Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Family Law"

There are two courts that deal with family law issues, Family Court, a division of the Provincial Court, and the Supreme Court. Family Court doesn’t charge court fees and its rules are simplified and easy to understand. The rules of the Supreme Court can be very complicated and the court charges fees to file certain documents and schedule certain hearings. However, the Supreme Court can deal with many family law issues that Family Court can’t:

 

*'''Family Court''': Family Court can deal with issues about guardianship, child care, child support and spousal support. Family Court can only deal with issues under the ''Family Law Act''.

 

*'''Supreme Court''': The Supreme Court can deal with all of these issues as well as divorce and the division of property and debt between married spouses and unmarried spouses who have lived together for at least two years. The Supreme Court can deal with issues under both the ''Divorce Act'' and the ''Family Law Act''.

Please review the following definitions of some common words ad phrases before moving to the other scripts on family law.

 

*'''Child''': Any person under the age of 19, the age of majority in British Columbia. May include an adult child for the purposes of child support. The ''Divorce Act'' uses the term “child of the marriage.”

*'''Child Support''': Money paid by one parent to the other for the financial support of their child.

*'''Child Support Guidelines''': A federal regulation, in force throughout Canada except Quebec, that talks about how child support is calculated.

*'''Collaborative Settlement Processes''': A kind of negotiation in which the parties and their lawyers sign an agreement to do everything they can to resolve family law issues without going to court, often with the assistance of counsellors, child psychologists and financial experts.

*'''Consent Order''': An order that the parties to a court case agree the court should make.

*'''Contact with a Child''': The time a person who is not a guardian has with a child, usually fixed by a schedule. Contact is a term used in the provincial ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Court Case''': A court proceeding between two or more people. Also called an “action” or a “lawsuit”.

*'''Custody''': A parent’s right to have the child live in his or her home and to make decisions about the care of the child. Custody is a term used in the ''Divorce Act''.

*'''Divorce''': The legal end of a marriage by a court order.

*'''''Divorce Act''''': A federal law that talks about divorce, custody of and access, child support and spousal support.

*'''Excluded Property''': Property owned by a spouse before the spouses began to live together or married, plus certain kinds of property received afterwards like gifts and inheritances, that is excluded from family property and normally remains the property of the owning spouse. Excluded property is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Family Debt''': Debt incurred by either or both spouses during their relationship, normally shared between both spouses. Family debt is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Family Property''': Property owned by one or both either or both spouses at the end of a relationship, normally shared between both spouses. Family property is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Family Court''': A division of the Provincial Court of British Columbia which deals with family law issues under the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Family Justice Counsellor''': A Family Court staff member trained in mediation and available to help with issues about the care and control of the child, child support and spousal support.

*'''''Family Law Act''''': A provincial law that talks about guardianship, parenting arrangements, contact with a child, child support, spousal support and the division of property and debt.  

*'''Guardianship''': The right to make parenting decisions for a child and the right to get information from and give instructions to the important people involved in a child’s life, such as teachers, doctors, counsellors and coaches. Guardianship is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Hearing''': A formal meeting with a judge for a conference, to argue an application or for a trial.

*'''Interim Application''': An application for an interim order.

*'''Interim Order''': An order made after a court case has begun but before it has ended by a trial or a settlement. Interim orders are temporary and last until they are changed by another interim order or until trial or settlement.

*'''Litigation''': A process for resolving a dispute through the court system, which starts with service of the court forms stating the court case and describing the legal claims and concludes with the abandonment of the court by the person who started it, a settlement or a trial.

*'''Married Spouse''': Someone who has been legally married to someone else.

*'''Mediation''': A voluntary, formal bargaining process in which the parties try to resolve a family law dispute with the assistance of a neutral mediator.

*'''Negotiation''': A voluntary, informal process in which the parties try to resolve a family law dispute by bargaining with each other.

*'''Order''': The mandatory direction of a judge.

*'''Parent''': Someone who is the natural parent of a child, the adopted parent of a child, a parent by assisted reproduction, or, in certain circumstances, a donor of eggs or sperm and a surrogate mother.

*'''Parental Responsibilities''': Decisions about the upbringing and care of a child made by the child’s guardians. Parental responsibilities is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Parenting Arrangements''': The arrangements made in an order or agreement for parental responsibilities and parenting time. Parenting arrangements is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Parenting Time''': A guardian’s time with a child, usually fixed by a schedule. Parenting time is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Payor''': Someone who is obliged to pay child support or spousal support to someone else, the “recipient,” as a result of a court order or an agreement.

*'''Property''': Anything that has value, such as a house, a bank account, a company, the contents of the family home and any other asset.

*'''Protection Order''': An order restricting a person's behaviour for the protection of someone else. Protection order is a term used in the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Separation''': The breakdown of a romantic relationship. Separation usually means that a couple have moved out and are living apart from each other, but it is possible to be separated while continuing to live under the same roof.

*'''Separation Agreement''': A written agreement recording a settlement of some or all of the issues in a family law dispute.

*'''Settlement''': The resolution of a legal dispute on terms agreed to by the parties. May be recorded in a written agreement or in a consent order.

*'''Spousal Support''': Money paid by one spouse to the other, the "recipient", to help pay for that spouse’s living expenses.

*'''Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines''': An academic paper which describes mathematical formulas that can be used to calculate the amount of spousal support payable, when a spouse is entitled to receive it, and the length of time it should be paid for.

*'''Spouse''': A married spouse, under the ''Divorce Act'' the ''Family Law Act'', or an unmarried spouse, under the ''Family Law Act''.

*'''Stepparent''': Someone who is the spouse of a parent.

*'''Supreme Court''': British Columbia’s superior court which deals with family law issues under the common law, the ''Family Relations Act'' and the ''Divorce Act''.  

*'''Recipient''': Someone who is entitled to receive child support or spousal support from someone else, the “payor,” as a result of a court order or written agreement.

*'''Trial''': The resolution of a court case by presenting evidence and argument to a judge.

*'''Unmarried Spouse''': A person who has lived with someone else in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years. For the purpose of claims for spousal support, includes people who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together.

==More information:==

*See other Dial-A-Law scripts in this family series for more detail.

*See also the wikibook ''[http://wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca/index.php/JP_Boyd_on_Family_Law JP Boyd on Family Law]'', from Courthouse Libraries BC, which provides comprehensive information about family law, including links to the rules of court and court forms.

*Check the ''Family Law Act'' available at [http://www.bclaws.ca www.bclaws.ca].

*Also check the ''Divorce Act'' at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

[updated February 2017]

'''The above was last reviewed for accuracy by Janette Kovacs.'''