To bring a motion, you need to:

  1. ask the court for a motion date
  2. identify and fill out your motion forms
  3. serve and file your motion forms
  4. confirm that you will attend the motion
  5. go to your motion hearing
  6. receive the judge’s decision

While these are the steps to bring a motion in most situations, please note that special rules apply to particular types of motions (for example, a motion for a contempt order). You may need to take a few different or additional steps in these circumstances. You should always refer to the Family Law Rules to confirm the rules and forms that apply in your case.

Step 1: ask the court for a motion date

This first step in bringing a motion is to contact the family court office for a motion date. Some courthouses keep one or more days open each week to hear motions and you can bring your motion on any of those days. In other courthouses, you must book a specific time for your motion.

You should check with the other party (or their lawyer) to see when they are available before you schedule your motion with the court.

If you need an interpreter or any special arrangement because of a disability, ask for special arrangements in advance of your motion date. You can speak with any court staff or the Accessibility Coordinator at the courthouse about what you need.

Learn more about court interpreters.

You can also ask that the motion be held by telephone or videoconference, with the judge’s advance permission.

Step 2: identify and fill out your motion forms

Forms to bring a procedural, uncomplicated or unopposed motion

If you want to bring a procedural, uncomplicated or unopposed motion, you must usually fill out the following forms:

  • Form 14B: Motion Form
    • write the orders you’re asking the court to make, as well as the rules and laws that apply to the facts of your case
  • Form 14A: Affidavit (General)
    • swear or affirm that the information in this form is true and sign the form in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits
    • identify each exhibit that you attach, in an alphabetic sequence (for example, you may write “Attached as ‘Exhibit A’ is a copy of an access schedule, agreed upon by me and the respondent”)
    • attach any relevant documentary evidence to this form as an “exhibit”
    • write out the evidence to explain why you want the court to make the orders you are requesting
  • an updated Cumulative Table of Contents in the Continuing Record
  • if you are asking for a child support or spousal support order:
  • if you and the other party are bringing the motion on consent:
    • any written agreement or minutes of settlement signed by both of you
    • a draft Form 25: Order, if possible. In this form, you list the orders that you want the court to make. If the judge agrees, they may sign this form and it becomes your official court order.

Forms to bring a motion for a temporary order

If you want to bring a motion for a temporary order, you must usually fill out the following forms:

If your case is in the Superior Court of Justice or the Family Court Branch of the Superior Court of Justice, you may need a Factum or Summary of Argument. This is where you write out the rules and laws that apply to the facts in your case, which support your motion. For more information, refer to the court’s provincial and regional Practice Directions.

Get Help Completing Your Court Forms

If you want help filling out the forms and you do not have a lawyer, you can:

Learn more about these resources.

Step 3: serve and file your motion forms

After you fill out all your forms to bring a motion, you must:

  1. Serve copies of all your completed forms on every other party in your case, using regular or special service, at least six business days before your motion date.
  2. Complete and swear or affirm Form 6B: Affidavit of Service in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits. Learn more about filing your family court documents.
  3. File your original motion forms and Form 6B with the court at least four business days before your motion date.

See the page "Serving your documents" for more information on how to serve your family law documents. You may also refer to Rule 6 in the Family Law Rules.

Step 4: confirm that you will attend the motion

To confirm that you will attend your motion hearing, you must:

  1. try to communicate before the hearing date (verbally or in writing) with the other party or their lawyer about the issues in your case, unless there is a court order that prohibits you from communicating
  2. complete Form 14C: Confirmation of Motion and include information about:
    1. the orders you’re requesting
    2. the forms that the judge should read
    3. where those forms are located in the Continuing Record (the volume and tab number)
    4. how much time you will need to present your motion
  3. give a copy of your completed confirmation form (Form 14C) to the other party or their lawyer using mail, fax, email or another method.
  4. file your confirmation form (Form 14C) with the court no later than 2:00 p.m. three business days before the motion date
    1. you can file your form in person at the courthouse or fax or email the form if the court allows

If you do not file your confirmation form with the court on time, your motion will be cancelled unless the court orders otherwise.

If you file your confirmation form (Form 14C) with the court but later realize it’s incorrect, you must immediately give a corrected confirmation form to the other party and the court clerk before your motion date, if possible.

