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The ''discovery process'' involves learning about (or discovering) the other party’s case. It allows each party to learn about the information and evidence that the other party intends to use at trial (for example through receiving documents from the other party and asking the other party questions about their case) and the arguments the other party intends to make at trial to support the position(s) they are taking.  
The ''discovery and disclosure'' process is all about learning — or "discovering" — the other party’s case. It's about getting information and documents from the other party that are relevant to the legal issues in a court proceeding, including the information and documents that the other side intends to use to prove their case at trial.


The discovery process is an important process because it allows you to collect the information you need to assess the strengths and weaknesses in both your case and the other party’s case. This helps to assess your chances of success at trial and to formulate any settlement offers you wish to make.
The discovery and disclosure process is important because it lets you collect the information you need to assess the strengths and weaknesses in your case and in the other party’s case. This helps you to prepare for trial, assess your chances of success at trial, respond to any settlement offer you might get from the other party, and prepare your own settlement offer. It's a good idea to consult a lawyer as you begin the discovery and disclosure process, as a lawyer can provide advice about what you need to disclose to the other party, what you need to prove in court for your case to be successful, and what you need to know about the other party’s case.
It is a good idea to consult a lawyer as you begin the discovery process, as a lawyer can provide advice about what you need to disclose to the other party, what you need to prove in court for your case to be successful, and what you need to know about the other party’s case.
 
==Introduction==
 
In Canada, we don't litigate with cards up our sleeves. Instead, all of everyone's cards are on the table face up. This may not make a lot of sense right away, partly because of what we see in American movies and televisions shows, but the point is to cut through the bullshit to give each court proceeding the best possible chance of settling without having to go through a trial. As Justice Punnett said, in the 2013 Supreme Court case of ''[http://canlii.ca/t/fzqb3 J.D.G. v J.J.V.]'', "the goal of proper disclosure is to enable the parties to resolve their dispute." Justice Fraser was even more blunt, in his 1994 decision in a Supreme Court case called ''[http://canlii.ca/t/1dn7f Cunha v Cunha]'':
 
<blockquote>"Non-disclosure of assets is the cancer of matrimonial property litigation. It discourages settlement or promotes settlements which are inadequate. It increases the time and expense of litigation. The prolonged stress of unnecessary battle may lead weary and drained [parties] simply to give up and walk away with only a share of the assets they know about, taking with them the bitter aftertaste of a reasonably-based suspicion that justice was not done."</blockquote>
 
If you have a smoking gun that will devastate the other party's case, isn't it better to let everyone know about that as soon as possible so that you can resolve the case quicker and for less money than if you had to go to trial?
 
In family law, each side to a case has the same interest in finding out what each other's income is, knowing each other's physical and mental health, getting the likely sale price of the family home, and knowing how much money is in everyone's investment and RRSP accounts. The discovery and disclosure process is all about exchanging the information and documents necessary to understand each other's case. Even the court has an interest in making sure that each party understands every other party's case because of the administrative and other costs involved in running trials.
 
As a result, the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' and the rules of court, particularly the rules of the Supreme Court, are chock full of rules intended to speed the discovery and disclosure process, and automate as much disclosure as possible. For example, when someone starts a court proceeding asking for orders about child support, spousal support and the division of property and debt, Rule 5-1(11) requires them to file a Financial Statement in Form F8 within 30 days of filing the Notice of Family Claim. Rule 5-1(13) lets the other side ask for more details if the Financial Statement is vague, and a person filing a Financial Statement is under a continuing obligation to keep the information accurate and up-to-date under Rule 5-1(15). Likewise, Rule 9-1 requires someone who started a court proceeding to serve a List of Documents in Form F20 within 35 days of getting the other side's Response to Family Claim, and they are under a continuing obligation to keep the list accurate and up-to-date. Under Rule 9-1(1)(a), the List of Documents is supposed to list:
 
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) all documents that are or have been in the party's possession or control and that could, if available, be used by any party at trial to prove or disprove a material fact, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) all other documents to which the party intends to refer at trial</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
 
And all of this is automatic. The disclosure obligations described in these rules are triggered just because someone has started, or decided to defend, a family law court proceeding. They don't depend on someone making a request or otherwise asking nicely.
 
