The discovery process is less extensive in the Provincial Court than it is in the Supreme Court. As a result, while there are fewer hoops to jump through to get to trial in Provincial Court, you also have fewer ways of getting information and documents from the other side.
The information in this section ''does not'' apply to family law cases in the Victoria registry or Surrey registries of the Provincial Court. Those cases are managed following under the Early Resolution and Case Management Model, a new project being tested in that registry. The project which is governed by its own special rules and uses its own forms. For more information about the pilot projectEarly Resolution Model, read the resources published by the [[Provincial Court Early Resolution and Case Management Pilot Project]https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4844 BC Government] section in this chapter.
=== Financial Statements ===
Financial Statements are very important in family law proceedings. They are critical for determining child support and spousal support, and you mustn't take a casual "guesstimating" kind of approach to filling them out. You should expect that the other side will be reading your Financial Statement very carefully, and that you will find your credibility being challenged if the numbers don't make sense, if they're overblown or understated, or if they omit critical information. Now, to be fair, filling out this form can be difficult. The "expenses" part of the form is often the first time many people have sat down to work out what they spend in the average month on things like the cable bill, car insurance, dry cleaning, life insurance, hair cuts, and clothing. However, if the total of the "expenses" part is a lot higher than your total income in the "income" part, which it often is, I'm expecting to see a lot of debts in the "assets and debts" part of the form or I'm going to have a lot of trouble believing you!
===First appearanceFamily management conferences===
Under Rule 6Family management conferences are now a standard part of a family law matter in Provincial Court. At these early, informal conferences, the parties a judge or family justice manager has an opportunity to a court proceeding review what's missing in terms of undisclosed evidence, and make case management orders as appropriate. Judges can make more broad orders than family justice managers, but both have the Provincial Court are required power to attend order disclosure of information and exchange of evidence. Rule 62 says what a "first appearance" before judge can include in a judge once the respondent has filed case management order. Rule 63 says what a Replyfamily justice manager can include. This will These orders can be scheduled by really important to promote settlement or help you prepare for trial, especially the court registry. The parties are not consulted orders about the dateFinancial Statements.
Under Rule 6(3), the judge at the first appearance, and at any later appearance in court, can do a number of things to encourage the discovery and disclosure process. The judge can:===Family settlement conferences===
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) if a party has failed The purpose of these settlement conferences is to provide financial information in accordance with rule 4,</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) make help the parties reach an order requiring the party to file that financial information within a set timeagreement, </tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) draw an adverse inference from that failure and impute an amount of income however these conferences can also be used to that party that help prepare the parties for trial or a hearing. A judge considers appropriate, </tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(iii) at a family settlement conference can make an interim order under section 216 or 217 Rule 108(f) of the ''[[Provincial Court Family Law Act]]Rules'', and </tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(iv) if the judge considers that the circumstances justify it, make a final order; ...</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) order a party to allow another party to inspect and copy records, specified in the order, that are or have been in that other party's possession or control or, if not in that other party's possession or control, are within that other party's power; ...</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(g) set a date for a trial preparation conference under rule 8; ...</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(k) make any other order or give any direction that the judge considers appropriatedisclosure of information.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
These orders can be really important to promote settlement or help you prepare for trial, especially the orders about Financial Statements under Rule 6(3)(c) and allowing "another party to inspect and copy records, specified in the order, that are or have been in that other party's possession or control or, if not in that other party's possession or control, are within that other party's power" under Rule 6(3)(e). ===Trial preparation conferenceconferences=== Under Rule 8, a A judge who sets a court proceeding for trial may also set a date for a trial preparation conference. Trial preparation conferences are short hearings before a judge in court to discuss how the trial will proceed and what, if any, additional steps must be taken to get the court proceeding ready for trial, such as exchanging documents and information, or organizing experts' reports. The specific rule about rules around discovery and disclosure is are at Rule 8(4): <blockquote><tt>(4)The judge at the trial preparation conference may do one or more of the following112:</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) order a party to allow inspection and copying of records, specified in the order, that are or have been in the party's possession or control or, if not in that party's possession or control, are within that party's power; ...</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(f) order a party to bring to trial a record, specified in the order, that is or has been in the party's possession or control or, if not in the party's possession or control, is within that party's power; ...</tt></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(j) make any order or give any direction that the judge considers appropriate.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
This is just one of the reasons why it's important to prepare for trial preparation conferences. By the time this conference rolls around, you should be well on your way to being ready for your trial. You should have organized all of the documents and information you're going to need to prove your case, including all of the documents and information that you need from the other party. If you need anything from the other side to help you prepare your case — from income tax returns, to bank statements, to report cards, to doctors' reports, to paystubs — this is the time to ask for an order that the other give you copies of those things.
More information about trial preparation conferences can be found later in this chapter, in the section [[Family Law Trials in Provincial Court|Trials in the Provincial Court]].
===Applying for information===
You can apply for interim orders under Rule 12 at any time after a court proceeding has started. These applications are made by filing a Notice of Motion in Form 16. The specific orders that are listed on the form, and you're not limited to the orders listed on the form, include:
#"an order for information to be disclosed" by a person you identify, who could be the other side or anyone else who's likely to have documents and information that are relevant to your case; and,
#"directions on a procedural matter."
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== The Supreme Court ==