Difference between revisions of "Recent Changes to Family Law in British Columbia"
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==Arbitration under the ''Family Law Act''== | ==Arbitration under the ''Family Law Act''== | ||
==Changes to the Child Support Guidelines== | |||
==New and Revised Supreme Court Forms== | |||
==The Provincial Court Pilot Project== | |||
Revision as of 23:31, 15 February 2021
Family law has changed a lot over the past 15 years or so, especially if you live in British Columbia. In 2010, we had special new Supreme Court rules just for family law cases. In 2013, the Family Law Act replaced the Family Relations Act and brought in new ways of thinking about parenting after separation, a new test that applies when someone wants to move away after separation, a new scheme for dividing property between spouses, new provisions about parenting coordination, and new tools for judges to manage court processes. In 2019, the Provincial Court established a pilot project in the Victoria courthouse aimed at the early resolution of family law disputes, complete with a whole new set of court rules just for the pilot project. In 2020, the Family Law Act was changed to also address the arbitration of family law disputes, in terms very different from those of the old Arbitration Act, and the Victoria pilot project was expanded to include the Surrey courthouse. Of course, 2020 was also the year that COVID-19 was declared to be a global pandemic and resulted in yet more changes to day-to-day court processes.
In 2021, sweeping changes to the federal Divorce Act came into effect that changed how we talk about parenting after separation and included a new test for figuring out children's best interests and a new test for when someone wants to move away. Thankfully, for people already used to the Family Law Act, the changes to the Divorce Act felt very familiar, as if the federal government had simply copied huge swathes from our legislation. However, the changes to the Divorce Act also resulted in changes to the Child Support Guidelines, changes to the forms used by the Supreme Court, and the introduction of brand new forms used when someone wants to move away or objects to someone moving away.
Frankly, the pace of change has been a bit dizzying, especially for those of us who prepare public and professional education materials on family law. We could use a break.
Introduction
The key changes to the federal Divorce Act are discussed in the page on the new Divorce Act. The Family Law Act Basics page provides a stem to stern outline of the Family Law Act in a helpful question and answer format, and you can get a good overview of how family law works in British Columbia in the page on the Legal System.
This page provides an overview of the other changes that have happened in the last couple of years, including the amendments to the Family Law Act about arbitration, the new Provincial Court pilot project, and the changes to the Child Support Guidelines and the forms used by the Supreme Court resulting from the changes to the Divorce Act.
Arbitration under the Family Law Act
Changes to the Child Support Guidelines
New and Revised Supreme Court Forms
The Provincial Court Pilot Project
Resources and links
Legislation
- the old Divorce Act
- Bill C-78
Links
- An Overview of Bill C-78 by John-Paul Boyd
| This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by JP Boyd, February 15, 2021. |
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 JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.
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