How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?

The court forms to start your claim

Most of the time you'll need to fill out a form called a Notice of Family Claim in Form F3. (If your spouse and you are working together on a joint application process, you’ll be completing and filing a Notice of Joint Family Claim in Form F1.)

In less-common and specific circumstances, a family law case is started with a Petition, Form F73. Petitions are used when someone is starting an adoption proceedings, seeking a name change under the Names Act, seeking permission to apply for parenting orders in an Divorce Act proceeding when they are not actually a spouse, asking for the return of a child under the Hague Convention on child abduction, and other situations covered by Supreme Court Family Rule 3-1.

And in some specific circumstances a family law case is started by requisition. A common example of a family law case started by requisition is when you need to file a family law agreement under the Family Law Act. This would be if you need to start a family law case to enforce your separation agreement, or to change your separation agreement, and there wasn’t a family law proceeding already started. To do this, you would prepare a Requisition in Form F17.1 to file your family law agreement under the Family Law Act, which will commence a new action. A requisition is also used for filing an arbitration award, which requires the Requisition in Form 17.3.

But as you can see, petitions and requisitions are for pretty specific situations. As a new claim is most commonly commenced by filing a Notice of Family Claim in Form F3, this section primarily focuses on this process.

Form F3 is available online. Legal Aid BC’s Family Law website links to the various forms that are part of the BC Supreme Court Family Rules. The court will not provide you with a guide to filling this form out, so you must be as precise and accurate as possible.

Completing forms

There are a lot of free online resources that can help you complete these forms, and Clicklaw (www.clicklaw.bc.ca) is a great place to start. But if you have any questions, you should really see a lawyer, or if that’s not possible for financial reasons, try reaching out to family duty counsel.

The Notice of Family Claim sets out the basic information about who you are, who the other side is, and describes the sorts of claims you are making.

You have to attach additional schedules to your Notice of Family Claim depending on the orders you are asking for. The schedules require you to provide more detailed information about your marriage, your children, your property and debts, and so forth.

Other forms you might need

If you are married and you are asking that the court make an order for your divorce, you must file the original copy of your marriage certificate. (This is the government document, not the certificate you received from the person who married you.)

If your claim involves the family home or other property, you may also want to prepare a Certificate of Pending Litigation (called a CPL). (More information about CPLs is available in the chapter Protecting Property and Debt in Family Law Matters.)

If your claim involves support, property, or debt, you'll also wind up filling out a Financial Statement in Form F8. This isn't due until later on in the court proceeding, but you can and should get started now.

If your claim involves guardianship of a child and you are not already a guardian, you'll need to fill out a special affidavit in Form F101. You don't have to file this form right away when you're starting a court proceeding, but the form can take some time to fill out and you will need to order records checks from the police and the Ministry of Children and Family Development. You might as well get started on this now.

Filing your materials

When you've finished filling out your Notice of Family Claim, make three complete copies and take everything, including your marriage certificate and your CPL (if needed), to the courthouse.

If you are seeking a divorce, you will also be required to fill out a Registration of Divorce Proceeding form. This form must be completed using the online form, printed off (do not complete it by hand), and submitted to the court registry with your Notice of Family Claim. The court staff will send this document off to the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings in Ottawa.

It will cost $200 for you to file your Notice of Family Claim ($210 if you are asking for an order for divorce as part of the Notice of Family Claim), plus another fee to file your CPL, if you need one.

The court will give your action a file number, and stamp all four copies of your materials with the seal of the court, a date stamp, and the file number of your action. If you have filed a CPL, the court will stamp that too. Note that you must also file your CPL at the Land Title and Survey Authority for it to take effect; they will charge you another fee.

What happens next?

Once you've filed your Notice of Family Claim, you must arrange to have it served on the other side. You cannot serve the other person yourself, you must get someone else to do that for you, whether that person is a professional process server or a helpful friend. The person who serves the Notice of Family Claim should swear an Affidavit of Personal Service in Form F15. This affidavit gives the courts the guarantee that your spouse has been served and that they know a family case has been started.

