file, requires one year of separation, and is typically finalized in 3 to 6 months without a courtroom hearing.
This guide explains how a fully agreed divorce works in Quebec, a civil-law jurisdiction where the federal Divorce Act governs the divorce itself while the Civil Code of Québec governs property. "Stipulated divorce" is an American term; in Quebec the equivalent is the joint application on a draft agreement, sometimes called an agreed divorce, consent divorce, or mutual divorce agreement. When you and your spouse settle everything, Quebec lets you bypass litigation entirely and have a Superior Court judge grant the divorce on the documents alone.
Key Facts: Stipulated Divorce in Quebec (2026)
| Factor | Detail |
|---|---|
| Filing Fee | CAD $118 (CAD $108 court fee + CAD $10 federal registry fee) for a joint application, as of January 2026 |
| Waiting Period | One year of living separate and apart before divorce is granted (Divorce Act § 8(2)(a)) |
| Residency Requirement | At least one spouse habitually resident in Quebec for one full year before filing (Divorce Act § 3(1)) |
| Grounds | Breakdown of marriage; one-year separation is the no-fault ground (Divorce Act § 8) |
| Property Division Type | Mandatory equal partition of the family patrimony (C.C.Q. arts. 414-426), plus liquidation of the matrimonial regime |
Filing fees are indexed every January 1 and published in Quebec's Tariff of Court Costs. As of January 2026, verify the current amount with your local Superior Court clerk before filing.
What Is a Stipulated Divorce in Quebec?
A stipulated divorce in Quebec is a joint application filed by both spouses together, accompanied by a written draft agreement resolving all issues. It is available only when spouses agree on parenting arrangements, child support, spousal support, and division of property. The Superior Court reviews the documents and grants the divorce without a trial, usually within 3 to 6 months.
Unlike a contested divorce, where one spouse sues the other and a judge decides disputed questions, a stipulated divorce treats both spouses as co-applicants. Neither party "wins" or "loses." You jointly ask the Superior Court of Quebec to dissolve the marriage on terms you have already negotiated. The draft agreement (projet d'accord) is the heart of the process: it is a comprehensive contract covering every consequence of your separation, submitted to the court as a proposed settlement the judge can ratify.
This path is the fastest, cheapest, and least adversarial route through a Quebec divorce. A joint application on a draft agreement avoids discovery, contested hearings, and expert battles. It reflects Quebec's civil-law tradition, which favors negotiated resolution and notarized agreements over prolonged litigation. If you want to understand your options before committing, build a personalized divorce roadmap to see how a stipulated divorce compares to other approaches for your situation.
Eligibility and Residency Requirements
To file a stipulated divorce in Quebec, at least one spouse must have been habitually resident in Quebec for at least one full year immediately before filing, under Divorce Act § 3(1). You must also be legally married and have a valid ground for divorce, which for a no-fault agreed divorce means one year of separation.
The one-year residency rule applies to either spouse, not both. A Quebec resident can file here even if the other spouse now lives in another province or outside Canada. This matters for cross-border couples: only one anchor to Quebec is required to give the Superior Court jurisdiction over the divorce.
The ground itself comes from Divorce Act § 8, which recognizes breakdown of marriage as the sole ground for divorce in Canada. Breakdown is established most commonly by living separate and apart for at least one year (§ 8(2)(a)). Adultery and cruelty are also recognized grounds, but almost no stipulated divorce relies on them, because a no-fault separation ground keeps the process cooperative. The Act permits spouses to reconcile for up to 90 days without resetting the one-year clock (§ 8(3)), so a brief attempt to save the marriage will not force you to start counting again.
Same-sex married couples, couples married outside Quebec, and civil-union partners who later married all qualify on the same terms. If you are unsure whether your separation date or residency meets the threshold, a short consultation with a Quebec family lawyer can confirm eligibility before you spend time drafting.
The Draft Agreement: What You Must Settle
The draft agreement in a stipulated Quebec divorce must resolve four categories completely: parenting arrangements for any children, child support calculated under the Quebec model, spousal support (or a waiver of it), and the division of property including the family patrimony. A joint application will be rejected if any of these issues is left open or unclear.
