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==Court processes==
All court processes start and end more or less the same way. You must file a particular form in court and serve the filed document on the other party. After being served, the other party has a certain number of days to file a reply. If the other party replies, there is a hearing. If the other party doesn't reply and you can prove that they were served, you can ask for a judgment in default. That's about it in a nutshell. The chapter on [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]], especially the sections that are continuously updated in the online version of ''JP Boyd on Family Law'', address these processes.
In the Provincial Court, you can generally start a court proceeding by filing an ''Application About a Family Law Matter'' in Form 3. The other party has 30 days after being served to file a ''Reply to an ''Application About a Family Law Matter'' in Form 6. Read [How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Provincial Court?] in the Helpful Guides & Common Questions part of this resource for more information.
In the Supreme Court, court proceedings are usually started by filing a ''Notice of Family Claim'', and sometimes by filing a ''Petition''. A person served with a Notice of Family Claim has 30 days to file a ''Response to Family Claim'' and possibly a ''Counterclaim'', a claim against the person who started the court proceeding. A person served with a Petition has 21 days to file a ''Response to Petition'', if served in Canada, 35 days if served in the United States of America, and 49 days if served anywhere else. [How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?] in the Helpful Guides & Common Questions part of this resource also contains more information.
Eventually, there will be a hearing, a trial, or an application for default judgment if a responding document isn't filed, in the Provincial Court or the Supreme Court. The trial will result in a final order that puts an end to the legal dispute, unless, that is, someone decides to appeal the final order.
#attend an ''examination for discovery'', if you're in the Supreme Court.
If either party is unhappy with the result of a trial and can show that the judge made a <span class="noglossary">mistake</span>, that person can appeal the final order to another court. Orders of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court, and orders of a Supreme Court judge are appealed to the Court of Appeal. Consult the various appeals-related guides under the Helpful Guides & Common Questions part of this wikibook.
You start an appeal by filing a ''Notice of Appeal'', or, depending on the circumstances, a ''Notice of Application for Leave to Appeal'', and serving the filed document on the other party, usually within 30 days of the date of the final order. The other party has a certain amount of time to file a ''Notice of Appearance'' in the Court of Appeal, or a ''Notice of Interest'' for appeals from the Provincial Court to the Supreme Court.
Eventually, there will be a hearing that will result in another final order that puts an end to the appeal. Appeals heard by the Supreme Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal, and appeals heard by the Court of Appeal can be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, but only if that court gives permission.