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Starting and Responding to Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings (view source)
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Whether you are initiating or responding to a BC Supreme Court action, it helps to know the court forms that the other party needs to file in the BC Supreme Court. Every BC Supreme Court form has both a name and a form number. This section refers to both as much possible. This should help you to be sure you are identifying the correct court form. Where possible, the specific rules from the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr BC Supreme Court Family Rules] will also be referenced. | Whether you are initiating or responding to a BC Supreme Court action, it helps to know the court forms that the other party needs to file in the BC Supreme Court. Every BC Supreme Court form has both a name and a form number. This section refers to both as much possible. This should help you to be sure you are identifying the correct court form. Where possible, the specific rules from the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr BC Supreme Court Family Rules] will also be referenced. | ||
==Step 1: Complete the correct forms== | |||
You need to use the correct court form depending on the types of orders you are asking for. | You need to use the correct court form depending on the types of orders you are asking for. | ||
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Because most court actions will require you to proceed by way of a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, this section focusses on that process. | Because most court actions will require you to proceed by way of a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, this section focusses on that process. | ||
===Form F3 Notice of Family Claim=== | |||
The Form F3 Notice of Family Claim includes two introductory pages where you must provide some basic information about you and the respondent, your and their relationship, any agreements or orders that already in place, and a list of the orders you want the court to make. The form also has 5 schedules. You need only complete the schedules that relate to the court orders you are asking for in the introductory pages. | The Form F3 Notice of Family Claim includes two introductory pages where you must provide some basic information about you and the respondent, your and their relationship, any agreements or orders that already in place, and a list of the orders you want the court to make. The form also has 5 schedules. You need only complete the schedules that relate to the court orders you are asking for in the introductory pages. | ||
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Links to and examples of the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim and other court forms can be found under [[Supreme Court Forms (Family Law)|Supreme Court Forms and Examples]]. For a quick introduction to how to start a proceeding, see [[How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]. It's located in the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. | Links to and examples of the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim and other court forms can be found under [[Supreme Court Forms (Family Law)|Supreme Court Forms and Examples]]. For a quick introduction to how to start a proceeding, see [[How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]. It's located in the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. | ||
===Additional forms=== | |||
You may need to complete more than just the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim depending on the type of orders you are requesting: | |||
* If you are asking for a '''divorce order''': If you are asking for a divorce order, and even if you are also asking for other orders, you need to complete a [[Registration of Divorce Proceedings (Form)|Registration of Divorce Proceeding]] form. This is an online form. File it together with your original marriage certificate. The Registration of Divorce Proceeding online form needs to be completed and printed on the day that you will be filing your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim (you will need to enter the date that you will be filing your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, and the online form will not let you enter a date into the future). All the information you enter on the Registration of Divorce Proceedings form is recorded on its barcode so you also cannot enter any of the information manually. It must be completed online. | |||
* If you require a '''Certificate of Pending Litigation''' (CPL): A CPL is a ''lien'' you can file against the title of real estate property that the other side has an interest in. You need to complete Form 33 from the ''Land Title Act'', file it in court, and then register it against the other party’s interest in the title of the property. Courthouse Libraries BC has an [https://www.courthouselibrary.ca/how-we-can-help/our-legal-knowledge-base/filing-certificate-pending-litigation information page about CPLs on its website], which includes a link to the BC Supreme Court's information package about CPLs. | |||
===You only need to start one BC Supreme Court action=== | |||
Once you have filed a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, you do not need to file a new one to ask for other court orders against the same respondent. No matter how many years have passed since you started your BC Supreme Court action, or how many years have passed since the court last made an order in the action, the court action stays alive. You may want to add to or make changes to the orders you are requesting, but you do this by a process called ''amendment''. See [[How Do I Change Something in My Notice of Family Claim?]] in the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. | |||
