Changing a final order or agreement

1. Purpose: what this process aims to do

Rule 15 — Motions to Change a Final Order or Agreement is the route to ask a court to change terms of a final order, an eligible filed support agreement, or an eligible filed family arbitration award. Common subjects include support and parenting arrangements when circumstances have changed. Identify the precise order, term, proposed replacement and factual or legal basis. The court decides whether the legal test for the requested change is met.Check: Family Law Rules — 15

What it can and cannot do

Rule 15 can change eligible final terms; filing Form 15 does not suspend or change the existing order while the request is pending. An interim order in a still-active case usually calls for relief in that case under the motion rules, rather than a Rule 15 motion to change a final order. Rule 11 amends a pleading; it does not replace the Rule 15 procedure for changing a final order.Check: Family Law Rules — 15, 11

Choose the right route and court

If everyone, including any required support assignee, agrees, check Form 15C — Consent Motion to Change, or the child-support-only Form 15D where it fits. If the change is contested, use Form 15 — Motion to Change. Rule 15(4) applies Rule 5’s place-of-case rules as if this were a new case; check the level of court that made the order and the proper location, especially when parenting is involved. Keep the original applicant/respondent designations even if the respondent is now the moving party.Check: Family Law Rules — 15(4), 5

2. Forms and documents you need

Choose the documents that apply to your claims and this route. Use the current official forms and check the instructions printed on each form.Check: Official family forms — form instructionsCheck: Family Law Rules — Rule 15

3. Put the package together

How to start a contested motion to change

1. Read the operative order.Find the final terms actually in force and any later changes. List the exact paragraphs you ask to replace, the proposed wording, and the facts and dates explaining why. Attach the order or filed agreement you seek to change.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15
2. Prepare Form 15 and attachments.Complete and commission Form 15. Add parenting forms under Rule 35.1 or financial documents under Rule 13 as applicable. Prepare blank Forms 15B and 15C for the other party.Check: Family Law Rules — 35.1, 13

If you are responding

Read the issued Form 15, existing order and every attachment. If you oppose the requested change or want a different change, serve and file Form 15B with required attachments. If you agree, complete and return the applicable portions of Form 15C, and give a copy to any assignee as Rule 15 directs. Do not let silence stand in for consent. If the motion concerns support, provide the financial statement and income documents required by Rule 13 within the response period.Check: Family Law Rules — 15, 13

Page and evidence limits

Rule 15 sets no general page cap on Form 15 or 15B; complete the forms and required attachments. A later conference brief has the provincial 8-page Form 17A limit. If the court directs a motion, affidavit narrative and exhibit restrictions apply, and an East Region factum, when required for a motion of at least one hour, is a separate document capped at 20 pages without leave. Do not treat Form 15 itself as a regular Form 14 motion package.Check: Family Law Rules — 15Check: Provincial family direction — paras. 96, 100–103Check: Provincial family direction — paras. 49–54 (motion evidence)

4. Get it before the court

1. Submit the starting package for issuance.Use the correct court and filing route. Keep the court-issued copy, file number, acceptance confirmation and any first appearance information. Do not serve an unissued draft as the issued starting document.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15(5)–(7)
2. Follow the first-appearance or conference route.If the court assigns an appearance, follow that notice. Otherwise, after the appropriate response steps, arrange the required conference. Ottawa’s ordinary case-conference bookings use family Calendly. A contested motion to change generally needs a conference before its merits are heard.Check: Family Law Rules — Rules 17(3), (4.1)Check: SCJ Calendly locations — Ottawa

Filing and Case Center are separate. In regions outside Toronto, court staff upload accepted pretrial filings for self-represented people. A Case Center upload does not file a document.Check: Provincial family direction — paras. 29–33

5. Service, filing and the timeline

The trigger below may be service, a refusal notice, a court decision or the claim document itself. You do not wait for a new hearing date when the rule requires action earlier.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15

1. Issuance and service: submit the completed package for issuance, then specially serve the issued Form 15, attachments and blank Forms 15B/15C. File Form 6B proof. There is no ordinary 6-day Rule 14 motion-service shortcut for starting this Rule 15 process.Check: Family Law Rules — 14, 15
2. Response: under Rule 15(10), a responding party who resides in Canada or the United States has 30 days after receiving the motion and supporting documents. In any other case, the period is 60 days. The same timing governs returning the signed Form 15C on consent.Check: Family Law Rules — 15(10)
3. Conference: for a contested case, arrange the first attendance under the court’s local process after allowing the response time. Rule 17 generally requires a case conference before the Rule 15 motion is heard, unless an exception applies. Conference briefs are generally due 6 days before from the requesting/moving party and 4 days before from the other party. Confirm the conference with Form 17F by 2 p.m. three business days before under East Region practice.Check: Family Law Rules — 17, 15Check: East Region direction — paras. 80–85 (confirmation)
4. Motion or later hearing: if not resolved, the court may direct a motion based on the filed evidence or a focused hearing/trial. Follow the resulting timetable; a later motion date also has Form 14C confirmation and applicable motion-material limits. Count deadlines with Rule 3.Check: Family Law Rules — 3Check: East Region direction — paras. 80–85 (confirmation)

What happens at the conference?

The court can identify the disputed terms, address missing disclosure, explore settlement, set a timetable and determine the fairest next step. Under Rule 15(24.1), at the first attendance before a judge in a contested motion to change, the judge determines the best process for a quick and just result. Some locations use a Dispute Resolution Officer for an initial conference; local availability and scheduling should be checked with the Ottawa court office. A DRO can help narrow or settle issues but does not make a contested final order.Check: Family Law Rules — 15(24.1)

Carry out the document and delivery steps

1. Get Form 15 issued.Submit the package to the proper court for issuance through the applicable filing route. Keep the issued copy, file number, and court acceptance confirmation. Check whether a first appearance is assigned or you must arrange a conference date.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15
2. Specially serve the complete package.Under Rule 15(7), use special service for the issued motion, required attachments and blank response/consent forms. Serve any support assignee as Rule 15(11) requires. Have an adult other than you serve where the special-service method requires that, then file Form 6B proof.Check: Family Law Rules — 15(7), 15(11)
3. Allow the response period and schedule the next event.In an Ottawa Superior Court case, confirm the current local booking route for a first conference; issuance alone is not a booked hearing. A contested motion to change ordinarily has a case conference before it can be heard, subject to the rule’s exceptions.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15

6. Hot points to remember

• The order remains effective: comply with it unless changed by another order or applicable agreement recognized by the court.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15
• Be precise: quote or identify the exact existing paragraph and show the proposed replacement. Explain the change in circumstances and the evidence that supports it.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15
• Special service: the Rule 15 starting package, including blank Forms 15B/15C, is specially served, not merely emailed as regular service unless a valid special-service method permits it.Check: Family Law Rules — 15
• Support assignee: check whether support has been assigned to an agency; consent between the parents may be insufficient without the assignee’s required involvement.Check: Family Law Rules — Rule 15
• Parenting and money need attachments: Rule 35.1 and Rule 13 can add documents to Form 15 or Form 15B.Check: Family Law Rules — 35.1, 13