New Amendments to the New Rules

An Order in Council (PDF) came into effect on 26 May 2011 amending the published version of the Supreme Court Family Rules and the forms prescribed by the rules. The rules and forms, as amended, will be in force on 1 July 2011. The changes to the rules are mostly fairly minor:

1. Rule 7-1: The JCC rule is amended to provide that the tape recording of a JCC may not be accessed except by court order.
2. Rule 14-5: The rule which requires a trial to be removed from the trial list if Trial Certificates are not filed is amended to give the court some discretion in the matter.
3. Rule 17-1: The rule on petition proceedings is amended to tie the deadline for replying to a Petition to the place the petition respondent was served rather than the place where the petition respondent resides, and to tidy up the language about petition respondents' right to seek directions on adjourned hearings.
4. Rule 18-3: The rule about appeals brought from the provincial court is amended to tie the deadline for replying to a Notice of Appeal to the place the respondent was served rather than the place where the respondent resides.
5. Rule 20-5: The rule on applications for indigency status is amended to remove the option of filing proof of receipt of welfare benefits and require applicants to file an affidavit in Form F86.

The changes to the forms are similarly minor, but there are a lot more of them. The following forms have been amended:

1. F3 - Notice of Family Claim (Schedule 1)
2. F5 - Counterclaim (Schedule 1)
3. F15 - Affidavit of Personal Service
4. F36 - Certificate of Pleadings
5. F37 - Child Support Affidavit for desk order divorce
6. F38 - Affidavit for desk order divorce
7. F44 - Notice of Trial
8. F45 - Trial Brief
9. F54 - Restraining Order
10. F58 - Writ of Sequestration
11. F59 - Writ of Possession
12. F60 - Writ of Delivery
13. F61 - Writ of Delivery or Assessed Value
14. F73 - Petition
15. F79 and F80 - Notice of Appeal
16. F86 - Affidavit in Support of Indigent Application
17. F95 - Fax Cover Sheet
18. F100 - Certificate of Mediation

For more information on the Supreme Court Family Rules, see the New Rules 101 chapter of my website or click on the "court rules" label below.

Update: 18 June 2011

I have now updated the court form templates available on my website to reflect the changes required by the new Order in Council.

• Templates for the most commonly used court forms in family law matters are available in the chapter Resources & Links > The Courts, in the discussion of the Supreme Court.

• Templates for the do-it-yourself divorce process are available in the chapter Marriage & Divorce > Divorce.

These templates are published in Word format.

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Court Rules and Court Forms Online

Here's a handy table of links to the rules and forms for British Columbia's courts, including the Supreme Court form templates available from my website. Bookmark this link to return to this page as a quick reference.

Provincial Court of British Columbia

Legislation

• Provincial Court Act
• Court Rules Act

Rules

• Provincial Court (Family) Rules
• Family Matters Practice Directions
• General Practice Directions

Forms

• Court Forms from the online rules
• fillable Court Forms from the Attorney General's website (PDF format)

Examples of what the more common court forms should look like when filled out properly are also available on my website; see my index of Sample Documents.

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Legislation

• Supreme Court Act
• Court Rules Act

Rules

• Supreme Court Family Rules
• Family Law Practice Directions
• Civil Practice Directions
• Administrative Notices

Forms

• Court Forms from the online rules
• fillable Court Forms from the Attorney General's website (PDF format)

• Court Form templates from my website (Word format)
• templates for the do-it-yourself divorce process from my website (Word format)

Examples of what the court forms should look like when filled out properly are also available on my website; see my index of Sample Documents.

Court of Appeal for British Columbia

Legislation

• Court of Appeal Act
• Court Rules Act

Rules

• Court of Appeal Rules
• Practice Directives

Forms

• Court Forms from the online rules
• Court Forms from the court's website (Word and PDF format)

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Rules on Chambers Applications Amended

By now most people involved in the family law justice system are aware that the new Supreme Court Family Rules which came into effect on 1 July 2010 have one particularly important flaw: the timelines for chambers application procedures in Rule 10-6 don't work. On 29 July 2010 an Order in Council was passed which ought to correct the timelines. Here are the key changes.

Calculation of Time: Time is now calculated as "business days," meaning days when the court is open for business. Weekends and statutory holidays are no longer counted.

Notice of Application: The length of this form is now capped at 10 pages. Changes are made to the text of the form to reflect the new timelines.