As you'll learn in the rest of this section, there are even more rules about discovery and disclosure that do require someone to make a request. They include rules that let a party ask someone questions under oath or affirmation outside the courthouse, rules that let a party require someone to answer questions in an affidavit, and rules that let a party get documents and other information from people who aren't even involved in the court proceeding! The discovery and disclosure process is a critical part of the litigation process that the court takes very, very seriously.
 
==Rules about discovery and disclosure in the legislation==
 
It's not just the rules of court that have rules intended to encourage the discovery and disclosure process. The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' and the ''[[Divorce Act]]'' talk about discovery and disclosure as well. If a party to a court proceeding isn't complying with their obligations under the legislation, you can apply to court for an order forcing them to comply.
 
===The ''Divorce Act'' and the Child Support Guidelines===
 
Because court processes are developed by the provinces and territories, the ''[[Divorce Act]]'', a federal law, is pretty quiet about those things. It's not the job of the federal government to tell the provincial and territorial governments how to run their courts. However, the federal government does share jurisdiction over child support with the provinces, and section 7.4 of the ''Divorce Act'' imposes a duty on the people involved in a court proceeding to provide accurate information to each other and keep that information up to date:
 
<blockquote><tt>A party to a proceeding under this Act or a person who is subject to an order made under this Act shall provide complete, accurate and up-to-date information if required to do so under this Act</tt></blockquote>
 
That's important because section 26.1(1) lets the government makes regulations about how child support is calculated, including:
 
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(h) respecting the production of information relevant to an order for child support and providing for sanctions and other consequences when that information is not provided.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
 
And this is the "information" that a litigant can be required to provide under section 7.4. The details about what kind of "information" is relevant to an order for child support are listed in section 21 of the [[Child Support Guidelines]], a regulation to the ''Divorce Act''.
 
<blockquote><tt>(1) A spouse who is applying for a child support order and whose income information is necessary to determine the amount of the order must include the following with the application:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) a copy of every personal income tax return filed by the spouse for each of the three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) a copy of every notice of assessment and reassessment issued to the spouse for each of the three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) where the spouse is an employee, the most recent statement of earnings indicating the total earnings paid in the year to date, including overtime or, where such a statement is not provided by the employer, a letter from the spouse’s employer setting out that information including the spouse’s rate of annual salary or remuneration;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) where the spouse is self-employed, for the three most recent taxation years</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) the financial statements of the spouse’s business or professional practice, other than a partnership, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a statement showing a breakdown of all salaries, wages, management fees or other payments or benefits paid to, or on behalf of, persons or corporations with whom the spouse does not deal at arm’s length;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) where the spouse is a partner in a partnership, confirmation of the spouse’s income and draw from, and capital in, the partnership for its three most recent taxation years;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(f) where the spouse controls a corporation, for its three most recent taxation years</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) the financial statements of the corporation and its subsidiaries, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a statement showing a breakdown of all salaries, wages, management fees or other payments or benefits paid to, or on behalf of, persons or corporations with whom the corporation, and every related corporation, does not deal at arm’s length;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(g) where the spouse is a beneficiary under a trust, a copy of the trust settlement agreement and copies of the trust’s three most recent financial statements; and</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(h) in addition to any income information that must be included under paragraphs (c) to (g), where the spouse receives income from employment insurance, social assistance, a pension, workers compensation, disability payments or any other source, the most recent statement of income indicating the total amount of income from the applicable source during the current year, or if such a statement is not provided, a letter from the appropriate authority stating the required information.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
 
(Under section 21(2), this rule also applies to people who are being asked to pay child support.)
 
Under section 25 of the Guidelines, each person who is obliged to provide this "information" is under a continuing obligation to provide it, and must do so "on the written request of the other spouse" not more than once each year after a child support order is made. The potential penalties for ''not'' providing this information are found in sections 22, 23 and 24 of the Guidelines, and include the judge:
 
#making orders that the party provide the required information;
#making an adverse inference against the party who failed to provide the required information, in other words, making assumptions that are against the interest of that party, like that they have more income than they say they do;
#deciding that the party who failed to provide the required information is in contempt of court; and,
#awarding costs in favour of the other party.
 