Response and counterclaim

After the other person has been served, they will have 30 days to file a Response to Family Claim in Form F4. The other side may also file a form called a Counterclaim in Form F5. If this happens, the other side is making a claim of their own against you, and you will need to prepare a Response to Counterclaim in Form F6.

Once all of those forms are filed and served (collectively, these forms are called pleadings), it's safe to say the family law case has begun. There may be many steps that follow, up to and including trial, but the family law action is now an open file with the courts. I will describe one more step, however.

The Judicial Case Conference

This step is worth noting because it is practically mandatory to participate in a Judicial Case Conference (or JCC) before further steps in your family law case can be taken. When you have received the other person's Response to Family Claim, you will have to set up a JCC. The form to do this is called a Notice of Judicial Case Conference in Form F19, and the registry will have it on hand.

More information about JCCs and the rules that govern them is available in the Online Help Guide produced by the Justice Education Society. But essentially, a JCC is an informal hearing before a judge or associate judge intended to review the issues between the parties, and see what issues can be agreed on and what can't be. The judge or associate judge will also canvass different ways of settling the action. It's not uncommon for entire family law disputes to resolve at one of these conferences.

It can be very important to have a JCC as soon as possible, as most applications for interim orders can't be made until a JCC happens. There are some exceptions to this rule:

• if you are making an application for a financial restraining order against your spouse,
• if the other side consents to the order you want, or
• if there is an emergency and you have to make your application without notice to the other side.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Mark Norton and Stephanie Pesth, September 14, 2023.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Normally referred to as the "Supreme Court of British Columbia," this court hears most of the trials in this province. The Supreme Court is a court of inherent jurisdiction and has no limits on the sorts of claims it can hear or on the sorts of orders it can make. Decisions of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court; decisions of the Supreme Court are appealed to the Court of Appeal. See "Court of Appeal," "jurisdiction," "Provincial Court" and "Supreme Court of Canada."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

(1) The assertion of a legal right to an order or to a thing; (2) the remedy or relief sought by a party to a court proceeding.

A legal document required by the Supreme Court Family Rules to begin a court proceeding, setting out the relief claimed by the claimant and the grounds on which that relief is claimed. See "action," "claim," "claimant," "pleadings" and "relief."

Under the Divorce Act, either of two people who are married to one another, whether of the same or opposite genders. Under the Family Law Act, spouse includes married spouses, unmarried parties who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, and, for all purposes of the act other than the division of property or debt, unmarried parties who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together. See "marriage" and "marriage-like relationship."

A court form required by the Supreme Court Family Rules used to commence court proceedings that can be dealt with in the manner of an application, without the need for a protracted process of disclosure and discovery. See "action," "application," "disclosure" and "discovery."

In family law, the act or process of taking another person's child as one's own. The child becomes the adopting parent's legal child as if the child were the adopting parent's natural child, while the natural parent loses all rights and obligations with respect to the child. See "natural parent."

In law, (1) the whole of the conduct of a court proceeding, from beginning to end, and the steps in between, may also be used to refer to (2) a specific hearing or trial. See "action."

The taking of a person by force or fraud. In family law, also the taking of a child contrary to a court order or without the permission of a guardian. In certain circumstances, the abduction of a child by a parent may be a criminal offence.

An agreement between two or more persons about family law issues that have arisen or may arise, dealing with their respective rights and obligations to one another, which the parties expect will be binding on them and be enforceable in court. Typical family law agreements include marriage agreements, cohabitation agreements and separation agreements.

A contract intended to resolve all or some of the legal issues arising from the breakdown of a relationship and intended to guide the parties in their dealings with one another into the future. A typical separation agreement is signed following a settlement reached through negotiation and deals with issues including guardianship, parenting arrangements, contact, support, the division of property, and the division of debt. See "family law agreements."

A court proceeding in which one party sues another for a specific remedy or relief, also called a "lawsuit" or a "case." An action for divorce, for example, is a court proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of a divorce order.

