Overlapping Legal Issues and Family Law

Overlapping legal issues

Parenting arrangements, support payments, and the division of property are the everyday issues that crop up when a relationship breaks down. A whole host of other legal issues fall under the family law umbrella, however. And it's a big umbrella. For example, many financial, insurance, and tax planning issues arise when new relationships are formed or existing ones end. The ripples of family law unrest are drivers in business and shareholders agreements. Even the textbooks on animal law consider how pets are dealt with when spouses split up. And on it goes, deep into the legal debates and constitutional questions surrounding religious freedom and family law, which illustrate the historical connection between religion, families as a concept, and civil society. Most of this rich variety and overlap is not covered by this resource.

This chapter takes a look at a selection of relatively common legal questions that are also family law problems. It talks about issues affecting:

• your legal rights relating to your name, and when you can change your name (or change it back),
• the overlap between wills and estates law and family law, and
• what happens when laws from one place conflict with those of another, such as when people and property are located in different legal jurisdictions.

Again, this is not a comprehensive list of all the overlapping issues someone with a family law problem might encounter.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Nate Russell, August 20, 2017.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Something which can be owned. See "chattels" and "real property."

Normally referred to as the "Supreme Court of British Columbia," this court hears most of the trials in this province. The Supreme Court is a court of inherent jurisdiction and has no limits on the sorts of claims it can hear or on the sorts of orders it can make. Decisions of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court; decisions of the Supreme Court are appealed to the Court of Appeal. See "Court of Appeal," "jurisdiction," "Provincial Court" and "Supreme Court of Canada."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."