To get an emergency custody order in Ontario, you file a motion under Rule 14 of the Family Law Rules using Form 14 (Notice of Motion) and Form 14A (Affidavit), and you add Form 14D (Order on Motion Without Notice) if the situation is so urgent that the other parent cannot be told first. These forms let you skip the usual case conference and ask a judge to act immediately when a child’s safety is at risk. All forms are available on the Ontario Court Forms website.
When the Court Will Treat Your Situation as an Emergency
Most family motions in Ontario require a case conference before a judge will hear them. Emergency and urgent motions are the exception.1Ontario Court of Justice. Motions A matter is not urgent just because it feels pressing. Judges apply the test in the Family Law Rules, and if your facts do not fit, your motion gets pushed back onto the regular track.
Rule 14(12) sets out four grounds for a motion without notice, and these categories broadly define what counts as a genuine emergency:2Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 114/99 – Family Law Rules
- Notice is unnecessary or impractical in the circumstances.
- There is an immediate danger that a child will be removed from Ontario, and the delay caused by serving notice would create serious consequences.
- A child or the person bringing the motion faces an immediate threat to health or safety, and waiting to serve notice could lead to serious harm.
- Serving the other party would itself cause serious consequences — for example, by prompting someone to flee with the child or drain accounts.
Even when you bring the motion with notice, the judge still needs to see that the situation cannot safely wait for a regular motion date. Vague fears about what might happen rarely clear this bar. Strong urgent motions describe specific recent events: a threat sent on a particular date, a bank account drained last week, a parent who bought one-way plane tickets.
The Forms You Need
Every urgent motion needs at least Form 14 and Form 14A. Depending on your situation you may need several more. You can download everything at ontariocourtforms.on.ca.3Ontario Court Services. Family Law Rules Forms
- Form 14 (Notice of Motion) lists the specific orders you want — temporary sole custody, a restraining order, a travel ban on the child, and so on.
- Form 14A (Affidavit) is your sworn evidence. You describe the facts that created the emergency and explain why the court must act now. Lying in an affidavit is a criminal offence.2Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 114/99 – Family Law Rules
- Form 14D (Order on Motion Without Notice) is only required if you are proceeding without notifying the other parent. You draft the proposed order; if the judge agrees, they sign it and it becomes the court order.4Government of Ontario. Steps to Bringing a Motion in Family Court
- Form 14C (Confirmation of Motion) is required for motions with notice. Both parties must file it by 2:00 p.m. three days before the hearing, or the court can cancel the motion.1Ontario Court of Justice. Motions
- Form 6B (Affidavit of Service) proves you served the other party.
- Form 13 (Financial Statement) and Form 13A (Certificate of Financial Disclosure) are needed if your motion also involves support or property and your last financial statement is more than 60 days old.1Ontario Court of Justice. Motions
Make three copies of every document: one for you, one for the other party, and the original for the court.
Filling Out Form 14
Form 14 is short, but every entry matters. You identify the court (Ontario Court of Justice or Superior Court of Justice), the court file number if one exists, and the parties. In the body you list each order you want the judge to make. Write concrete requests. “I am asking for temporary sole custody of the child” tells a judge what to do; “I want the court to protect my child” does not.
If you want the motion heard without notice, you ask for that directly inside Form 14 alongside your other requests. There is no separate permission form — the judge reads your affidavit and decides whether the no-notice threshold is met.4Government of Ontario. Steps to Bringing a Motion in Family Court
The form also asks whether a case conference has taken place. For an emergency motion you note that you are proceeding without one and explain why the urgency justifies it.
Filling Out Form 14A (the Affidavit)
The affidavit is the most important document in the motion. Judges decide urgent motions almost entirely on the written evidence, so this one page has to carry your whole case. Weak, vague, or emotional affidavits are the single most common reason urgent motions fail.
Open by identifying yourself and your relationship to the case. Then set out the facts in numbered paragraphs, in chronological order, one event per paragraph. Include specific dates, times, and locations. Instead of “the respondent has been threatening,” write something like: “On March 12, 2026, the respondent sent me a text message at 11:40 p.m. stating [exact words]. A screenshot of this message is attached as Exhibit A.”