A dispute resolution process in which an arbitrator hears the evidence and arguments presented by the parties to a legal dispute and makes an award that resolves the dispute and is binding on the parties. The arbitration of family law disputes is governed by rules set out in Part 2, Division 4 of the Family Law Act. See "alternative dispute resolution" and "family law arbitrator."

A mandatory direction of an arbitrator, binding and enforceable upon the parties to an arbitration proceeding, made following the hearing of the arbitration trial proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to challenge or appeal the award in court. See "appeal," "arbitration," and "family law arbitrator."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

Something which can be owned. See "chattels" and "real property."

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

In family law, the dwelling occupied by a family as their primary residence. See "family property" and "real property."

Often referred to as a "CPL" for short, this is a document filed in the office of the Land Title and Survey Authority against the title of real property; formerly called a lis pendens. When a CPL is filed, it warns others that the property is the subject of a court proceeding and that ownership of the property may change as a result. In family law, a CPL is used to protect the interest of a party in a piece of property by notifying potential purchasers or mortgagees about the court proceeding. See "clear title," "encumbrance," and "real property."

The short form for "Certificate of Pending Litigation." See "Certificate of Pending Litigation."

A sum of money or an obligation owed by one person to another. A "debtor" is a person responsible for paying a debt; a "creditor" is the person to whom the debt is owed.

A legal document required by the rules of court in which a party to a court proceeding involving child support, spousal support, the division of property, or the division of debt must describe their income, expenses, assets, and liabilities under oath or affirmation. The Provincial Court Family Rules and the Supreme Court Family Rules each have a form called Financial Statement. See "affirm," "oath," and "perjury."

A legal proceeding in which one party sues another for a specific remedy or relief, also called an "action," a "lawsuit," or a "case." A court proceeding for divorce, for example, is a proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of a divorce order.

(1) A person charged with the legal care of someone under a legal disability. (2) A term under the Family Law Act referring to a person, including a parent, who is responsible for the care and upbringing of a child through the exercise of parental responsibilities. See "disability," "parental responsibilities" and "parenting time."

A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched and reviewed.

The provincial government agency responsible for maintaining written records of the ownership of real property in the province, together with a record of the encumbrances which may be registered against a property. See "Land Title Act" and "real property."

The claims made by a respondent in a court proceeding against the person starting the court proceeding. The legal document required by the Supreme Court Family Rules in which a respondent sets out their counterclaims against a claimant, is a form called a Counterclaim. See "Notice of Family Claim" and "Response to Family Claim."

A legal document required by the Supreme Court Family Rules in which the respondent to a court proceeding sets out their reply to the claimant's claim and the grounds for their reply. See "action," claim," "Notice of Family Claim" and "pleadings."

The testing of the claims in a court proceeding at a formal hearing before a judge with the jurisdiction to hear the proceeding. The parties present their evidence and arguments to the judge, who then makes a decision resolving the parties' claims against one another that is final and binding on the parties unless successfully appealed. See "action," "appeal," "argument," "claim," "evidence" and "jurisdiction."

(1) A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched, and reviewed, or (2) a courthouse.

In law, any proceeding before a judicial official to determine questions of law and questions of fact, including the hearing of an application and the hearing of a trial. See "decision."

A person appointed by the federal or provincial government to manage and decide court proceedings in an impartial manner, independent of influence by the parties, the government, or agents of the government. The decisions of a judge are binding upon the parties to the proceeding, subject to appeal.

A provincially-appointed judicial official of the BC Supreme Court with limited jurisdiction, usually charged with making interim decisions before final judgment in a court proceeding, and certain decisions after final judgment, including the assessment of lawyers' bills and the settling of bills of cost. Until January 2024, associate judges were referred to as masters. See "interim application," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

An order which forbids a party from doing or not doing a thing. In family law, common restraining orders include stopping someone from travelling out of an area with the children, stopping someone from disposing of property, and stopping someone from harassing someone else. See "ex parte," "order" and "protection order."