In Quebec, there are two types of divorce, amicable divorce and contested divorce.
Amicable divorce, also called joint divorce, allows you to divorce in a better climate of separation. The spouses agree on all aspects of their breakup such as parenting time for the children, child support, spousal support, the distribution of property, assets, debts and retirement funds.
Amicable divorce allows for a divorce without conflict or litigation. The turnaround time is faster and the legal, professional and administrative costs are lower.
A contested divorce is a divorce in which the spouses cannot agree on one or more issues of their separation. The spouses will have to go to court and a judge will decide on the terms of their separation.
Quebecers’ favourite divorce
Since 2020, the preferred divorce of Quebecers is without a doubt an amicable divorce.
During the pandemic, we have seen an increase in amicable divorces.
Previously, Quebecers wanting a divorce preferred the contested divorce.
The table below shows the number of amicable divorces and the number of contested divorces for 2018 to 2021, as well as for the first two months of 2022
| Year | Number of amicable divorces | Number of contested divorces |
| 2018 | 6,103 | 6,985 |
| 2019 | 6,069 | 6,584 |
| 2020 | 5,650 | 5,407 |
| 2021 | 6,388 | 5,208 |
| 2022 (data up to February 28, 2022) | 813 | 679 |
Source: Ministère de la justice du Québec – Plumitif System M012 – Civil Case Management – Date extracted: 2022-03-15
The notary for amicable divorce
Mtre Mona Salehi and her team are available to support you with your amicable divorce. Moreover, a December 2016 survey by the Léger firm published in Protégez-vous tells us that the vast majority (81%) of Quebecers would do business with a notary to have an amicable divorce agreement approved by a court.
