View source for Starting and Responding to Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings

{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = bcsc}}{{JPBOFL Editor Badge
|ChapterEditors = [[Iris Turaglio]]
}}
==Introduction==
It's always advisable to review other methods for resolving family law problems before deciding to go to court. Take a look through the chapter on [[Resolving Family Law Problems out of Court]] to explore alternative dispute resolution processes such as ''collaborative negotiation'', ''mediation'', and ''arbitration''.

This section deals with the specific processes of starting a BC Supreme Court action, or responding to a BC Supreme Court action if you have been served with documents filed in the BC Supreme Court. It builds on the first section of this chapter on [[Family Law Litigation in Supreme Court]]. You may want to review that earlier section because it provides an overview of what the BC Supreme court process looks like from start to finish, and it sets out some definitions of helpful terms and some of the Supreme Court Family Rules that this section refers to.

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.

==The series of steps: starting and responding==
You will see that this section discusses the entire process for both ''starting a claim'' and ''responding to a claim'' all together. Some steps are obviously more relevant to the person starting the claim, and other steps are more relevant to the respondent, but it is helpful for each side to know understand the process as a whole.

* '''Steps 1-5 & 9''' are written from the perspective of the ''claimant''.
* '''Steps 6-8''' are written from the perspective of the ''respondent''.
* '''Steps 10 & 11''' are follow-up steps applicable to both parties.

==Step 1: Claimant completes the correct forms==
As a claimant who's initiating the court action, you need to use the correct court form depending on the types of orders you are asking for.

Rule 3-1 of the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr BC Supreme Court Family Rules]. This rule says which court form you need to file to start your BC Supreme Court family action. In general, these actions are started by completing and filing a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. See Rule 3-1(1). Some exceptions include when:

# You and your spouse want to file jointly, because you already agree about the orders the court should make. An uncontested divorce can proceed this way, for example. Joint applications require you and your spouse file a Form F1 Notice of Joint Family Claim. See Rule 2-2(2).
# You want to apply for an adoption order. Adoptions are started by a Form F73 Petition. See Rule 3-1(2.2)(a).
# You want orders enforcing a written agreement that you and the other party already signed. This is done by completing a Form F17.1 Requisition, and attaching the written agreement. This is discussed in Rule 2-1(2) and Rule 3-1(4.1).

Please note, while you can start an action to deal with a written agreement simply by filing a Form F17.1 Requisition, you should consider completing a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim if you want the court to change or to cancel elements of the written agreement itself. An action started by filing a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim will give you an opportunity to tell the court how you want the written agreement to be changed, and it is especially useful if you want the entire written agreement to be cancelled and you are asking for court orders to replace the written agreement.  

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 are 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. 

Here are the typical orders that a party will ask for in a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim:

* Divorce (complete schedule 1) 
* Parenting (complete schedule 2) 
* Child support (complete schedule 2) 
* Spousal support (complete schedule 3)
* Property division (complete schedule 4)
* Debt division (complete schedule 4)
* Cancel or change a written agreement if there is one and you want the court to change it (complete the schedule that relates to the terms in the agreement you want to change: parenting/child support/spousal support/property division/debt division)
* Other property/debt orders, or other orders in general, such as restricting the other party’s use/sale/dissipation of property, or giving you exclusive use of a property such as a family home, etc. (complete schedule 5) 
* Personal protection orders (complete schedule 5)
* Any other order that are connected to the family law dispute, such as name change of a party, other types of claims relating to property under other areas of law, etc. (complete schedule 5)

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. 

===Starting a BC Supreme Court action is a one-time thing===
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 remains live and active. 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.

==Step 4: Claimant waits to receive response==
The respondent has 30 days to file a Form F4 Response to Family Claim after being served with a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. If the respondent doesn't do this, you may be able to get the orders you asked for by ''default judgment'', which is a final order the court makes when the respondent doesn't file a Form F4 Response to Family Claim. 