Attach supporting documents as exhibits and refer to each by letter inside the affidavit. Police reports, medical records, screenshots of messages, financial records, and school records carry real weight. Label each exhibit clearly (Exhibit A, Exhibit B) with a cover page or exhibit stamp.
Near the end, explain the urgency: why the court must act now and what harm follows from delay. Connect the specific facts to that harm. Then state the legal basis for the orders you want, whether under the Family Law Act, the Children’s Law Reform Act, or both.
Before filing, you must swear or affirm the affidavit in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits, a notary public, a lawyer, or a court clerk. You can do this for free at the courthouse.
Motions Without Notice and the 14-Day Return
When a judge grants an order on a motion without notice, that order is temporary by design. Rule 14(14) requires that the matter come back before the court, preferably the same judge, within 14 days or on another date the court sets.2Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 114/99 – Family Law Rules The return date gives the other parent a chance to appear, respond to the evidence, and argue whether the order should continue, change, or be set aside.
Once the order is signed you must serve it immediately on every affected party along with all the documents you used on the motion, unless the judge orders otherwise.2Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 114/99 – Family Law Rules Because no-notice orders are granted on one side’s evidence alone, judges scrutinize them closely at the return hearing. Be prepared for the order to be modified or revoked once the other parent responds.
Deadlines When You Give Notice
For an urgent motion brought with notice, the timelines are tight but fixed:1Ontario Court of Justice. Motions
- Six days before the motion: serve Form 14 and Form 14A on all other parties.
- Four days before the motion: file your documents with the court. The responding party serves and files their response by the same deadline.
- Three days before the motion, by 2:00 p.m.: both parties file Form 14C at the court office.
If even six days of notice is too long, you can ask the judge to shorten the notice period. Make that request in your motion materials and explain why.
Where and How to File
You can file your motion documents in person at the courthouse where your case is being heard. Some courts also accept filings through the Ontario Courts Public Portal at courts.ontario.ca.5Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Filing for Family Check with your local court office — not every courthouse offers online filing for every type of document.
There is a court fee to file a motion, and the amount depends on whether your case is in the Ontario Court of Justice or the Superior Court of Justice. Contact the court office to confirm the current amount.
If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for a waiver. Ontario waives fees for people whose gross annual household income falls below set thresholds (for example, $33,100 for a single person or $49,600 for a two-person household) or whose main income comes from Ontario Works, ODSP, Old Age Security with the Guaranteed Income Supplement, or certain other programs. You apply with Form FW-A-3 if you meet the financial criteria, or Form FW-A-4 if you want to ask the court to waive the fee even though you do not.6Government of Ontario. Have Your Court Fees Waived
What Happens After You File
On a motion without notice, the judge reviews your materials on paper and decides whether the facts meet the threshold for an immediate order. If they do, the judge signs Form 14D and the order takes effect right away. You then serve the order and your supporting documents on the other parent and prepare for the return hearing within 14 days.
On a motion with notice, both parties attend the hearing on the scheduled date. The judge hears argument, reviews the affidavit evidence, and makes a temporary order. These orders stay in effect until a further court date, a trial, or an agreement between the parties.
If the judge finds the motion is not truly urgent, the court may refuse to hear it on an emergency basis and send it to the regular motion schedule. You would then need to complete a case conference before going further.
The Risk of Filing Without Genuine Urgency
An emergency motion that lacks real urgency is not just ineffective; it can cost you money. Under Rule 24, a judge can order the losing party to pay the other side’s legal costs. Where the court finds bad faith — filing to harass, delay, or deceive rather than to address a real emergency — the award can cover the other side’s full legal expenses.2Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 114/99 – Family Law Rules Courts set a high bar for bad faith, but using the emergency process for tactical advantage is exactly the conduct that meets it. The judge looks at whether the behaviour was deliberate and whether it caused the other party unnecessary expense or harm.