Quebec judges scrutinize agreements involving children more closely than any other term. Under the best-interests standard in Divorce Act § 16, a judge can refuse to ratify parenting or child-support provisions that fail to protect a child, even when both parents consent. This is a meaningful limit: parents cannot bargain away a child's right to adequate support. For property and spousal support between adults, courts give far greater deference to what the spouses freely negotiated.
A well-drafted agreement identifies each asset and debt, assigns a value or valuation date, specifies who pays support and how much, and sets out a detailed parenting schedule. It should also address practical matters such as the family residence, pension division, tax responsibilities, and how future disputes will be handled. Because the agreement becomes enforceable once the judgment is rendered, precision protects both spouses. Many couples have a notary or lawyer review the final draft even when they negotiated the terms themselves, since a single ambiguous clause can trigger years of post-divorce conflict.
Family Patrimony and Property Division
Every married couple in Quebec is subject to mandatory equal partition of the family patrimony under Civil Code of Québec art. 414, regardless of their matrimonial regime or who holds title. The family patrimony includes the family residences, the furniture inside them, family vehicles, and rights accrued during the marriage in pension and retirement plans. Its net value is split 50/50 on divorce.
The family patrimony is a floor no spouse can renounce in advance. Even a marriage contract cannot exclude it, which distinguishes Quebec sharply from common-law provinces. Article 415 C.C.Q. carves out limited exclusions: property received by gift or succession, and certain pension earnings when the marriage ends by death rather than divorce. What remains, the net value of the included property, is divided equally by transferring money or assets so each spouse receives half the value, not necessarily half of each item. Learn more about how family patrimony works before you finalize your split.
Separate from the family patrimony sits the matrimonial regime, which governs other property. Couples married without a contract since July 1, 1970 fall under partnership of acquests, where property acquired during the marriage is generally shared while pre-marriage and inherited property stays separate. Couples with a marriage contract may be in separation as to property, where each spouse keeps what is in their own name. In a stipulated divorce, your draft agreement must both partition the family patrimony and liquidate the matrimonial regime under C.C.Q. art. 416. Because Quebec property rules differ so much from the rest of North America, couples often confuse the local system with common-law equitable distribution; the two operate on entirely different principles.
Parenting Arrangements and Child Support
In a stipulated Quebec divorce, child support is calculated using the Québec model, the only provincial model in Canada that replaces the Federal Child Support Guidelines for cases where both parents live in Quebec. The Québec model considers the combined disposable income of both parents, so a support figure often differs substantially from the federal amount, which looks primarily at the paying parent's income.
The legal basis is C.C.Q. art. 587.1, which presumes the basic parental contribution set by the Quebec formula meets the child's needs in proportion to each parent's means. Parents complete the Child Support Determination Form (Schedule 1 / Form III), listing incomes, custody time, and eligible expenses. For example, a parent earning $60,000 with the other earning $40,000 might owe roughly $4,200 per year under the Québec model for one child, compared with about $6,000 under the federal guidelines, because Quebec credits the receiving parent's income. You can estimate your own figure with the Quebec child support calculator before drafting your agreement.
Where one parent lives outside Quebec, the Federal Child Support Guidelines apply by default, though the spouses may agree to use the Québec model instead. Parenting terms use Canadian vocabulary throughout. The 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act, in force since March 1, 2021, replaced "custody" with parenting time and decision-making responsibility under Divorce Act § 16.1. A stipulated agreement should specify each parent's parenting time, allocate decision-making responsibility for health, education, and religion, and address relocation, all measured against the best-interests factors in Divorce Act § 16. Even in a fully agreed divorce, a judge independently reviews these terms and can send the file back if a child's interests are not adequately protected.
Spousal Support in an Agreed Divorce
Spousal support in a stipulated Quebec divorce is set by agreement between the spouses, guided but not bound by the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines. Under Divorce Act § 15.2, a court can order support based on each spouse's means, needs, roles during the marriage, and economic advantages or disadvantages arising from the marriage or its breakdown. In an agreed divorce, spouses commonly set their own amount or waive support entirely.
Unlike child support, spousal support is not mandatory and can be negotiated freely between capable adults. Some couples agree on a fixed monthly amount for a defined term, others choose a lump sum, and others waive support in exchange for a larger property share. The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines produce a range based on income difference and marriage length; a 15-year marriage with a significant income gap might generate a mid-range figure of several hundred to a few thousand dollars monthly, but the Guidelines are advisory only and Quebec courts treat them as a reference point, not a rule.