Time for Serving Notice of Application: Filed copies of the Notice of Application and new supporting affidavits must be served on the application respondent:

1. for interim applications, at least 8 business days before the date picked for the hearing;
2. for summary trials, at least 12 business days before the hearing date; and,
3. for applications to vary a final order, at least 21 business days before the hearing date.

Responding to an Application: The application respondent must now serve two copies of his or her Application Response and new affidavits on the applicant. A new subrule, (8.1), says that these materials must be filed in court and served on the applicant:

1. for interim applications, at least 5 business days after service of the Notice of Application;
2. for summary trials, at least 8 business days after service; and,
3. for applications to vary a final order, at least 14 business days after service.

This replaces the rule which allowed an application respondent to delay delivering his or her responding materials until two days before the hearing regardless of when they were available.

Responding to a Response: The applicant is required to file and serve copies of any new affidavits prepared in reply to the application respondent's materials by 4:00pm on the day that is one business day before the hearing date.

Application Records and Application Record Indices: The applicant is required to both file an Application Record in court and serve a copy of the index on the application respondent by 4:00pm on the day that is one business day before the hearing date.

These changes, including the change to the Notice of Application, have now been incorporated on my website into the chapters New Rules 101 and The Legal System > Interim Applications.

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New Court Forms Posted

Templates for the new court forms under the Supreme Court Family Rules are now available for download on my website, along with samples of what the forms ought to look like when they're filled out. In The Legal System > Starting an Action, in the downloads segment, you'll find:

• Form F3: Notice of Family Claim
• Form F8: Financial Statement
• Form F19: Notice of Judicial Case Conference

In The Legal System > Defending an Action, you'll find:

• Form F4: Response to Family Claim
• Form F5: Counterclaim

In The Legal System > Interim Applications (you'll need to scroll down a fair bit), you'll find:

• Form 31: Notice of Application
• Form 32: Application Response

In Marriage & Divorce > Divorce, you'll find the complete suite of forms required for the do-it-yourself divorce process:

• Form F1: Joint Notice of Family Claim
• Form F3: Notice of Family Claim
• Form F15: Affidavit of Personal Service
• Form F35: Requisition for divorce order
• Form F17: Requisition to search for a defence
• Form F36: Registrar's Certificate
• Form F38: Divorce Affidavit
• Form F37: Child Support Affidavit
• Form F52: Divorce Order
• Form F56: Divorce Certificate

Other form templates will be posted in the Resources & Links section when I can get to them.

Update: 22 April 2012

See my post "New Court Form Templates Posted" for a list of the Supreme Court family law forms amended as of 25 April 2012, and links to my templates for those forms.

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New Court Forms Posted

Templates for the new court forms under the <a href="http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/169_2009_00">Supreme Court Family Rules</a> are now available for download on <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/">my website</a>, along with samples of what the forms ought to look like when they're filled out. In <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/01/0104body.htm#supreme%20action">The Legal System &gt; Starting an Action</a>, in the downloads segment, you'll find:<br /><ul><li>Form F3: Notice of Family Claim</li><li>Form F8: Financial Statement</li><li>Form F19: Notice of Judicial Case Conference</li></ul>In <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/01/0105body.htm#supreme%20action">The Legal System &gt; Defending an Action</a>, you'll find:<br /><ul><li>Form F4: Response to Family Claim</li><li>Form F5: Counterclaim</li></ul>In <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/01/0107body.htm#supreme">The Legal System &gt; Interim Applications</a> (you'll need to scroll down a fair bit), you'll find:<br /><ul><li>Form 31: Notice of Application</li><li>Form 32: Application Response</li></ul>In <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/08/0803body.htm#process">Marriage &amp; Divorce &gt; Divorce</a>, you'll find the complete suite of forms required for the do-it-yourself divorce process:<br /><ul><li>Form F1: Joint Notice of Family Claim</li><li>Form F3: Notice of Family Claim</li><li>Form F15: Affidavit of Personal Service</li><li>Form F35: Requisition for divorce order</li><li>Form F17: Requisition to search for a defence</li><li>Form F36: Registrar's Certificate</li><li>Form F38: Divorce Affidavit</li><li>Form F37: Child Support Affidavit</li><li>Form F52: Divorce Order</li><li>Form F56: Divorce Certificate</li></ul>Other form templates will be posted in the <a href="http://www.bcfamilylawresource.com/13/1304body.htm">Resources &amp; Links</a> section when I can get to them.<br /><br /><b>Update: 22 April 2012</b><br /><br />See my post "<a href="http://bcfamilylawresource.blogspot.ca/2012/04/new-court-forms-posted.html">New Court Form Templates Posted</a>" for a list of the Supreme Court family law forms amended as of 25 April 2012, and links to my templates for those forms.<br /><br />

