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|resourcetype = <br/> a fact sheet on
|link = [http://www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca/resources/fact_sheets/changingFinalOrder.php when you can change <br/>a final order]
}}Final orders, awards and agreements about arrangements for parenting and contact after separation are meant to give parents and other adults involved in children's lives a set of rules that describe how decisions affecting children are to be made, how much time each of the adults will have with the children, and when each adult's time with the children begins and ends. The purposes of rules about these things include: creating certainty about where the kids will be and when they'll be there; allowing parents to make plans for holidays, trips and special occasions well in advance; and, most importantly, reducing conflict between the adults involved in the children's lives. When one or more of the parties to an order, an award or an agreement doesn't follow those rules, these benefits are lost and it may be necessary to take steps to enforce the order, award or agreement so that everyone does the things the rules require them to do.
The process for enforcing orders generally is discussed in the section [[Enforcing_Orders_in_Family_Matters|Enforcing Orders]] in the [[Resolving_Family_Law_Problems_in_Court|Resolving Problems in Court]] chapter; the process for enforcing agreements generally is discussed in the section [[Enforcing_Family_Law_Agreement|Enforcing Agreements]] in the [[Family_Law_Agreements|Family Law Agreements]] chapter. Under section 19.20 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', arbitrator's awards are enforced as if they are court orders.
*takes steps or makes decisions affecting the children without first consulting the other party, when the parties share parental responsibilities or decision-making responsibilities,
*refuses to meaningfully consult with the other party about steps that must be taken or decisions that must be made, when the parties share parental responsibilities or decision-making responsibilities, or
*takes steps or makes decisions about parental responsibilities or decision-making responsibilities that are allocated to another party.
==Enforcement under the ''Divorce Act''==
The ''[[Divorce Act]]'' doesn't talk much about enforcing orders other than orders about child support and spousal support. All the act has to say about enforcing orders about decision-making responsibilities, parenting time and contact appears in section 20, which says this:
<blockquote><tt>(2) An order made under this Act in respect of support, parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact and a provincial child support service decision ... have legal effect throughout Canada.</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) enforced in a province in any other manner provided for by the laws of that province, including its laws respecting reciprocal enforcement between the province and a jurisdiction outside Canada.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
In other words, a ''Divorce Act'' order about parenting arrangements and contact that's made in Nova Scotia can be registered in British Columbia and be enforced by the courts of British Columbia, and vice versa. (The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' takes the same approach to the registration and enforcement of orders made outside the province at section 75 of the act.)
In British Columbia, ''Divorce Act'' orders are enforced by the Supreme Court under the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules], the common-law rules about contempt of court, and the special rules that apply to contempt applications. A "contempt application" is an application for an order that someone be found "in contempt of court" because they have intentionally breached a court order, either by not doing something that the order requires them to do or by doing something that the order says they must not do. If the court decides that someone is in contempt of court, it can also decide to punish that person by, for example, ordering that they pay a fine or spend time in jail. See the discussion about contempt applications in the [[Enforcing_Orders_in_Family_Matters|Enforcing Orders]] section of the chapter [[Resolving_Family_Law_Problems_in_Court|Resolving Problems in Court]].
==Enforcement under the ''Family Law Act''==
The Supreme Court can enforce ''[[Family Law Act]]'' orders under the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules], the common-law rules about contempt of court, and the special rules that apply to contempt applications in the same way that it can enforce ''[[Divorce Act]]'' orders. (The Provincial Court generally cannot punish people for contempt.)
However, the ''Family Law Act'' has rules about enforcing orders, awards and agreements that the court will usually turn to first, before deciding to deal with a problem through its contempt powers. These rules are available in the Provincial Court as well as the Supreme Court.
*the parties participate in a dispute resolution process, such as meeting with a Family Justice Counsellor or participating in parenting coordination, mediation or arbitration,
*one or more of the parties and or the child attend counselling,
*the person denied parenting time or contact have make-up time with the child,
*the guardian denying parenting time or contact reimburse the person for expenses they incurred as a result of the denial, such as travel costs and child care costs,
*the parties participate in a dispute resolution process, such as meeting with a Family Justice Counsellor or participating in parenting coordination, mediation or arbitration,
*one or more of the parties and or the child attend counselling,
*transfer of the child between the parties be supervised,
*the person failing to exercise parenting time or contact reimburse the other person for expenses they incurred as a result of the failure, such as travel costs and child care costs,