Get a new family order in Provincial Court if you can’t agree

This step-by-step guide is for you if:

• you want to apply for new orders in Provincial Court, and
• you and the other person don't agree on what the order should say.

This includes orders about the following:

• guardianship,
• allocation of parental responsibilities,
• parenting time,
• contact with a child,
• child or spousal support, and
• procedural orders, like orders to provide information.

Know your court registry

The court has rules about which court registry you can use. Provincial (Family) Court registries offer extra free services to help people resolve their family law issues without going to court. You must use the services your registry offers before you can file an application with the court.

Use the registry finder, below, to find out which registry you need to use and what extra services it offers.

When to use this guide

You can use this guide if:

• your court registry doesn’t require you to use any conflict resolution services, or
• you’ve used your registry’s resolution services and some of the issues are still not settled.

You'll need:

• an Application About a Family Matter (Form 3)
• a Financial Statement (Form 4), if needed
• any documents that relate to the court forms

Fill out the Application About a Family Law Matter and the applicable schedules

This form includes all the instructions you need to help you fill it out correctly. Be sure to fill out the schedules that apply to your situation, too.

• Schedule 1 – Parenting arrangements – New
• Schedule 3 – Child support – New
• Schedule 5 – Contact with a child – New
• Schedule 7 – Appointing a guardian or terminating guardianship
• Schedule 8 – Spousal support – New
• Schedule 10 – Property division in respect of a companion animal

Fill out a Financial Statement, if needed

In cases involving support, the court needs financial information about one or both of you in order to make a decision. A Provincial Court financial statement tells the judge about your:

• income,
• expenses,
• assets, and
• debts.

You must complete this form in the following situations:

• There's a claim for spousal support or child support against you.
• You're claiming spousal support.
• You're claiming child support and any of the following apply:
  • You're claiming an amount other than the amount set out in the child support tables.
  • You're claiming for special expenses.
  • The child support is for stepchildren.
  • At least one of the children for whom you're claiming support is 19 or over.
  • Each parent has, or is applying for, at least 40 percent of the parenting time.
  • Each parent has, or is applying to have, one child primarily in the care of one parent and another child primarily in the care of the other parent.
  • The person being asked to pay child support makes more than $150,000 a year.
  • Either of you is claiming undue hardship.
• There's an application to set aside (cancel) or replace all or any part of an agreement that deals with child support.

See Complete a Provincial Court Financial Statement (Form 4) for help with the Financial Statement.

You'll need:

• your completed Financial Statement (Form 4) and all attachments
• photo identification such as a
  • BC identity card,
  • driver’s licence, or
  • passport.

If you have to file a Financial Statement (Form 4), you must swear that the information in it and any supporting documents is true.

Take your documents to the courthouse. Registry staff will check your documents to be sure you’ve completed them correctly.

A person at the registry can swear the financial statement and then file it for you. There is no fee for swearing or filing your documents.

You'll need:

• your completed Application About a Family Matter (Form 3)
• your completed Financial Statement (Form 4), if required
• all the documents that relate to your completed forms

Make four sets of the documents you've prepared

• The original forms (with any attachments) for the court
• A set for you
• A set for the other person
• A set for the person who will serve the documents to the other person

You'll need:

• All the sets of copies of your documents

Take all the sets of your documents to the Family Court registry and give them to the clerk.

The registry clerk keeps one set of the documents for the court file copy. They stamp the other copies and return them to you.

The clerk gives you a blank Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter (with Counter Application) (Form 6) and a blank Financial Statement (Form 4). You'll need these when you serve the documents on the other person.

If the registry clerk won't accept your documents, find out why and get legal help.

You'll need:

• two copies of your complete set of documents (stamped by the registry)
• a blank Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter (with Counter Application) (Form 6)
• a blank Financial Statement (Form 4), if needed
• a blank Certificate of Service (Form 7)
• a person aged 19 or older to give the documents to the other person

There are strict rules about how to give court documents to the other person. You can’t serve your Application About a Family Law Matter yourself. You must arrange for another adult to deliver them to the other person. This is called personal service. You can hire a process server to do this or you can ask a friend or family member to serve the documents for you.

Attach the blank Reply to Application About a Family Matter (Form 6) and Financial Statement (Form 4) to one set of the stamped documents. This copy is for the other person.

Attach the blank Certificate of Service (Form 7) to the other copy of the stamped documents. This copy is for your records.

Give both sets of documents to the person who will serve the documents. This person must do the following:

• Give the set of documents with Forms 6 and 4 attached to the other person.
• Fill out the Certificate of Service (Form 7), sign it, and return it and the other set of documents to you.

See Serve Provincial Court documents by ordinary or personal service for information about how to serve a document and complete the Certificate of Service.

You'll need:

• to give the other person 30 days to file their Reply

After being served with the documents, the other person has 30 days to file a Reply and a Counter Application (Form 6).

If the other person files documents, the court registry will send the documents to you, along with instructions for how to book a Family Management Conference.

Read the Reply carefully to understand:

• what parts of your application the other person agrees to and what parts they don't agree with, and
• if they asked the court to make orders by filling out the Counter Application.

If they don’t agree with what you asked for, book a Family Management Conference and go to Step 8.

If they filed a Counter Application to ask for different orders, go to Step 7.

If the other person doesn't file a reply, see If the other person doesn't respond to your application for an order.

You’ll need:

• Reply to a Counter Application About a Family Law Matter (Form 8)
• Financial Statement (Form 4), if the Counter Application includes support
• Certificate of Service (Form 7)

Fill out the Form 8 and schedules

Your Family Management Conference is your first step with the court. Your application and the other person’s counter application (if they filed one) will both be before the court.

To be prepared for your Family Management Conference (FMC), you need:

• to know what happens at an FMC
• all your documents or notes about what you want, or even a draft order.

For more information, see Family Management Conferences in Provincial Court. Your hearing won’t be as formal as a full trial.

You've now gone through all the steps required to get an new family order in Provincial Court if you can't agree. Thank you for using our step-by-step guide.