Tab 1
Info: Names, Dates, Children, and Relationship Basics
This is the foundation of the agreement. Everything else builds on it. Take your time getting it right.
Your name and your spouse's name
Use full legal names exactly as they appear on government ID. Driver's licence, passport, or citizenship card. If your driver's licence says "Robert" but everyone calls you "Bob," use "Robert." The legal document needs to match the legal you.
Date of birth
Appears in the recitals (the introduction of the document). It also quietly affects whether the SSAG "Rule of 65" applies to your spousal support — a rule that can make support indefinite if your age plus the years married is 65 or more at separation.
Occupation
What each of you does for a living. If you are between jobs, write what you do when employed. If you are a stay-at-home parent, that is a valid occupation — write that. Court documents need to identify what each of you actually does.
Parental title
If you have kids, this is what you would like to be called in the document — Mother, Father, or a gender-neutral title. Only used in places where the document talks about the kids ("the children shall spend Mother's Day with their Mother…").
The other party's email
Their personal email — not a shared one, not a work one if you can avoid it. This is how they get invited to the agreement, log in, contribute their information, and eventually sign.
Date of marriage
The day you legally got married, from your marriage certificate. Leave this blank if you were not married — common-law relationships are valid in Ontario and have their own rules.
Date of cohabitation
When you started living together as a couple. This is one people get confused about. Cohabitation means living together as a couple, not as roommates. If you started dating in 2018, moved in together in 2020, and got married in 2022, your cohabitation date is 2020. If you and a roommate shared an apartment for two years before you started dating, cohabitation starts when the relationship started, not when you moved in.
Date of separation
The single most important date in the whole agreement. The day you decided the relationship was over. Almost every clause that mentions money, property, or support refers back to it. Property values are calculated as of this day. Support clocks start ticking from this day. Pick the day that feels most accurate — the other party will need to agree to it too.
Marriage location and signing city
Marriage location is where the marriage actually happened (city/town). Signing city is where you will be when you sign the agreement. Both show the court has the right jurisdiction.
Adding children
For each child of your relationship: name, date of birth, and where they will mostly live (with you, with the other parent, or shared). Children from a previous relationship go in a separate place — they have their own support arrangements that the court treats differently.
Ready to start your agreement?
Use the calculator to estimate support, or start a guided Ontario separation agreement now.