===Missed deadlines for response===
You should be aware that judges can be fairly lenient towards people who miss filing deadlines. As a claimant, you should not expect to win on a technicality like this. If the respondent files their Form F4 Response to Family Claim late, the court will usually give the respondent an extension of time and overlook the missed due date. If the respondent just ignores you and ignores your claim, however, at some point the court will make the order you're asking for. 

:Note for Respondents: Do not rely on the court's usual leniency as a reason for filing late. The court may decide that your delay is unacceptable and refuse an application to cancel any default judgment that a claimant obtained. And even if the court grants your application to cancel a default judgment, the court will likely tell you to pay the claimant's costs because of your delayed filing. Respondents should follow the guidance in this section if they are served with court papers.

===Respondent asks for more time=== 
If the respondent asks a claimant for more time to file their Form F4 Response to Family Claim, Form F4, the claimant will normally give the Respondent a reasonable extension to file their response. What is reasonable in any given case depends on how urgent you want the court to make orders you ask for in your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. The more urgent, the shorter the extension of time, the less urgent the more time you can give the respondent. As a rule of thumb, in non-urgent cases, two to three week extensions of time are commonly agreed to.

===Respondent agrees with your orders===
A respondent may not reply to your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim if they agree to the orders you are asking for. This often happens when a claimant is merely asking for a divorce, but it can also happen for other orders. In cases like this, the action becomes an "undefended family law case" and you can apply for a default judgment under Rule 10-10 of the Supreme Court Family Rules. For more information about the do-it-yourself divorce process (which can include a request for more than just divorce orders), see the [[Divorce and the Law on Getting Divorced]] section in the chapter on [[Separating and Getting Divorced]]. 

==Step 5: Respondent choice to reply==
If you have been served with a Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, a BC Supreme Court family law action has been started against you and you are the respondent in this case.

===Options for the respondent===
As the respondent you have two choices:
# If you agree with all the court orders the claimant requests in their Form F3 Notice of Family Claim you can do nothing.
# If you disagree with any of the orders, you can respond to the proceeding and defend yourself, as well as ask for court orders you do want. 

If you ''completely agree'' with the orders the other party is asking for, doing nothing is the cheapest and quickest way to handle the matter. On the other hand, if you agree to only some of the orders, or if you completely disagree, you must respond to the claim. Doing nothing means you risk default judgement, and the claimant can try to obtain final orders against you without you even knowing of their application to do so. 

===Deadlines for the respondent===
If you intend to respond, you must do so within 30 days from the date you received the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. If you need more time to respond, send an email to the claimant's email address for service asking for more time, and tell them how much more time you need to file your responding material. 

==Step 6: Respondent completes the correct forms==
If you disagree with any of the orders the claimant is asking for, you must prepare a form called a Form F4 Response to Family Claim. There is a good chance you want the court to make a different set of orders, in which case you need to complete a Form F5 Counterclaim. 

Both of these forms need to be filed in court and served on the claimant within 30 days from the date you received the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim.  

Links to these forms can be found in this resource under [[Supreme Court Forms (Family Law)]]. For a quick introduction to how to reply to a proceeding, see [[How Do I Respond to a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]] under the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource.

===Preparing a Form F4 Response to Family Claim===
The Form F3 Notice of Family Claim that you were served with describes the claimant's version of the history of your relationship, and it provides an outline of the orders the claimant would like the court to make. The Form F4 Response to Family Claim lets you: 
* Consent to some or all of the orders the claimant is asking for.
* Object to some or all of the orders the claimant is asking for.
* Indicate which of the facts set out in the claimant's Form F3 Notice of Family Claim are inaccurate.

===Form F5 Counterclaim===
If there are any orders you want to ask for, you must prepare a Form F5 Counterclaim. This lets you list the orders you would like the court to make. 

