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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC}}
This chapter page provides an introduction to arbitration, and discusses when to use arbitration in a family law dispute, and gives . This page also provides some suggestions about how to find a family law arbitrator. A list of family law arbitrators practicing in the Lower Mainland JP not done. No glossary tags to be added. Internal and Victoria is providedexternal links to be added.
==Introduction==
Arbitration is has rarely used been in family law matters in British Columbia, probably because most lawyers arenweren't used to it and probably because many lawyers figure figured that if they have to have somebody impose a decision in a case, it might as well be a judge. In British Columbia, arbitration is was most often used in a labour law context. The new ''Family Law Act'', however, makes a number of changes to the provincial law that emphasize and highlight the importance of arbitration in family law disputes.
Arbitration has a number of advantages for family law problems:
===The Arbitration Process===
When a couple agree agrees to arbitrate their dispute — someone you can't be forced to enter force someone into arbitration, it has to be voluntary — they first pick their arbitrator and then they pick their rules. Most of the time, the rules people choose select are the principles laid out in the Divorce Act, the Family Relations Act and the more important parts of the Supreme Court Family Rules of Court relating to evidence and , the discovery processand proceedings at trial.
Next, the couple parties will exchange the documents and information that are relevant to the issuestheir dispute. If child support is an issue, for example, financial statements Financial Statements might be prepared and documents like income tax returns and , T4 slips and paystubs might be exchanged. If a couple the parties cannot agree on how a child should be cared for, they might hire a psychologist to prepare an assessment of a report on the parenting arrangements that will work best for the child, usually called a "custody ''needs of the child assessment'', or they might hire a third party lawyer or a social worker to talk to the child and access report" or prepare a "section 15 ''views of the child report''."The nature of the documents that are important and the extent of the disclosure which is required
Once the documents have been exchanged and the experts' reports prepared, the parties then attend one or more meetings with the arbitrator. These meetings are usually a lot less formal that court hearings, and there can be as much flexibility to the process as the parties will agree to. The meetings are sort of a cross between the informality of the mediation process and the rigid formality of the litigation process, and each party essentially attempts to convince the arbitrator and the other side that their proposed way of settling the dispute is the best solution for everyone.