Buyer's Guide · 2026
Family law software for Canadian firms
A practical guide for family-law firm partners, IT leads, and ops managers evaluating calculation software. Covers the four tools Canadian firms actually consider, what they cost, where each one wins, and which questions to ask in a demo.
Last updated: 2026. Pricing and feature claims link to each vendor's public website.
What family-law calculation software does
Family-law calculation software handles three workflows that almost every Canadian family file requires:
- Child support. Federal Child Support Guidelines (FCSG, SOR/97-175) table lookups, section 7 special expenses, shared parenting set-offs under s. 9, and income imputation under s. 19. Quebec uses its own provincial model.
- Spousal support. SSAG without-child and with-child formulas, duration ranges (rule of 65, indefinite), lump-sum equivalents, and Boston-style restructuring.
- Property division. Provincially varies wildly — Ontario equalizes net family property; BC shares family property and excludes pre-relationship assets; Alberta uses the Family Property Act; Quebec has mandatory family patrimony. Tooling that handles only support without property leaves real work on the table.
Practice-management tools like Clio, ActionStep, and PCLaw do not perform these calculations. They store the matter; you still need a purpose-built calculation engine, ideally one that integrates back into the PM tool.
The four vendors Canadian firms consider
DivorceMate
B2BCanada's incumbent family-law calculation tool, now owned by LEAP Legal Software. Long-standing trust with the judiciary and large firms; UX and architecture date back to the mid-2000s desktop era.
Pricing: $75–$200/user/month on 36-month terms; LEAP bundle starts at $149/user/month (per DivorceMate and LEAP public pages).
Full Divo vs DivorceMate comparison →ChildView
B2BLong-established Canadian family-law calculation tool, used by lawyers and mediators since 1997. Strong emphasis on local-storage and Windows-desktop workflows.
Pricing: Not published publicly.
Full Divo vs ChildView comparison →Divorcepath
HybridThe most directly comparable modern competitor: cloud-first, AI-assisted, Clio-integrated, transparent pricing, hybrid B2B/B2C. Strong product, growing market share.
Pricing: B2C: free / $29 / $59 on 6-month terms; B2B: $80–$100/user/month; enterprise custom (per Divorcepath public pages).
Full Divo vs Divorcepath comparison →MySupportCalculator
B2CCanada's most widely used free public child and spousal support calculator, powered by DivorceMate's engine. Heavy organic-search presence; consumer-focused.
Pricing: Free public tool with paid PDF report tier.
Full Divo vs MySupportCalculator comparison →Provincial coverage
Family law is constitutionally divided in Canada: divorce is federal (Divorce Act and FCSG); property and unmarried-spouse rights are provincial. The right tool for your firm depends on where you practice and which provincial property regimes you touch. Divo supports all 13 provinces and territories (Quebec model on roadmap).
Practice-management integrations
If your firm runs on Clio (the most common choice for Canadian family-law firms), integration is non-negotiable. Look for:
- → Two-way matter sync (not one-way export)
- → Contact sync (clients, opposing counsel, opposing party)
- → Document push to PM-side storage
- → SSO with the same identity provider you use elsewhere
Divo integrates with Clio, ActionStep, PCLaw/Soluno, PracticePanther, CosmoLex, NetDocuments, iManage, and SharePoint/OneDrive — covering the practice and document management tools most Canadian family-law firms run on.
Direct comparisons
Demo questions to ask any vendor
These nine questions will surface the differences that matter once your firm is committed:
- Where is client data hosted? Canadian data centres or US?
- Do you send any client data to third-party AI providers? Which ones?
- What's the contract term — annual, 36-month? Are there early-termination fees?
- Does pricing change at renewal? Show me your renewal history.
- Show me the audit trail for one calculation — every input, every formula, every statute citation.
- How does the Clio integration work? Demo a two-way sync live.
- How is income imputed for self-employed parents (FCSG s. 19)? Walk me through it.
- For my province specifically — show me how you handle [NFP / excluded property / family patrimony / etc.].
- What happens when the federal child support tables update? Will my historical files still calculate against the old tables?
FAQ
What's the difference between practice management and calculation software?
Practice management tools (Clio, ActionStep, PCLaw) handle billing, time tracking, matter records, and document storage. Calculation software (Divo, DivorceMate, ChildView, Divorcepath) handles the math: FCSG child support, SSAG spousal support, and provincial property division. Most modern firms run both, with the calculation tool feeding results back into the practice-management matter file via integration.
Is AI-powered family law software safe for client data?
It depends on the tool. Divo hosts data in Canadian data centres (Toronto and Montreal), is PIPEDA-compliant, and never sends client information to third-party AI providers. Any tool you evaluate should answer (1) where data is hosted, (2) which AI providers it shares data with, and (3) whether it has SOC 2 or equivalent. Generic chatbot tools like ChatGPT are not appropriate for client calculations — they can hallucinate case law and miscalculate amounts.
Do we need separate software for each province?
No. Modern family law calculation tools support multiple provinces in a single subscription. Divo covers all 13 provinces and territories (Quebec model is on roadmap). Each calculation is tagged with the governing statute and produces province-appropriate output.
What should we budget per lawyer?
Canadian family law calculation tools range from $75 to $200 per user per month, with multi-year terms unlocking the best pricing. Cheaper than the cost of an extra hour of paralegal time per month — most firms recoup the spend within the first matter.
How long does implementation take?
For cloud-based tools like Divo, Divorcepath, and modern Clio integrations: same-day setup for individual lawyers; 1–2 weeks for firm-wide rollout including SSO, user provisioning, and PM integration. Desktop-era tools like DivorceMate may require IT involvement for installation.
See Divo applied to your firm
We'll set up a demo against the provinces you actually practise in and answer every question on the list above.