===The ''Family Law Act'' and the Child Support Guidelines===
 
The ''[[Family Law Act]]'' is a provincial law, and accordingly says a lot more about the discovery and disclosure process. Section 5 of the ''Family Law Act'' imposes a duty on the people involved in family law dispute that's pretty similar to the duty imposed by section 7.4 of the ''Divorce Act'', except that this duty applies to ''everyone'' who is involved in a family law dispute, not just people who are ''going to court'' about their family law dispute. This section says that:
 
<blockquote><tt>(1) A party to a family law dispute must provide to the other party full and true information for the purposes of resolving a family law dispute.</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(2) A person must not use information obtained under this section except as necessary to resolve a family law dispute.</tt></blockquote>
 
Subsection (2) is pretty important. It's there to encourage people to comply with their obligation to produce documents and information in the discovery and disclosure process by letting them know that the person they give their documents and information is required to keep those documents and information confidential. Those documents and information may not be used for any purpose except for the family law dispute, which means that they can't be copied and be given to relatives and coworkers, they can't be stapled to telephone poles, they can't be posted on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, they can't be put up on someone's website, and they can't be emailed to journalists. Documents and information that are produced in the discovery and disclosure process are to be kept confidential!
 
However, the ''Family Law Act'' also goes a bit further. Under section 212(1), the court may make an order requiring a party to disclose documents and information at any time in a court proceeding, and under section 212(3):
 
<blockquote><tt>(3) A person must not disclose information obtained under an order made under this section except</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) as necessary to resolve a family law dispute, and</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) in accordance with the order.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
 
The hammer shows up in section 213, which prescribes the penalties a court may impose when someone fails to comply with either an order made under section 212 or a disclosure obligation in the [http://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules] and the [http://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules], including by providing documents and information that are "incomplete, false or misleading:"
 
<blockquote><tt>(1) This section applies if a person</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) fails to comply with</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) an order for disclosure made under section 212, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) a requirement to disclose information in accordance with the Supreme Court Family Rules or the Provincial Court Family Rules,
within the time or in the manner required by the order or Rules, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) provides information that is incomplete, false or misleading.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(2) In the circumstances set out in subsection (1), the court may do one or more of the following:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) make an order under section 212;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) draw an inference that is adverse to the person, including attributing income to that person in an amount that the court considers appropriate, and make an order based on the inference;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) require a party to give security in any form that the court directs;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) make an order requiring the person described in subsection (1) to pay</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) a party for all or part of the expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of the non-disclosure of information or the incomplete, false or misleading disclosure, including fees and expenses related to family dispute resolution,</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) an amount not exceeding $5 000 to or for the benefit of a party, or a spouse or child whose interests were affected by the non-disclosure of information or the incomplete, false or misleading disclosure, or</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>(iii) a fine not exceeding $5 000;</tt></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(e) make any other order the court considers appropriate.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
 
That's a heavy hammer.
 
Finally, the [[Child Support Guidelines]] are adopted for the purposes of the ''Family Law Act'' by section 8 of the [http://canlii.ca/t/8rdx Family Law Act Regulation]. That includes the financial information that must be produced under section 21 of the Guidelines, discussed above, as well as the penalties for not providing this information under sections 22, 23 and 24. It's safe to assume that all of the Guidelines apply to court proceedings under the ''Family Law Act'' just as they do to court proceedings under the ''Divorce Act''.
 
==The Provincial Court==
 
The discovery process is less extensive in the Provincial Court than it is in the Supreme Court. As a result, while there are fewer hoops to jump through to get to trial in Provincial Court, you also have fewer ways of getting information and documents from the other side.
 
The information in this section ''does not'' apply to family law cases in the Victoria or Surrey registries of the Provincial Court. Those cases are managed under the Early Resolution Model, which is governed by special rules. For more information about the Early Resolution Model, read the resources published by the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4844 BC Government].
 
=== Financial Statements ===
 
If a court proceeding involves spousal support or child support in any way &mdash; including claims to change an existing support obligation or cancel arrears of support that have accumulated &mdash; the [http://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules] say that each party must prepare and file a Financial Statement in Form 4.
 