It is very important to prepare your counterclaim if you want the court to make an order on different terms, or about different issues, than the orders described in the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim. Think of it like this:
* Your Form F4 Response to Family Claim is your defense to the claims made by the claimant, but it doesn't ask for anything by itself. The response just says what orders you do and don't agree with. 
* Unless you file a Form F5 Counterclaim, the only person with a claim is the claimant. If you are successful in your defense, there may be no claims left for the court to make an order about. 

Rule 4-4 of the Supreme Court Family Rules talks about counterclaims. The Form F5 Counterclaim has two introductory pages where you provide general information about you and the other party, your relationship, any orders or agreement already in place, and your list of orders that you want the court to make. You will also need to complete the schedules that relate to the orders you are asking for. These schedules are similar to the schedules in the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim that were discussed in step one. Here are the typical schedules according to the orders that a respondent might ask for in a Form F5 Counterclaim:

1.	Divorce (complete schedule 1)
2.	The care of children and child support (complete schedule 2)
3.	Spousal support (complete schedule 3)
4.	The division of property and debt (complete schedule 4)
5.	Orders about other subjects, like orders for the protection of people or orders for the change of a person's name (complete schedule 5)

When drafting your Form F5 Counterclaim make sure to include all the orders you want, even if the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim already includes a request for such orders. Why? You do this so that even if the claimant never applies for final orders, you can ask the court to make final orders. Remember that the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim only contains the claimant's "wish list" of orders. Either the claimant or you will need to take additional steps in the BC Supreme Court action to get final order. 

You can ask for orders even if they are the same as what the claimant asked. For example, even if the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim requests a divorce order, you can also ask for a divorce order in your Form F5 Counterclaim. This way, even if the claimant never applies for a final divorce order, you can apply under your own initiative.  

===Additional forms===
You may need to complete more forms depending on the type of orders you are requesting:

* If you are asking for a '''divorce order''': 
** If the claimant's Form F3 Notice of Family Claim already asked for a divorce order, and if Schedule 1 of that form states that the claimant already filed an original marriage certificate, you do not need to complete or provide any additional documents. You only need to ask for a divorce order in your Form F5 Counterclaim, assuming you do want a divorce order.
** If the claimant's Form F3 Notice of Family Claim asked for a divorce order, but Schedule 1 of that form say the claimant is not filing the original marriage certificate because they do not have it (perhaps the marriage happened outside of Canada), then you may have to get your hands on the original marriage certificate and file it with your Form F5 Counterclaim. 
** If the claimant did not ask for a divorce order in their F3 Notice of Family Claim, you need to complete a [[Registration of Divorce Proceedings (Form)|Registration of Divorce Proceeding]] form, and you need to get your hands on your marriage certificate. The Registration of Divorce Proceedings form is an online form. It needs to be completed and printed on the day that you will be filing your Form F5 Counterclaim. 
* If you require a '''Certificate of Pending Litigation''' (CPL): Read step 1, above, for information about CPLs. A respondent with a counterclaim can also 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. If the claimant has filed a CPL in respect to the same property that you want to file your CPL, the claimant’s CPL does not protect your interest in that property. If you want to protect your interest, you must file your own CPL on that property.

===Amending a form===
If you want to change your Form F4 Response to Family Claim, or your Form F5 Counterclaim, you just need to amend these forms. Perhaps you now disagree to something you previously agreed to in your Form F4 Response to Family Claim, or perhaps you want to ask for new orders you did not originally request. Perhaps you want to drop some of the requests for court orders in your counterclaim. See [[How Do I Change Something in My Response to Family Claim or Counterclaim?]] under the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource.

===Stopping your defense or counterclaim===
If you want to stop defending the claimant's Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, or withdraw your Form F5 Counterclaim, you could withdraw or abandon your position. This can happen when you have reached a settlement, for example. To learn how to do this, see [[How Do I Stop Defending a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]] under the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource.

