Difference between revisions of "Resolving Family Law Problems in Court"

Before going further, it'll help to learn some of the terminology used in litigation. (You can find more definitions in the [[Terminology|Common Legal Words and Phrases]] chapter of this resource.)

*'''Family law action''' or '''Family law proceeding:''' A general term for any kind of family law issue that is brought before the courts. A family law action is a type of ''civil action'' (i.e. it's not a criminal case), and is started by a person (or persons) seeking the court's help in resolving questions or disputes about their legal rights, obligations, or status in relation to other family members. A family law action can include other civil claims related to family law issues, but both the BC Supreme Court and Provincial Court treat family law actions differently from general civil claims. Each level of court has specific sets of court rules related to family law actions, which include unique forms for family law matters. Court records for family law actions are not as open to the public as general civil claims, and are treated differently by the courts' records access policies.  

**'''Provincial Court''':

*** '''Family law matter''' is defined in the Provincial Court Family Rules and does not appear in the Supreme Court Family Rules, the ''Family Law Act'', or the ''Divorce Act''. A ''family law matter'' is narrowly defined as a "case" before the Provincial Court about: parenting arrangements (including parental responsibilities and parenting time), child support, contact with a child, guardianship of a child, spousal support, and/or property division in respect of a companion animal. Applications for ''family law matters'' are dealt with in Part 3 of the Provincial Court Family Rules, and the definition is narrow because other types of matters — such as ''protection orders'' (for family violence), ''priority parenting matters'', ''relocation'' (of a child) — are dealt with differntly under those rules. The Provincial Court has a totally different set of rules for ''child protection'' and ''adult guardianship'' matters, so even though these are areas of family law, they are not included in the definition of ''family law matter''. Lastly, the term does not include ''Divorce Act'' claims, adoption matters, or (most) claims for property or pension division, since the Provincial Court has no jurisdiction over those kinds of cases.