Financial Statements require each party to describe their income, expenses, assets and liabilities. Each party must swear or affirm that what they've said in their Financial Statement is true before a lawyer, notary public, or registry clerk, just like an affidavit. Each party must also provide a number of documents with their Financial Statements:
 
#their personal tax returns for the last three tax years;
#all notices of assessment and notices of reassessment they've received for the last three tax years;
#their most recent paystub showing their earnings to date, or another proof of their current income such as a letter from their employer or their most recent WCB statement, social assistance statement, or EI statement; and,
#if they have a company, business records like corporate income tax returns and corporate financial statements.
 
(Note that when the form talks about "personal income tax returns," what's required is the Canada Revenue Agency's T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return, not a tax return summary or a tax return information.)
 
The Financial Statement should be filed at the same time as the applicant's Application to Obtain an Order or the respondent's Reply. You will need to file the original, which the registry will keep for the court file, and three copies. The registry will stamp all of the copies; you'll keep two for your records and provide the other copy to the other party. 
 
Financial Statements are very important in family law proceedings. They are critical for determining child support and spousal support, and you mustn't take a casual "guesstimating" kind of approach to filling them out. You should expect that the other side will be reading your Financial Statement very carefully, and that you will find your credibility being challenged if the numbers don't make sense, if they're overblown or understated, or if they omit critical information. Now, to be fair, filling out this form can be difficult. The "expenses" part of the form is often the first time many people have sat down to work out what they spend in the average month on things like the cable bill, car insurance, dry cleaning, life insurance, hair cuts, and clothing. However, if the total of the "expenses" part is a lot higher than your total income in the "income" part, which it often is, I'm expecting to see a lot of debts in the "assets and debts" part of the form or I'm going to have a lot of trouble believing you!
 
===Family management conferences===
 
Family management conferences are now a standard part of a family law matter in Provincial Court. At these early, informal conferences, a judge or family justice manager has an opportunity to review what's missing in terms of undisclosed evidence, and make case management orders as appropriate. Judges can make more broad orders than family justice managers, but both have the power to order disclosure of information and exchange of evidence. Rule 62 says what a judge can include in a case management order. Rule 63 says what a family justice manager can include.
These orders can be really important to promote settlement or help you prepare for trial, especially the orders about Financial Statements.
 
===Family settlement conferences===
 
The purpose of these settlement conferences is to help the parties reach an agreement, however these conferences can also be used to help prepare the parties for trial or a hearing. A judge at a family settlement conference can make an order under Rule 108(f) of the ''Provincial Court Family Rules'' for disclosure of information. 
 
===Trial preparation conferences===
A judge who sets a court proceeding for trial may also set a date for a trial preparation conference. Trial preparation conferences are short hearings before a judge in court to discuss how the trial will proceed and what, if any, additional steps must be taken to get the court proceeding ready for trial, such as exchanging documents and information, or organizing experts' reports. The rules around discovery and disclosure are at Rule 112:
 
This is just one of the reasons why it's important to prepare for trial preparation conferences. By the time this conference rolls around, you should be well on your way to being ready for your trial. You should have organized all of the documents and information you're going to need to prove your case, including all of the documents and information that you need from the other party. If you need anything from the other side to help you prepare your case &mdash; from income tax returns, to bank statements, to report cards, to doctors' reports, to paystubs &mdash; this is the time to ask for an order that the other give you copies of those things.
 
More information about trial preparation conferences can be found later in this chapter, in the section [[Family Law Trials in Provincial Court|Trials in the Provincial Court]].


== The Supreme Court ==
== The Supreme Court ==
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''Interrogatories'' are a form of written questions posed by one party to the other party in an effort to obtain information without the fullness and formality of an examination for discovery.  As Interrogatories can only be used with the consent of the other party or by court order (see Rule 9-3(1) of the Supreme Court Family Rules), they tend to be used less frequently than other manners of discovery but can be useful to obtain specific information or details such as dates or the sequence of events, account numbers or other particulars, information about a corporation or a business, and the like.  
''Interrogatories'' are a form of written questions posed by one party to the other party in an effort to obtain information without the fullness and formality of an examination for discovery.  As Interrogatories can only be used with the consent of the other party or by court order (see Rule 9-3(1) of the Supreme Court Family Rules), they tend to be used less frequently than other manners of discovery but can be useful to obtain specific information or details such as dates or the sequence of events, account numbers or other particulars, information about a corporation or a business, and the like.  