==Step 7: Respondent files the court forms and pays (or waives) the court fees==
===Make copies===
After you have completed all the court forms, print them and sign the ones that require your signature. Make the following copies:
* Make three (or at least two) additional copies of the Form F4 Response to Family Claim: The original is filed with the court, and the court staff will stamp the other copies and give them back to you. Keep one for your records, and save one to be served on the claimant (by way of ''ordinary service'', as opposed to ''personal service''). The third copy can be used if you are preparing a Form F16 Affidavit of Ordinary Service, which is discussed below in step 8.
* If you are requesting an order for divorce (and if the other side has not), make a copy of the Registration of Divorce Proceeding online form: The original is filed with the court, and one copy is for your records.
* If you are filing a CPL: The original is for the court, one copy is for your records, and the other is to be filed against the claimant's interest in the title of the property.

===File the documents in court===
Your court documents need to be filed in the same BC Supreme Court registry that the claimant's Form F3 Notice of Family Claim was filed in. Check the first page, top right-hand side of claimant's form for the registry location.

Go to the family counter of the registry, and give the court staff your court forms. The court staff will ask you to pay the filing fees, they will keep the original of the court forms, and they will return to you the copies with the court's stamp. 

As mentioned in step 2, above, court fees are contained in a schedule in Appendix C of the [https://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]. It currently costs $25 to file a Form F4 Response to Family Claim, and $200 to file a counterclaim. The registry charges $40 for filing a CPL (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 have those fees waived. This used to be called applying for ''indigent status'', but this term is no longer used. See [[How Do I Waive Filing Fees in the Supreme Court?]] under the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource.

==Step 8: Respondent serves court documents==
You have to serve a stamped copy of your Form F4 Response to Family Claim and any Form F5 Counterclaim on the claimant. While the claimant will usually have served their forms on you using a process called ''personal service'', because the claimant's forms already contain their address for delivery, you only need to serve your forms by ''ordinary service''. Ordinary service means sending a copy of the filed documents to the address that the claimant provided. 
:Note: If you are adding a third party (someone other than the claimant) and naming them as a party in your Form F5 Counterclaim, you need to follow the same steps for ''personal service'' that the claimant took when you end up serving that third party (in which case re-read step 3).

Do this within 30 days from the date that you received the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, Form F3, unless you got the claimant to agree in writing that you could have more time.

It is good practice, but not necessary, to complete and file a Form F16 Affidavit of Ordinary Service. For more rules on service read Rule 6-6 (1)(e). 

You do not need to serve the claimant with the Registration of Divorce Proceedings, or the CPL.

==Step 9: Claimant replies to counterclaim==
If you are the claimant, you have two options once you receive the respondent's Form F5 Counterclaim:
# If you agree with the order that the respondent is requesting, you can choose to do nothing.
# If you you do not agree, you can file a Form F6 Response to Counterclaim.

Of course, doing nothing is the cheapest and fastest option, but it is not suitable unless you actually agree to all of the respondent's requested orders in their Form F5 Counterclaim. If you disagree with any of the orders the respondent is asking for, you must file a Form F6 Response to Counterclaim within 30 days of being served. Failing to do so means you face the risk of the respondent applying for and obtaining orders by ''default''.

If you are going to file a Form F6 Response to Counterclaim, you will need to:
* fill out the form,
* sign the form where indicated,
* make three copies of the signed form,
* take the original and the copies to the same court registry that you filed your Form F3 Notice of Family Claim,
* pay the court fees (or show the registry staff the order waiving fees if you got such an order), and
* deliver a stamped copy of your Form F6 Response to Counterclaim by ordinary service to the respondent's address for service (use the address for service provided in the respondent's Form F5 Counterclaim.

==Step 10: Make sure you complete additional forms==
Pay careful attention, and double check both the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim and any Form F5 Counterclaim to see if either the claimant or respondent has requested orders for:
* child support, 
* spousal support, or 
* the division of family property, family debt, or pensions.

