Section 4 — Divorce Act: Jurisdiction in corollary relief proceedings

A court in a province has jurisdiction to hear and determine a corollary relief proceeding if either former spouse is habitually resident in the province at the commencement of the proceeding; or both former spouses accept the jurisdiction of the court. If corollary relief proceedings between the same former spouses and in respect of the same matter are pending in two courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction under subsection (1) and were commenced on different days, and the proceeding that was commenced first is not discontinued, the court in which a corollary relief proceeding was commenced first has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any corollary relief proceeding then pending between the former spouses in respect of that matter and the second corollary relief proceeding is deemed to be discontinued. If corollary relief proceedings between the same former spouses and in respect of the same matter are pending in two courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction under subsection (1) and were commenced on the same day, and neither proceeding is discontinued within 40 days after it was commenced, the Federal Court shall, on application by either or both former spouses, determine which court retains jurisdiction by applying the following rules: if at least one of the proceedings includes an application for a parenting order, the court that retains jurisdiction is the court in the province in which the child is habitually resident; if neither of the proceedings includes an application for a parenting order, the court that retains jurisdiction is the court in the province in which the former spouses last maintained a habitual residence in common if one of the former spouses is habitually resident in that province;

and in any other case, the court that retains jurisdiction is the court that the Federal Court determines to be the most appropriate.