1 lawyer · Established 2015 · Wellington County (Guelph)
One of 7 law firms listed in Fergus, and one of 5 handling Family Law.
Accepts Legal Aid
Free consultationChristopher J. Unruh Law Office is a family law practice in Fergus, built around Christopher J. Unruh, who works as both a lawyer and a mediator and brings over ten years of legal practice. The goal on most files is to settle things without a contested court fight, and when a judge does have to decide, there's considerable litigation experience to draw on. The office also helps clients put wills and powers of attorney in place.
Christopher J. Unruh has practised mainly family law since becoming a lawyer in 2011 and has served Fergus through this office since 2015. Alongside private clients, the work includes regularly acting as family law duty counsel at the Guelph and Walkerton courthouses, providing legal services for children through the Office of the Children's Lawyer, and working for the Family Responsibility Office as an empaneled lawyer. Clients have been represented at courthouses across southwestern Ontario, from Owen Sound and Goderich to Hamilton, Barrie and Milton. Christopher J. Unruh grew up nearby in Elmira and Listowel and has lived in Fergus, raising a family there, since 2013.
The office recognizes that family law fees can feel out of reach for a lot of people. It aims to give families in Fergus, Elora, Guelph and the surrounding area access to justice whatever their income, and it offers fixed fees, limited scope (unbundled) retainers, legal aid certificates and free remote consultations. With one lawyer and a full caseload, not everyone can be offered a consultation, but the ones that are offered cost nothing and can happen over Google Meet or Zoom, so there's no need to take time off work or find childcare. After a request comes in, a clerk follows up to book a consultation, ask for more details, or explain if one isn't available.
Christopher J. Unruh appears for clients in both the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice. The office starts and defends applications over parenting time and decision-making, child and spousal support, and property, including equitable claims for common law and cohabiting spouses, and it brings and answers motions to change when circumstances shift.
Our guide: How to Get a Divorce in Ontario
The office has obtained adoption orders in several matters, step-parent and family adoptions among them.
Christopher J. Unruh is a trained mediator and helps separating parties work toward agreement on child or spousal support, dividing and equalizing property, and parenting plans.
Out of court, the office drafts separation agreements, cohabitation agreements and marriage contracts, negotiates with the other side and their lawyer, helps with financial disclosure, and gets clients ready for mediation or arbitration. For couples with young children, collaborative family law's non-adversarial model can help head off later conflict between two households.
The office regularly prepares wills, including dual wills where a situation calls for them, and powers of attorney covering personal health decisions and property. It also helps with administering estates.
Wheelchair accessible
By appointment
Flat fee
Free consultation
Legal aidThe office's aim is to make family law simpler to get through: clear advice, and the tools clients need to settle their matters fairly and affordably in a way that fits their interests. Where it's possible, it tries to resolve a matter before anyone goes to court. In its experience, clients who reach a negotiated settlement regularly end up more satisfied, with a more lasting result, less expense and less stress than a court-based outcome brings.
Fit matters too. The office wants clients to be sure its approach suits how they'd like to handle their case before they pay for any legal services, and the consultations it offers are free.
The office is at 181 St. Andrew Street East in Fergus. St. Andrew Street follows the Grand River and is the heart of downtown, with shops and restaurants along it. Fergus sits about 18 km north-northwest of Guelph, in Centre Wellington Township, Wellington County, and it was its own town until 1999, when it was merged with the Village of Elora and several surrounding townships to form the township.
Adam Fergusson founded Fergus in 1833, buying 7,000 acres beside the river with fellow lawyer James Webster. The Scottish settlers who followed put up the solid stone houses and buildings that still give Fergus its character, and many from the 1800s are in use today.
181 St. Andrew Street East, Fergus, Ontario N1M 1P9, Canada · 226-780-0810
Something wrong with this listing? Tell us and we’ll hide it right away while we review your request, then correct it or take it down.
Add the free LawOnline listing badge to your website. It tells visitors you’re listed in an independent Canadian lawyer directory and links back to this profile. Being listed isn’t a certification or an endorsement, and the badge doesn’t mean we’ve checked your credentials.
Stelzer Law is a Guelph, Ontario practice led by lawyer Cheryl Stelzer, offering real estate, family law, and wills and estates services. The office opened in 1996, originally as Smith & Stelzer Law Office, and has si…
Real Estate Law
Family Law
Wills, Estates & TrustsFlesher & Mann is a general-practice firm that's served Guelph and the surrounding area since 1987. Its work covers real estate, wills and powers of attorney, incorporations and family law, and its principal, Jeffrey …
Real Estate LawWills, Estates & Trusts
Business & Corporate LawFamily LawMaslov Law is the solo practice of Danica Maslov, serving Guelph and Brantford, Ontario. Its work covers separation and divorce, child protection (CAS), adoption, marriage and cohabitation agreements, wills and powers…
Family LawWills, Estates & Trusts
Notary & Commissioner ServicesThis listing was generated by AI from public sources in October 2026. It may contain errors, and we can’t guarantee it’s accurate or complete. Before you rely on anything here, verify it on the firm’s own website. Verify licence status in the Law Society of Ontario directory ↗
How this data is compiled and checked · Correct or remove this listing
