Other important changes introduced in the ''Family Law Act'' include:
#*a new emphasis on resolving family law problems other than by litigation in court;,#*provisions for appointing parenting coordinators;,#*new measures for people having children with assisted reproduction and allowing those people to decide, on their own, without a court order, who the parents of their child will be;,#*a different way of dividing property and new provisions for dividing debt;,#*new ways of addressing family violence, including in assessing children's best interests;,#*provisions for managing children's property; and,#*a whole bunch of new rules about how the court can manage its process and the people before it.
British Columbia's ''Family Law Act'' is not only the most modern, most progressive family law legislation in Canada, it also provided the inspiration for a lot of the changes to the federal ''[[Divorce Act]]'' that became law on 1 July 2020.
The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' is the main law on family breakdown in British Columbia. Although there is also the federal ''[[Divorce Act]]'', the ''Divorce Act'' only applies to married spouses. The ''Family Law Act'' applies to everyone in a family relationship in British Columbia, including people who:
#*are married spouses;,#*are unmarried spouses;,#*are parents of a child together;,#*want to be the guardian of a child;,#*want contact with someone else’s child;,#*are at risk of family violence;,#*are having a child with assisted reproduction; and,#*want to manage a child’s property.
The only kind of relationship that the ''Family Law Act'' doesn't really talk about is dating relationships, where the people involved probably think of themselves as boyfriends and girlfriends, and don't have a child together.
The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' talks about:
#*family violence, and protecting adults and children from violence;,#*determining who is a child’s parent;,#*having children through assisted reproduction;,#*determining who is the guardian of a child, and how guardians are appointed and removed;,#*how guardians share responsibility for parenting children;,#*the time someone has with a child who isn’t the child’s guardian;,#*what happens when a guardian wants to move, including with a child;,#*enforcing time with a child provided under an order or an agreement;,#*paying child support and how child support is calculated;,#*paying spousal support;,#*dividing property and dividing responsibility for debt, including dividing property located outside the province; and.,#*managing children’s property.
The act, in other words, covers every issue in family law except names, adoption, child protection, and wills and estates problems!
The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' tries to change how people solve family law problems. The act:
#*encourages people to find solutions to family law problems outside of court;,#*makes financial disclosure mandatory, even when people are dealing with a family law problem outside of court;,#*makes family law agreements more difficult to change, as long as they were fairly negotiated; and,#*promotes the use of parenting coordinators, when there is a final agreement or order about the care of children.
Family law problems can be resolved out of court through negotiation, mediation, collaborative negotiation and arbitration. When people have to go to court, however, the ''Family Law Act'' gives the court important tools to:
#*protect people who are at risk of family violence;,#*protect property;,#*enforce court orders and agreements; and,#*manage court processes and manage the behaviour of people in court.
More information about settling legal problems out of court is available in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems out of Court]]. More information about resolving problems in court, through litigation, is found in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]].
There are no requirements under the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' that you must have lived in the province where you start a court proceeding for a certain amount of time like there are under the ''[[Divorce Act]]''. However, some claims are tied to the date of separation. Claims for:
#*an order about parental responsibilities or parenting time, when made by a parent;,#*an order for the division of property and debt; and,#*an order for the payment of child support, when the proposed payor is a stepparent,
cannot be made until the parties are separated. Other claims are ''not'' tied to the date of separation and can, at least theoretically, be brought at any time, including claims for:
#*a declaration about who the parents of a child are;,#*the appointment — , or removal — , of a person as a guardian of a child;,#*an order for contact with a child;,#*an order for the payment of child support, when the proposed payor is a parent or guardian;,#*an order about the management of children's property; and,#*an order for the payment of spousal support.
===Which court can hear a proceeding under the ''Family Law Act''?===
Both the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court can hear claims under the ''[[Family Law Act]]''. However, while the Supreme Court can deal with every claim under the act, the Provincial Court can only deal with claims for:
#*declarations about who the parents of a child are, when a declaration is necessary to resolve another claim under the act;,#*the appointment or removal of someone as the guardian of a child;,#*parental responsibilities;,#*parenting time and contact with a child;,#*child support; , #*spousal support; and,#*orders for the protection of people.
===What about claims under the ''Divorce Act''?===