====Procedure====
The person who starts a proceeding Provincial Court Family Rules changed considerably in the 2021. Provincial Court is procedure now depends a lot on where the ''applicant''. The person against whom parties live and in which registry the court proceeding is brought claim is filed. At the ''respondent''.time of writing, there are effectively four types of Provincial Court registries:
The applicant starts a proceeding by filing an ''Application to Obtain an Order'Early Resolution Registries'''Surrey and Victoria' (Form 1 of the s Provincial Court Family Forms) in court, and then serving it on each person named as registries now follow a respondent. The Application new procedure designed to Obtain an Order must be ''personally served'' on the respondent by an adult other than resolve cases without the applicant — you can't do it yourself. The respondent has 30 days need for going to answer the claim by filing a ''Reply'' (Form 3) in court; the court clerk will send a copy of the Reply to the applicant. The Reply can also be used to make a ''counterclaim'', the respondent's own claim against the applicant. A respondent who does not file a Reply is not entitled to notice of further hearings in the case!early resolution process
Depending The person who starts a proceeding in the Provincial Court is the ''applicant''. The person against whom the court proceeding is brought is the ''respondent''. An applicant starts by filing a form, although a different form is needed for ''[[Early Resolution Registries of BC Provincial Court]]'' than in other Provincial Court registry locations. See the page on [[Early Resolution Registries of BC Provincial Court]] for the procedures in these registry locations. In most Provincial Court registries, however, you start by filing an ''Application About a Family Law Matter'' (Form 3) and then serving it on each person named as a respondent. The form must be ''personally served'' on which courthouse the respondent by an adult other than the applicant — you can't do it yourself. The respondent has 30 days to answer the claim by filing a ''Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter'' (Form 6) at the court registry. The court clerk will send a copy of the Reply to the applicant. The Reply can also be used to make a ''counterclaim'', the respondent's own claim against the applicant. A respondent who does not file a Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter is not entitled to notice of further hearings in the case! After the proceeding is has been started at, many registry locations require the parties may have to attend the ''parenting after separation course'', and possibly also some may require the parties to meet with a ''family justice counsellor'', before they can go to see a judge. Family justice counsellors are government employees trained in mediation who can help with issues about the care of children, child support, and spousal support.
At the parties' first appearance before a judge, the judge may order the parties to attend a ''family case conference''. A family case conference is a private meeting between the parties, their lawyers — if they have lawyers — and a judge, to talk about the legal issues and see whether any of them can be settled. In general, a judge will not make orders at a family case conference except with the parties' agreement. Family case conferences can be very helpful as they provide a great opportunity to talk about the legal issues and explore potential areas of compromise. There's more information about family case conferences in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] in the section on [[Case Conferences in a Family Law Matter]].
After the first appearance, ''interim applications'', applications for temporary orders, can be made by filing a Notice of Motion (Form 16). It is always best to file an Affidavit (Form 1745) with the Notice of Motion. An affidavit is a person's written evidence which the person swears or affirms is true before a lawyer, notary public, or court staff member able to take oaths. There's more information about interim applications in the chapter [[Resolving_Family_Law_Problems_in_Court|Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] in the section on [[Interim_Applications_in_Family_Matters|Interim Applications]].
If the legal issues in the court proceeding aren't settled, there will be a ''trial''. At the trial, each side will present their evidence and their arguments, and the judge will make a decision about the legal issues, called a ''judgment.'' The judgment will describe not only the judge's ''final orders'' on the legal issues, but the judge's decisions about the facts of the case and the law that applies to the case.