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Consolidated Rules and Forms Now Available

The Queen's Printer has almost finished assembling versions of the Supreme Court Family Rules and the Provincial Court Family Rules which consolidate the existing rules and forms with the series of amendments that came into effect with the Family Law Act. The Supreme Court forms are still missing Form F101, the affidavit required for applications for appointment as the guardian of a child.

A list of additional electronic resources is available in my post "Family Law Act Online Resources".

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Family Law Act Online Resources

Now the dust has begun to settle, I thought it would be helpful to put together a collection of links related to the new legislation. Here it is, and I will be updating it as the Queen's Printer is able to generate updated material. Bookmark this post by clicking on the title.

Legislation and Regulations

• Family Law Act
• Family Law Act Regulation
• Family Law Act Division of Pensions Regulation

Rules of Court and Practice Materials

Rules of Court

• Provincial Court Family Rules
• Supreme Court Family Rules

Practice Directions

• Provincial Court Practice Directions
• Supreme Court Practice Directions

Court Forms

• Provincial Court: fillable forms from the Ministry of Justice (PDF)
• Provincial Court: forms from the Rules of Court
• Supreme Court:  fillable forms from the Ministry of Justice (PDF)
• Supreme Court: forms from the Rules of Court

Ministry of Justice Resources

• JusticeBC Family Justice Information and Support
• The Family Law Act Explained
• The Family Law Act Regulations Explained
• Amendments to the Rules of Court Explained
• Press Release and Backgrounder announcing the new act

Me

• A Very Brief Introduction to the Family Law Act for Justice System Workers and Advocates (PDF)
• Family Law Act Information & Resources

Legal Services Society

• Family Law in BC after March 18, 2013
• Guide to the New BC Family Law Act (PDF)
• Living Together or Living Apart: Common-Law Relationships, Marriage, Separation and Divorce
• Family Law in BC: Quick Reference Tool

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Family Law Act: Changes to Rules of Court

The Ministry of Justice, in its increasingly useful webpage on the new Family Law Act, has posted information about changes to the Supreme Court Family Rules and the Provincial Court (Family) Rules that will come into effect on 18 March 2013 at the same time as the new legislation.

Rule Changes

The amendments to both courts' rules include:

• implementing the new terminology used by the Family Law Act (for example, parental responsibilities, parenting time and parentage tests);
• addressing the new concepts introduced in the act (for example, parenting coordination, conduct orders and protection orders); 
• addressing new processes established by the act (for example, the enforcement of orders and applications to enforce or set aside the determinations of parenting coordinators); and,
• deleting reference to concepts not carried forward by the act (for example, restraining orders, parental support and declarations of irreconcilability).

Provincial Court Rules

Additional amendments are made to the Provincial Court (Family) Rules, unrelated to the new legislation, largely to correct minor errors and inconsistencies and improve to overall clarity of the rules. Among the more significant amendments are:

• allowing service by email;
• allowing service of applications outside British Columbia;
• requiring addresses for service when filing applications and motions;
• allowing lawyers to search court files; and,
• allowing the electronic filing of documents.

Consequential changes are made to the forms required by the rules, including those used to commence and reply to a court proceeding, the form used to commence a motion and financial statements. According to an announcement from the Attorney General, a more complete overhaul of the rules is anticipated at some point in the relatively near future, perhaps in 2013 or 2014.

For the exact details of the current changes to the rules and forms, read the Order in Council (PDF) that will implement the changes. For a general introduction, read the ministry's overview (PDF).

Supreme Court Rules

Additional amendments to the Supreme Court Family Rules include:

• requiring personal service of applications to set aside agreements; and,
• addressing and assessing awards of expenses.

Consequential changes are made to the forms required by the rules, including those used to commence and reply to a court proceeding, the form used to commence a motion, the forms used for restraining orders, financial statements and the forms used in the divorce process.

For the exact details of the changes to the rules and forms, read the Order in Council (PDF) that will implement the changes. For a general introduction, read the ministry's overview (PDF).

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