Because Quebec judges give strong deference to freely negotiated spousal-support terms, a clear waiver or fixed schedule in your draft agreement will almost always be ratified. Still, spousal support carries long-term financial and tax consequences, so understanding how spousal support is structured matters before you sign. Periodic support is generally taxable to the recipient and deductible to the payer, while a lump sum is not, a distinction that can shift the real value of any deal by thousands of dollars.
Filing Costs and the JuridiQC Tool
Filing a stipulated divorce in Quebec costs CAD $118 as of January 2026: a CAD $108 Superior Court fee plus a CAD $10 federal registry fee. The provincial government's free JuridiQC Joint Divorce Help Tool guides eligible spouses through preparing and filing the documents themselves, which can reduce or eliminate lawyer fees for straightforward, fully agreed cases.
JuridiQC is a public service created by SOQUIJ and financed by Quebec's Ministère de la Justice. Its Joint Divorce Help Tool walks you through an online questionnaire, then generates the core documents: the joint application for divorce, the draft agreement, and the required affidavits. You download, review, and adjust them, add any supporting documents on your personalized checklist, and file at the courthouse. To use the tool, at least one spouse must have lived in Quebec for one full year and the couple must have been separated for at least one full year.
Below is a typical cost breakdown for a stipulated Quebec divorce in 2026.
| Cost Item | Typical Amount (CAD, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Joint application court fee | $108 |
| Federal registry fee | $10 |
| JuridiQC tool | $0 (free) |
| Optional notary or lawyer review of agreement | $500 - $2,500 |
| Contested divorce filing fee (for comparison) | $335 total ($325 + $10) |
As of January 2026, verify all filing fees with your local Superior Court clerk, since the Tariff of Court Costs is re-indexed every January 1. Even with an optional professional review, a fully agreed divorce typically costs a fraction of a contested case, where combined legal fees frequently exceed $10,000 to $20,000.
Timeline: How Long a Joint Divorce Takes
An uncontested joint divorce in Quebec typically takes 3 to 6 months from filing to final judgment, provided the one-year separation requirement is already met. The single largest timing factor is the mandatory separation period under Divorce Act § 8(2)(a), which requires spouses to live separate and apart for one full year before a divorce can be granted.
You can prepare and even file the joint application before the full year of separation elapses, but the Superior Court will not grant the divorce until the one-year ground is satisfied. Once the complete file, application, draft agreement, and affidavits, reaches a judge, review of an agreed case is usually a paper process with no hearing. If the judge is satisfied that the agreement protects any children and meets legal requirements, the divorce judgment follows.
After judgment, a further 31-day appeal period runs before the divorce takes legal effect and a certificate of divorce can be issued. Delays most often come from incomplete documents, unclear child-support calculations, or parenting terms a judge questions, which is why an accurate draft agreement is the best way to keep a stipulated divorce on the fast track. Couples who use JuridiQC and double-check their forms before filing tend to land at the shorter end of the 3-to-6-month range.
Contested vs. Stipulated Divorce in Quebec
A stipulated divorce in Quebec costs CAD $118 to file and finalizes in 3 to 6 months, while a contested divorce costs CAD $335 to file and commonly takes 1 to 3 years plus thousands in legal fees. The core difference is agreement: a stipulated divorce settles every issue in advance, while a contested divorce asks a judge to decide disputed questions after litigation.
The table below compares the two paths on the factors that matter most.
| Factor | Stipulated (Joint) Divorce | Contested Divorce |
|---|---|---|
| Filing fee (2026) | $118 | $335 |
| Typical timeline | 3 - 6 months | 1 - 3 years |
| Court appearances | Usually none (paper review) | Multiple hearings, possible trial |
| Typical total cost | $118 to a few thousand | $10,000 - $30,000+ |
| Control over outcome | Spouses decide all terms | Judge decides disputed terms |
| Emotional toll | Low, cooperative | High, adversarial |
Stipulated divorce is not right for every couple. If there is domestic violence, hidden assets, a major power imbalance, or genuine disagreement on parenting or money, a contested process, or at least independent legal advice, protects your interests better than a rushed agreement. But when spouses can negotiate in good faith, the joint application on a draft agreement is faster, cheaper, and less damaging, and it keeps decision-making in your hands rather than a judge's.