Interrogatories are to be prepared in Form F22 of the Supreme Court Family Rules.  If the court orders the Interrogatories be answered or the other party simply agrees to answer them, then the other party has 21 days to deliver their reply to Interrogatories (see Rule 9-3(4) of the Supreme Court Family Rules) and the reply must be in the form of an affidavit. (See [[How Do I Prepare an Affidavit?]] in the ''How To'' part of this resource.)  As a result, the party answering the Interrogatories is swearing (or affirming) to the truth of the answers and will need to see a lawyer, a notary public, or a court registry clerk.  Interrogatories and replies to Interrogatories are not filed with the court.  
Interrogatories are to be prepared in Form F22 of the Supreme Court Family Rules.  If the court orders the Interrogatories be answered or the other party simply agrees to answer them, then the other party has 21 days to deliver their reply to Interrogatories (see Rule 9-3(4) of the Supreme Court Family Rules) and the reply must be in the form of an affidavit. (See [[How Do I Prepare an Affidavit?]] in the Helpful Guides & Common Questions part of this resource.)  As a result, the party answering the Interrogatories is swearing (or affirming) to the truth of the answers and will need to see a lawyer, a notary public, or a court registry clerk.  Interrogatories and replies to Interrogatories are not filed with the court.  


A party answering Interrogatories may object to one or more Interrogatories on the basis of privilege or on the grounds that it does not relate to a matter at issue in the court proceeding (see Rule 9-3(6) of the Supreme Court Family Rules).  In such circumstances, the responding party should indicate in the responding affidavit that the party objects to a specific interrogatory and the basis for the objection.  The responding party may also apply to the court to strike out the interrogatory if they object to it on the grounds that it will not further the object of the Supreme Court Family Rules.  When making its decision, the court must consider any offer made by the party to make the admissions sought, to produce documents, or to give oral discovery.   
A party answering Interrogatories may object to one or more Interrogatories on the basis of privilege or on the grounds that it does not relate to a matter at issue in the court proceeding (see Rule 9-3(6) of the Supreme Court Family Rules).  In such circumstances, the responding party should indicate in the responding affidavit that the party objects to a specific interrogatory and the basis for the objection.  The responding party may also apply to the court to strike out the interrogatory if they object to it on the grounds that it will not further the object of the Supreme Court Family Rules.  When making its decision, the court must consider any offer made by the party to make the admissions sought, to produce documents, or to give oral discovery.   
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This chapter discusses the process for bringing interim applications in the section [[Interim Applications in Family Matters]].
This chapter discusses the process for bringing interim applications in the section [[Interim Applications in Family Matters]].
== The Provincial Court ==
The discovery process is far less extensive in the Provincial Court than in the Supreme Court.  This means that there are fewer hoops to jump through in Provincial Court, but there are also fewer means to extract information and documents from the other side.
=== Family justice counsellors & Parenting After Separation program ===
As indicated in the earlier sections about starting and replying to a court proceeding in a family matter, in certain registries of the Provincial Court, the parties must meet with a family justice counsellor, and, if children are involved, attend a [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1638 Parenting After Separation] program before they can take any further steps in their case. This may apply even if you are seeking a default judgment. The court clerk at your court registry will tell you what is needed. If necessary, the court clerk will refer you to the family justice counsellor and tell you where the Parenting After Separation program is offered.
Family justice counsellors can provide information that may help to resolve the court proceeding; they can also serve as mediators if both parties are prepared to try mediation.
The Parenting After Separation program is very useful to take, and you should seriously consider taking the course even if it isn't required in your court registry. The program is available [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4395 online]. The online course does not replace the need to attend an in-person course if that is otherwise required. You will have to file a certificate that you've completed the program.
=== First appearance ===
Parties to a court proceeding in Provincial Court are required to attend a ''first appearance'' before a judge. This is scheduled by the judicial case manager of the registry. The parties are not consulted about the date. 
Under Rule 6 of the Provincial Court Family Rules, the judge at the first appearance (or any subsequent appearance) may:
