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→First steps
#'''Family Justice Counsellors''' If you are dealing with an issue such as child custody, access, guardianship, and child and spousal maintenance, you can contact a Family Justice Centre and make an appointment to speak with a Family Justice Counsellor. Family Justice Counsellors can provide information and referrals, provide mediation and conciliation services and assist with writing separation agreements and filing documents in Provincial Family Court. Family Justice Centres in Vancouver, Surrey, Nanaimo and Kelowna have specialists in child support called Child Support Officers. You can ask your Family Justice Counsellor if a Child Support Officer can be involved in your case.(Remember that Family Justice Counsellors cannot assist with divorce or division of family assets). Some Family Justice Centres can refer you to '''Family Advice Lawyers''' provided by the Legal Services Society for parents with low incomes.
# '''Family LawLINE''' If you are a person with a low income and a family law problem, you may be eligible for brief free over-the-phone "next step" advice about family law issues such as custody, access, guardianship, child support, spousal support, property division, family agreements, adoption, and court procedures. To see if you can speak with a LawLINE lawyer, contact the Legal Services Provincial Call Centre at 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-866-577-2525 (no charge elsewhere in BC) between 9:30 am and noon on weekdays.
# '''Family Mediators''' Other than Family Justice Counsellors (see above), most family mediators are professionals in private practice who assist couples in trying to resolve their family issues by agreement. Some family mediators are also family law lawyers. They almost always charge for their services. You can find a list of mediators in your area in the Yellow pagesPages, the Mediate BC website (mediatebc.com. Click on the “Directory of Family Mediators” link).
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