Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Family Law"

Family law is the area of the law that deals with family problems. Most of the time, these problems involve couples that have been in a married or unmarried relationship and have now separated. Family problems can also involve people who have never been in a long-term relationship, like a couple who never dated but have a child together, and people who have never been in a romantic relationship at all, like a grandparent who would like to have time with or care for a grandchild.

This script provides an introduction to family law, the courts that deal with family law problems and the laws about family law problems. It ends with definitions for some common legal words and phrases used in family law.

* Where will the children live? How will decisions about their care be made? How will the parents share the children’s time?

* Are any of the children entitled to ongoing financial support from a parent? If so, which parent should pay child support and in what amount?

Family law deals with all of these decisions and more. However, not every couple needs to deal with all of these issues. The decisions a couple has to make and the law that applies changes depending on the type of relationship you’re in. Family law talks about four types of relationship:

* '''Children’s Caregivers:''' People who have a significant role in a child’s life but aren’t the child’s parents.

*'''''Family Law Act''''': The ''Family Law Act'' is a law of British Columbia and applies to married spouses, unmarried spouses, parents and children’s caregivers. Not all of the ''Family Law Act'' applies to all of these relationships. The parts that talk about child support and the care of children apply to everyone. The parts that talk about spousal support only apply to married spouses and all unmarried spouses. The parts that talk about dividing property and debt only apply to married spouses and to unmarried spouses who have lived together for at least two years.

!style="width: 15%" align="center"|'''''Children's Caregivers'''''

==Resolving family law problems==

Family law problems can be resolved through negotiation, mediation, collaborative settlement processes and arbitration without going to court. If a couple can’t resolve these problems themselves, they may have to go to court to have a judge resolve their problems for them.  

There are two courts that deal with family law problems, Family Court, a division of the Provincial Court, and the Supreme Court. Family Court doesn’t charge court fees and its rules are simplified and easy to understand. The rules of the Supreme Court can be very complicated and the court charges fees to file certain documents and schedule certain hearings. However, the Supreme Court can deal with many family law problems that Family Court can’t:

*'''Family Court''': Family Court can deal with issues about guardianship and the care of children, child support and spousal support. Family Court can only deal with issues under the ''Family Law Act''.

Before you move on to the other scripts on family law, here are definitions of some common words and phrases used in these scripts.

*'''Arbitration''': A process in which a family law dispute is resolved by a neutral arbitrator after a formal hearing.

*'''Child''': Any person under the age of 19, the age of majority in British Columbia. May include adult children for the purposes of child support. The ''Divorce Act'' uses the term “child of the marriage.”

*'''Child Support''': Money paid by one parent to the other for the financial support of their children.

*'''Collaborative Settlement Processes''': A kind of negotiation in which the parties and their lawyers sign an agreement to do everything they can to resolve a family law dispute without going to court, often with the assistance of counsellors, child psychologists and financial experts.

*'''''Divorce Act''''': A federal law that talks about divorce, custody of and access to children, child support and spousal support.

*'''Family Justice Counsellor''': A Family Court staff member trained in mediation and available to help with issues about the care and control of children, child support and spousal support.