===Stopping your court action=== | |||
The only way you to bring your BC Supreme Court action to an end is by withdrawing it or abandoning it. See [[How Do I Stop a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]] in the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. | |||
If you withdraw or abandon your BC Supreme Court action, this does not cancel the court action if the ''respondent'' has filed a Form F5 Counterclaim. The respondent can continue to pursue their claim, and ask for the court orders they requested in their counterclaim. | |||
If there is a counterclaim, the only way that the court action can be stopped is if you withdraw or abandon your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, ''and'' the Respondent also withdraws or abandons their Form F3 Counterclaim. See the heading under Step 6, "Ending your Counterclaim". | |||
==Step 2: File the court forms and pay (or waive) the court fees== | |||
===Make copies=== | |||
After you have completed all the court forms, print one copy (assuming you prepared it on a computer ), and sign where your signature is required. Make the following copies of the documents: | |||
*Make three additional copies of the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim: The signed original stays with the court and the court staff will stamp the three copies and give them back to you. Keep one for your own records, save one to serve on the respondent, and the third copy will be attached to the Form F15 Affidavit of Personal Service. The process for serving court documents, and more information about the affidavit that proves the documents were served, is discussed in step 3. | |||
* Make two copies of the Registration of Divorce Proceeding online form and any Certificate of Pending Litigation (Form 33 under the ''Land Title Act''): The original is for the court, one copy is for your records, and the other is to be filed against the respondent's interest in the title of the property. | |||
===File the documents on BC Supreme Court=== | |||
Take all the court documents to the BC Supreme Court house location that is closest to where the children reside (if your claim involves children), or to the location that is closest to where you live. | |||
The BC Supreme Court's website contains a [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/court_locations_and_contacts.aspx list of court locations and contacts]. Filing is done with the court's ''registry''. | |||
Go to the family counter for the BC Supreme Court registry you've chosen (some courthouses have both BC Provincial Court and BC Supreme Court registries in the same building), and give the court staff your court forms. The court staff will ask you to pay the filing fees before they will take your court documents and return the court stamped copies to you. | |||
===Court fees=== | |||
Court fees are contained in a schedule in Appendix C of the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]. | |||
It currently costs $200 to file a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, or $210 if your are also asking for a divorce order. It also costs $40 for filing a CPL with the BC Supreme Court (the Land Title Office will charge you additional fees when you file the CPL against the title). | |||
If you can't afford to pay court fees, you can apply to court to have those fees waived. This used to be called applying for ''indigent status'', but this term is no longer used. To find out more, see [[How Do I Waive Filing Fees in the Supreme Court?]]. | |||
==Step 3: Serve court forms on the respondent== | |||
You cannot simply mail or email the respondent a copy of your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. The BC Supreme Court wants to know that all efforts were made to deliver these important documents directly to the respondent following a process called ''personal service''. | |||
===Personal service=== | |||
You will need to arrange for personal service on each and every respondent named in your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. Each respondent must get a court stamped copy of your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. You do not need to serve the Registration of Divorce Proceedings, or any CPL, however. | |||
Personal service means physically handing the form to the respondent. The ''[[Divorce Act]]'' and Rule 6-3(2) of the Supreme Court Family Rules say that a claimant cannot serve a respondent themselves. As a claimant, you must either pay a ''process server'' to do it, or enlist the help of a friend or family member over the age of majority (19 years or older) to hand-deliver the document to the respondent. Don't use one of your children to serve a respondent. For a good summary of what's involved in personal service, see [[How Do I Personally Serve Someone with Legal Documents?]]. | |||
===Can't personally serve a respondent?=== | |||
If it is impossible to personally serve the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim on a respondent, you can ask the court to be allowed to use an alternate form of service. To find out what's involved, see [[How Do I Substitutionally Serve Someone with Legal Documents?]] | |||
===Can't find your ex or the other party?=== | |||
If you are not sure where your ex or any other respondent you named in your F3 Notice of Family Claim lives or works, and if you do not know how to find them, see [[How Do I Find My Ex?]] in the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. | |||
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Iris Turaglio]], 10 December 2024}} | {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Iris Turaglio]], 10 December 2024}} | ||