Find Out More in Learning about the Law

Find out more in Criminal, Civil and Fundamentals of Law

Canadian Bar Association	Our Court System and Solving Disputes offers information describing our court system and ways to resolve legal disputes without going to court.	www.cbabc.org/For-the-Public/Dial-A-Law/Scripts/Lawyers-Legal-Services-and-Courts/432
Clicklaw	A website with legal information and education from across BC. The resources available through Clicklaw are designed to be used by the public.	www.clicklaw.bc.ca
Dial-A-Law	Has brief legal information on over 130 topics, available in English, Chinese and Punjabi. Dial-A-Law is a free service of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia branch. You can listen on the telephone or online. You can also read the information online.	Phone: 604-687-4680 Phone toll-free: 1-800-565-5297 www.dialalaw.org
Family Law in BC	Family Law in BC is a website that provides information and resources on a wide range of family law issues. It is produced by the Legal Services Society.	www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca
ImmigrantLegal.ca	ImmigrantLegal.ca provides free legal information and education on legal topics for newcomers to Canada and the people working with them. The website is a project of the Immigrant Public Legal Education and Information Consortium. It is managed by the Justice Education Society	www.immigrantlegal.ca
JusticeBC	This is the website of the BC Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for managing the justice system in BC. The website provides information on a wide range of legal topics and describes the government services available to help you.	www.justicebc.ca
Justice Education Society	The Court Information Program for Immigrants provides free legal information to new immigrants and refugees. All content on the website is available in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hindi. Your Human Rights in BC has a series of five videos – available in English, Mandarin and Punjabi – which teaches immigrants about human rights in BC and Canada. Discrimination occurs when someone treats you differently based on your personal characteristics. Courts of BC is a website that uses information and videos to describe the structure and function of BC’s courts: Provincial Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. Administrative Law BC - Resolving Disputes is a website that explains what tribunals are and how they work.	www.justiceeducation.ca/programs/court-information-program-immigrants www.justiceeducation.ca/resources/human-rights-in-bc www.courtsofbc.ca www.adminlawbc.ca/]
Lawyer Referral Service	This service can help you find a lawyer who will meet with you for 30 minutes for $25.	Phone: 604-687-3221 Phone toll-free: 1-800-663-1919 cbabc.org/For-the-Public/Lawyer-Referral-Service
Legal Services Society of BC	You may be able to get free legal help (legal aid) if: your legal problem is covered by legal aid rules, your income and the value of your property are below a certain limit, and you have no other way of getting legal help. The Legal Services Society also has free booklets on legal topics in English and many other languages.	Phone: 604-408-2172 Phone toll-free: 1-866-577-2525 www.lss.bc.ca
MOSAIC	Offers programs and services to help immigrants and refugees in their settlement and integration into Canadian society. MultiLingoLegal.ca website features many legal publications in nine languages. MultiLingoLegal is operated by MOSAIC - a settlement and integration organization for immigrants and refugees in BC. Multilingual Legal Glossary is an online dictionary that allows you to search for the meaning of legal words. It provides the meaning of the word in English, and translates it into Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Farsi, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, or Vietnamese.	Phone: 604-254-9626 www.mosaicbc.com www.multilingolegal.ca www.legalglossary.ca/dictionary
People's Law School	The People's Law School provides people in BC with free public legal education and information. Visit our website or call us to find out how to access the education and information needed to exercise your legal rights and responsibilities.	Phone: 604-331-5400 www.publiclegaled.bc.ca
Pro Bono Legal Services	In these programs, lawyers volunteer to provide free legal advice to those who can’t afford a lawyer or can’t get legal aid. A good place to start is with the Access Pro Bono Society of BC, which has legal advice clinics across BC.	Phone: 604-878-7400 Phone toll-free: 1-877-762-6664 www.accessprobono.ca
Victimsinfo.ca	A website for victims and witnesses of crime in BC. The website gives people the information they need to deal with the consequences of crime.	www.victimsinfo.ca

