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Once the documents have been exchanged and any reports have been prepared, the parties will attend one or more hearing hearings with the their arbitrator. These hearings take place in the arbitrator's office and are usually less formal than court hearings; there can be as much flexibility to the arbitration process as the parties and the arbitrator will agree to. At these hearings, each party presents their evidence, which may include witnesses who give testimony or may be limited to documents and affidavits, and then makes arguments to show the arbitrator why he or she should make a particular decision.

<blockquote>'''Section 1: ''' An "''arbitrator" '' is defined as a person who resolves a dispute referred to him or her by the parties.An ''arbitration agreemen'' is an agreement between two or more persons to have their dispute resolved by arbitration</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 2: ''' The act applies to commercial arbitration agreements and "any other arbitration agreement," such as family law arbitration agreements.Section 1: An "arbitration agreement" is defined as an agreement between two or more persons to have their dispute resolved by arbitrationWhen making decisions about children, the arbitrator must consider only the best interests of the children.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 9: ''' An arbitrator can make interim awards on any subject at issue, such as interim awards regarding the care and control of children, child support and spousal support.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 14: ''' The final decision of an arbitrator is binding on the parties, subject to the reversal of the arbitrator's decision if the process or decision is proceduraly defective, under s. 30, or if the decision is appealed to the court, under s. 31.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 23: ''' "An arbitrator must adjudicate the matter before the arbitrator by reference to law unless the parties, as a term of an agreement referred to in s. 35, agree that the matter in dispute may be decided on equitable grounds, grounds of conscience or some other basis."Awards that are inconsistent with the ''Family Law Act'' are not enforceable.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 29:''' Awards in family law disputes can be enforced without leave of the court.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 30:''' The court can vary an award for the same reasons that it can vary a court order.</blockquote><blockquote>'''Section 31:''' Awards in family law disputes can be appealed.</blockquote>

Under the Commercial ''Arbitration Act'', the parties can choose their own rules to govern the arbitration process. Nothing in the act says that those rules cannot be religious rules. Judaism and Islam each have religious laws that can apply to family law issues for members of those faiths. Members of the orthodox Jewish community may use the Beth Din to settle personal disputes. Muslims can use Sharia law to the same end.

Whatever rules a couple chooses, however, the result of the arbitration process must not be overtly contrary to the laws of British Columbia. For example, child support must be paid to the person who has the child most of the time by the person who has the child for the least amount of time, and the amount that person pays cannot be too different from what the Child Support Guidelines require.Section 23(2) says this:

<blockquote><tt>Despite any agreement of the parties to a family law dispute, a provision of an award that is inconsistent with the ''Family Law Act'' is not enforceable.</tt></blockquote> This means, for example, that child support must be paid to the person who has the child most of the time by the person who has the child for the least amount of time, and the amount that person pays cannot be too different from what the Child Support Guidelines require. Note that if the parties to faith-based arbitration wish to obtain a divorce, they must still initiate begin a action court proceeding in the Supreme Court of British Columbia for a divorce order. A religious divorce, such as the Jewish Get, is not a legal divorce.

The Commercial ''Arbitration Act '' also applies to parenting coordination. In this dispute resolution process, the arbitrator, called a "parenting coordinator," tries to first settle a parenting dispute through a settlement process like mediation. If the parents cannot find consensus, the parenting coordinator acts sort of like an arbitrator and makes an award a written decision, called a ''determination'', resolving the dispute. The parenting coordinator's authority to resolve the these dispute comes from the arbitration agreement the parents will sign, in this case called a parenting coordination agreement.

As with faith-based arbitration, or any other kind of family law arbitration for that matter, the parenting coordinator cannot make decisions determinations that are contrary to the law in British Columbia, including the federal ''Divorce Act '' and the provincial ''Family Relations Law Act''. The court will not uphold awards that are contrary to the law in this province.

See Parenting coordinators are also restricted in the website scope of the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society for more information things they can make decisions about. Under s. 6(3) and 4(a)(ix) of the Family Law Act Regulation, parenting coordinators can make determinations about parenting coordinationarrangements, contact with a child and other issues agreed to by the parties and the parenting coordinator.However, regardless of whatever the parties and the parenting coordinator may have agreed to, a parenting coordinator cannot make decisions about:

Back #subjects that excluded by an order or a parenting coordination agreement;#changes to the top guardianship of this chaptera child;#changes to the allocation of parental responsibilities;#giving parenting time or contact to a person who does not have parenting time or contact;#substantial changes to parenting time or contact; or,#the relocation of a child.

#they wish the laws of their religion to apply to the proceedings;#their positions are too far apart to make mediation a reasonable choice and must have a decision made for them, but do not want to go to the expense, anxiety and acrimony typically involved in litigation;#they want to resolve their dispute privately and don't want to risk things being made public;#the issues are extremely complex and require a decision-maker who is a specialist in the area; or,#they want their dispute resolved more quickly than the court schedule will allow.Back to the top of this chapter.

This is the hard part about arbitrating family law disputes, as there aren't too many arbitrators who specialize in family law issues. Your first and best bet is to call a family law lawyer or two and ask if he contact organizations which specialize in training or she knows anyone who arbitrates family law disputes; get the lawyer's referral. The setting practice standards for family law lawyers I know of who do this sort of thing, and I expect there are many more of whom I don't knowarbitrators, aresuch as:

John-Paul Boyd, 604-689-7571 (Vancouver)*The Family Law Arbitrators GroupTrudi Brown, QC, 250-595-2220 (Victoria)*The Arbitrators Association of British ColumbiaStephanie Fabbro, 604-687-1133 (Vancouver)*The BC Arbitration & Mediation Institute Lisa Hamilton, 604-687-1133 (Vancouver)Jane HendersonAs an alternative, QC, 250-595-2220 (Victoria)Larry Kahn, QC, 604-270-9571 (Richmond)Georgialee Lang, 604-669-7080 (Vancouver)Colin Millar, 604-682-3664 (Vancouver)Craig Neville, 604-688-1301 (Vancouver)Karen Nordlinger, QC, 604-689-7571 (Vancouver)These lawyers are all very skilled, highly respected you could try calling a family law lawyer or two and ask if he or she knows and I recommend each of themanyone who arbitrates family law disputes. UnfortunatelyFinally, they all practice in you could call the Lower Mainland or Victoria, although I understand that MsLawyer Referral Service. Lang may also maintain a practice in Kelowna and Palm Springs. As an alternativeAlthough the service can't recommend one family law arbitrator over another, they will be able to give you might try contacting the Arbitrators Association of British Columbia or the BC Arbitration & Mediation Institute for other some names.

* <span style="color: red;">Collab Roster</span> ===Downloads=== The link below will open a sample mediation participation agreement in a new window. You may require a PDF reader to view this file; Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free PDF reader available for download from <span style="color: red;">Adobe Software</span>. In this sampleBC Parenting coordinators roster society, Jane Doe and John Doe are entering into a participation agreement with their family law mediatorBCAMI, Arbitrators Association, LRS, Robert Smith.