Glossary
Matrimonial Home
The matrimonial home is the home where you and your spouse ordinarily lived together at the time of separation. Ontario treats it specially — it is fully included in equalization even if one of you owned it before marriage.
A spouse cannot exclude the matrimonial home from Net Family Property even if they brought it into the marriage. This is different from every other asset. So if one spouse owned the family home before the marriage, the entire value at the date of separation goes into the NFP calculation — not just the growth during the marriage. Both spouses also have an equal right to possess the matrimonial home during the marriage, even if only one is on title. A spouse cannot sell, mortgage, or lease the matrimonial home without the other's consent during the marriage. After separation, you typically deal with the home by selling and splitting, having one spouse buy out the other, or transferring title as part of overall equalization.
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