<blockquote><tt>(a) make an order that all parties consent to in respect of all or any part of what is claimed in the application or reply; </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(b) make an interim order under section 216 or 217 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]''; </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(c) if a party has failed to provide financial information in accordance with rule 4,</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) make an order requiring the party to file that financial information within a set time, </tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) draw an adverse inference from that failure and impute an amount of income to that party that the judge considers appropriate, </tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(iii) make an interim order under section 216 or 217 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', and </tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(iv) if the judge considers that the circumstances justify it, make a final order;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(d) adjourn the case for a specified period of time that the judge considers appropriate;</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(e) order a party to allow another party to inspect and copy records, specified in the order, that are or  have been in that other party's possession or control or, if not in that other party's possession or control, are within that other party's power; </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(f) set a date for a family case conference under rule 7;</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(g) set a date for a trial preparation conference under rule 8;</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(h) if the judge does not set a date for a family case conference or for a trial preparation conference, set a trial date for the matter or set a date for a trial that is restricted to issues defined by the parties; </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(i) make a conduct order under Division 5 of Part 10 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', including an order </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(i) requiring the parties to participate in family dispute resolution within the meaning of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'',  or </tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(ii) requiring one or more parties or, with or without the consent of the child's guardian, a child, to attend counselling, specified services or programs; </tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(j) hear evidence and make an interim or final order for child or spousal support or for guardianship, parenting arrangements or contact with a child; or</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>(k) make any other order or give any direction that the judge considers appropriate.</tt></blockquote></tt>
=== Financial Statements ===
If a Provincial Court proceeding involves spousal support or child support, each party must prepare and file a Financial Statement. A Financial Statement sets out a party's income, expenses, assets and liabilities, and is sworn on oath or affirmation, just like an affidavit, before a lawyer, notary public, or registry clerk.
Each party must attach to their Financial Statements the following documents:
* the last three years' worth of tax returns (what's required is the complete income tax and benefit return, not tax return summaries or informations),
* all notices of assessment and reassessment received for the last three tax years,
* the party's most recent paystub, showing their earnings to date, or if the party isn't working, then their most recent WCB statement, social assistance statement, or EI statement, and
* business records like financial statements and corporate income tax returns, if the party has a company.
The form you must use is Form 4, set out in the [http://canlii.ca/t/85pb Provincial Court (Family) Rules].  The Financial Statement should be filed at the same time as the application or the reply.  You will need to file the original (which the registry will keep for its file) and 3 copies (including all of the attachments), and then provide one copy to the other party. 
Financial Statements are very important in family law proceedings. The portions about income are critical for determining child support and spousal support, and the expenses portion must be carefully completed.  Since Financial Statements are sworn statements, someone making a Financial Statement can find their credibility being challenged if the numbers don't make sense, if they are overblown or understated, if they omit critical information, or if they are outright fabrications.


==Resources and links==
==Resources and links==
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* ''[http://canlii.ca/t/849w Provincial Court Act]''
* ''[http://canlii.ca/t/849w Provincial Court Act]''
* [http://canlii.ca/t/85pb Provincial Court Family Rules]
* [http://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules]
* ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84d8 Supreme Court Act]''
* ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84d8 Supreme Court Act]''
* [http://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]
* [http://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]
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* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1499 Justice Education Society: The Discovery Process in Supreme Court]
* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1499 Justice Education Society: The Discovery Process in Supreme Court]
* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/2268 Justice Education Society's website for BC Supreme Court]
* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/2268 Justice Education Society's website for BC Supreme Court]
* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/2636 BC Ministry of Attorney General: Parenting After Separation Handbook]
* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4829 Parenting After Separation Handbook] from Justice Education Society
* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4395 Online Parenting After Separation Course] from Justice Education Society






{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Shannon Aldinger]] and [[Julie Brown]], June 18, 2019}}
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[JP Boyd]], April 19, 2020}}


{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}}
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}}
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