Find out more in Family Law

Clicklaw	A website with legal information and education from across BC. The resources available through Clicklaw are designed to be used by the public. Start on home page (Solve Problems) and explore by topic. Select Family Law.	www.clicklaw.bc.ca
Family Law in British Columbia	The Family Law in British Columbia website has important information about family matters including: child protection, child support, common-law relationships, divorce and separation, and family violence. Information is available in 12 languages. The website is produced by the Legal Services Society. The Legal Services Society has free print and online booklets on family law topics in English and many other languages. Select Family and look for these publications: Living Together or Living Apart: Common-Law Relationships, Marriage, Separation, and Divorce This booklet explains the basics of family law in BC. It includes information about living common-law or being married, getting separated or divorced, and where to find help. The booklet is available in eight languages. Parents’ Rights, Kids’ Rights: A Parent’s Guide to Child Protection Law in BC This booklet explains what happens if the Ministry of Children & Family Development has concerns about a child’s safety. For Your Protection This is written for people who need protection from violent partners or ex-partners, but the information applies to anyone in an abusive relationship. If Your Child is Taken This explains the steps that parents or guardians can take if the director of Children and Family Development removes their child or is planning to remove their child from the home. Describes what the law says, what parents can do, and what happens in court.	www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca/resources/publications
ImmigrantLegal.ca	This website provides free legal information and education on legal topics for newcomers to Canada and the people working with them. The website is a project of the Immigrant Public Legal Education and Information Consortium. It is managed by the Justice Education Society. On the home page of the site, select Family.	www.immigrantlegal.ca
JP Boyd on Family Law	This website offers information about family law and the court process in British Columbia. It’s written in language that is easy to understand, and it has definitions for legal words and phrases.	www.wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca/index.php/jpboyd
JusticeBC	The Ministry of Justice manages BC's justice system. This website has information to help parents who are separating. It includes how parents can reach an agreement, what government services are available, and where parents can find programs to help them and their children cope.	www.justicebc.ca or www.ag.gov.bc.ca/family-justice
Justice Education Society	On the home page, select the quick link to Family Law. Court Information Program for Immigrants provides free legal information to new immigrants and refugees. All content on the website is available in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Punjabi, and Hindi. Families Change: Guide to Separation & Divorce is a multimedia website that provides information on separation and divorce for children, teens, and parents. KidsBC.ca: Explore Changeville is a multimedia website that aims to help children cope with the changes in their lives when parents separate or divorce.	www.justiceeducation.ca www.courtinformation.ca www.familieschange.ca www.kidsbc.ca

Find out more in Working and Renting in BC

Clicklaw

A website with legal information and education from across BC. The resources available through Clicklaw are designed to be used by the public. Start on home page (Solve Problems) and explore by topic.

www.clicklaw.bc.ca

More resources

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School, 2013.

Learning about the Law Wikibook © People's Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

The testing of the claims in a court proceeding at a formal hearing before a judge with the jurisdiction to hear the proceeding. The parties present their evidence and arguments to the judge, who then makes a decision resolving the parties' claims against one another that is final and binding on the parties unless successfully appealed. See "action," "appeal," "argument," "claim," "evidence" and "jurisdiction."

In law, the re-examination of a term of an order or agreement, usually to determine whether the term remains fair and appropriate in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time of the review. In family law, particularly the review of an order or agreement provided for the payment of spousal support. See "de novo," "family law agreements," "order" and "spousal support."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

The highest level of court in the province, having the jurisdiction to review decisions of the Supreme Court, all provincial lower courts, and certain tribunals. See "appeal."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

Something which can be owned. See "chattels" and "real property."

Money paid by one parent or guardian to another parent or guardian as a contribution toward the cost of a child's living and other expenses.

In family law, the decision of one or both parties to terminate a married or unmarried relationship; the act of one person leaving the family home to live somewhere else with the intention of terminating the relationship. There is no such thing as a "legal separation." In general, one separates by simply moving out, however, it is possible to be separated but still live under the same roof. See "divorce, grounds of."

A person who is younger than the legal age of majority, 19 in British Columbia. See "age of majority."

The legal termination of a valid marriage by an order of a judge; the ending of a marital relationship and the conjugal obligations of each spouse to the other. See "conjugal rights," "marriage" and "marriage, validity of."