The claimant, respondent, or both may be required to file financial statements (Form F8 Financial Statement). If you are required to file a financial statement as a result of the orders requested in Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, or Form F5 Counterclaim, you must do so within 30 days of that document (the one that requests such order) being served. 

In addition, both the claimant and the respondent will need to prepare their own Form F20 List of Documents, within 30 days of the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim being served. 

In their Form F20 List of Documents, each party will need to list any and all documents they have control or access to which are relevant to the orders that are requested in either the Form F3 Notice of Family Claim, or the Form F5 Counterclaim.

See [[Disclosure and Discovery in Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings]] for more information on the Form F8 Financial Statement and the Form 20 List of Documents.

If you have made a claim under the Divorce Act about child support, spousal support, or parenting, you are also required by Rule 15-2.2 of the Supreme Court Family Rules to file a Form 102 Statement of Information for Corollary Relief Proceedings. This form needs to be filed before a child support order, spousal support order, or parenting order is made. 

==Step 11: Prepare for next steps==
If the respondent has chosen to file a Form F4 Response to Family Claim, or the claimant has chosen to file a Form F6 Response to Counterclaim, this shows they are opposing some or all of the orders the other party is asking for. 

This doesn't necessarily mean the parties will wind up in a trial, but it does mean that, at least for now, the respondent and claimant disagree with at least some of the orders the other part is asking for.

Read the heading on "Introduction to rules promoting settlement", which is in the first section of this chapter on [[Family Law Litigation in Supreme Court]]. It explains the ways you can try to resolve things outside of court. 

One of three things will happen in your court action: 
# you will settle your disagreements out of court, and come up with either a separation agreement or draft a ''consent order'' containing the orders that you both agree the court should make,
# you will be unable to agree, a trial will be set, and the court will make any final orders it finds appropriate, or
# after some initial scuffles, neither you nor the other side will take any further steps in the court proceeding and the court action will languish.

Hopefully, it'll be the first. If no agreement can be reached, the next step after all of the BC Supreme Court forms that start and respond to the litigation have been filed and served, is most commonly a ''Judicial Case Conference'' (JCC). See "Judicial Case Conferences" in this chapter's section on [[Conferences in Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings]].

==Quick answers for common questions==
In the headings above you may have noticed references to other information from the [[Helpful Guides & Common Questions]] part of this resource. These include guides for specific topics, some of which are very much related to litigation in BC Supreme Court, such as:
* [[How Do I Start a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]
* [[How Do I Respond to a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]
* [[How Do I Change Something in My Notice of Family Claim?]]
* [[How Do I Change Something in My Response to Family Claim or Counterclaim?]]
* [[How Do I Stop a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]
* [[How Do I Stop Defending a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?]]
* [[How Do I Waive Filing Fees in the Supreme Court?]]
* [[How Do I Personally Serve Someone with Legal Documents?]]
* [[How Do I Find My Ex?]]
* [[How Do I Substitutionally Serve Someone with Legal Documents?]]

==Resources and links==

===Legislation===

* [http://canlii.ca/t/8mcr Supreme Court Family Rules]
* ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84d8 Supreme Court Act]''
* ''[[Family Law Act]]''
* ''[[Divorce Act]]''

===Resources===
* [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/practice_and_procedure/family_practice_directions.aspx Supreme Court Family Practice Directions]
* [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/practice_and_procedure/administrative_notices.aspx Supreme Court Administrative Notices]
* [https://supremecourtbc.ca/family-law Family Law Guidebooks] for BC Supreme Court, from Justice Education Society
* [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/self-represented_litigants/ BC Supreme Court webpage for self-represented litigants]

===Links===
* [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/ BC Supreme Court website]
* [https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/scheduling/ Supreme Court Trial Scheduling]




{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Iris Turaglio]], 10 December 2024}}

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

{{Creative Commons for JP Boyd}}

[[Category:JP Boyd on Family Law]]