Step 5: go to your motion hearing

You will have to go to the courthouse for your motion hearing unless:

  • you are making a procedural, uncomplicated, or unopposed motion
  • you asked in your motion form (Form 14B) that the court deal with your motion based only on your written material

Your motion will be held in a courtroom at the courthouse. It can also be held by telephone or videoconference, with the judge’s advance permission.

You should arrive at the courthouse at least 30 to 60 minutes before the time your motion is scheduled to begin. This will give you time to find the room where your motion will be and get ready to see the judge. If you don’t have a lawyer, you should try to speak to any available Duty Counsel, who may be able to give you legal assistance. Legal Aid Ontario provides Duty Counsel at certain times in many family courts across Ontario to people who are financially eligible for their services.

In order to find your courtroom, look for your name and court file number on the case event list. The list is usually posted on a board near the entrance to the court or outside each courtroom. If you don’t know where to go, ask court staff for help.

You should check in with the clerk when you find your courtroom. If court is already in session, wait to talk to the clerk until there is a break in the session.

If you need an interpreter or any special arrangement because of a disability, ask for special arrangements. You can speak with any court staff or the Accessibility Coordinator at the courthouse about what you need.

In some courts, several motions may be scheduled in the same timeslots, so you may have to wait for your turn to be heard. When the judge enters, you should stand and remain standing until the clerk says that you can be seated. When your case is called, you and the other party may sit at the tables at the front of the courtroom.

You and the other party in your case will have to tell the judge what you are each requesting and the evidence to support your request. The judge usually first hears from the moving party and then the responding party.

You can only speak to the judge about the information contained in your motion forms that were served on the other party and filed with the court. The judge may also ask you or the other party questions. There are usually no witnesses at a motion.

Step 6: receive the judge’s decision

At the end of the motion, the judge usually makes a temporary order that stays in place until the court makes a different temporary decision that changes the previous decision or a final decision later in your case.

The judge may make a decision right away at the end of the motion hearing or they may reserve their decision to be released at a later time. This means that they need time to review the evidence. You may have to come back to court to hear the judge’s decision or you will be notified of the decision in writing.

If the judge has questions for you or the other party, the clerk will contact you with either:

  • a new court date
  • a copy of the judge’s endorsement that sets out any additional steps that you should take

Bringing a motion without notice

In most situations, you will need to give notice to the other party that you are bringing a motion. This means that you serve your motion forms on the other party, and they have the opportunity to respond and tell the court their position about your request.

In limited circumstances, you may be able to bring a motion without giving notice to the other party. This is called bringing a motion without notice (or an ex-parte motion). The other party will not know that you are asking the court to make an order and they will not have the opportunity to tell the court their side of the story regarding the issues raised in the motion.

A motion without notice may be allowed in situations such as the following:

  • Notice is either unnecessary or not reasonably possible. For example, where you have made efforts to locate the other party, but cannot find them in order to notify them.
  • There is an immediate danger that your child will be removed from Ontario, and the delay in giving the other party notice of the motion would probably have serious consequences.
  • There is an immediate danger to the health or safety of you or a child, and the delay in giving the other party notice would probably have serious consequences.
  • Serving a notice of motion would probably have serious consequences.

You should think carefully before you bring a motion without notice. If the judge decides it was not necessary for you to bring the motion, the judge may order you to pay the other party’s legal costs related to your motion.

A motion without notice requires the same forms as a motion with notice, but you also need to:

  • Ask the court for permission to bring your motion without notice. You request this in your motion form along with your other requests (Form 14 or Form 14B).
  • Complete and file a draft Form 14D: Order on Motion Without Notice. In this form, you list the orders that you want the court to make. If the judge agrees, they may sign this form and it becomes your official court order.

You do not serve your motion forms on the other party when you are bringing a motion without notice.

You must file your documents with the court on or before the motion date.

If the judge hears your ex-parte motion and makes an order, you must usually serve a copy of all your motion materials and the judge’s order on the other party as soon as possible after the motion date.

In many cases, you will have to return to the court for another hearing within 14 days. This is to give the other party a chance to tell the judge their side of the story, which they were not able to do at the ex-parte motion hearing. The judge can then decide whether the previously made temporary order should remain in place, be changed, or no longer stay in place.