No, you probably didn't. And that's because nowhere in the ''Family Law Act'' — or in the ''Divorce Act'', the Child Support Guidelines or the ''Income Tax Act'' — does the legislation say that there is this huge body of unorganized case law that you may need to read in order to understand the plain meaning of the legislation. That would've been good to know, don't you think? (There are also cases that talk about when new evidence is of a "substantial nature," rather than of some lesser degree of significance, and cases that talk about the degree of "lack of financial disclosure" that must be proven before the court will consider changing an order for spousal support.)

There are big differences in those courts, however. The first court, the Provincial Court, has relatively easy-to-understand rules that can be printed into a nice but thick brochure, doesn't charge any filing fees, and has forms that are easy to fill out. But if you're married and want to get divorced, or you have a problem about dividing property, you can't go to that court. The second court, the Supreme Court, has rules that are the size of the Kelowna phone book, charges hefty filing fees for almost every step of the process, and has forms that are much more complicated. Even if the price of the Provincial Court suits your budget, you may have no choice but to go to the Supreme Court.