Family Law (Covid-19)

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. This page was last updated by Clicklaw team on September 2nd, 2020 - 03:30 PM PDT. As of December 14, 2020, we are no longer updating this page. Please use Clicklaw to find Covid-19 information related to your legal questions.

This page provides links to online resources dealing with the ways Covid-19 public health directives are affecting the lives of British Columbians.

This list is a starting point and is not meant to be exhaustive. It is not intended to give legal advice on your particular legal problem.

Find information on the filing of court documents and applications during the recovery of court operations here: BC Courts: Court Filings & Procedures

Common Legal Questions

Legal Aid BC: Family Law in BC's COVID-19 and the Legal System

• General information on Family Law Matters affected by Coronavirus including how to contact Parent Legal Centres, Family Duty Council and Justice Access Centres.

Legal Aid BC: Family Law in BC's COVID-19 and the Law: Your Questions Answered

• Q&A on issues affected by COVID-19 including parenting, children, abuse and family violence, and the courts.

MyLawBC: Getting help without leaving the house series: Online access to justice

• Online resources including mediation tools, family law resolution tool and dialogue tool.

Justice Education Society, Legal Help BC: Q&A on Family Law

• A Q&A style article for questions concerning how COVID-10 will effect issues around family law

Separation and Divorce

Government of British Columbia: Online Divorce App

• This online app helps people complete the documents required for joint-filing divorces in the Supreme Court of BC in cases with or without children. Joint-filed divorces are where both applicants agree on all family law issues relevant to their situation, such as spousal support & the division of property.

The registry is providing some in-person service. There are now four options for filing with a Supreme Court Registry:

• E-filing
• Fax Filing
• Mailing

For more information in regards to filing please view the LSS Family Supreme Court during Covid 19 guide :You can file documents for family matters

Conflict Resolution

Mediation BC: Quarantine Conflict Resolution Service

• Quarantine conflict resolution service from Mediate BC is for conflicts arising from quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.

MyLawBC: Remote Child Support Mediation

• A mediation service that helps change a child support agreement or order if a parents situation has been directly affected by COVID-19

MyLawBC: Family Resolution Centre

• The Family Resolution Centre helps couples that are separating or divorcing work with a free professional mediator to make a parenting plan

Family Justice Services Division Family Justice Services Division Response to COVID-19

• Family Justice Services Division is providing a range of free services by telephone and video conferencing including dispute resolution services over the phone.

Children

Legal Aid BC: Family Law in BC: Q&A on Parenting

• Answers your questions on parenting, and support payments.

Rise Women's Legal Centre: Guidelines for parenting during COVID-19

• Information and resources for parenting during COVID-19 that also includes contact details for registry and locations that are hearing urgent applications

National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) Template Social Distancing Clauses for Parents

• Temporary parenting clauses to help parents with existing shared court orders. This resource should be read as legal information and is not legal advice.

Anxiety Canada: Talking to your children about COVID-19

• Tips for talking to your children about COVID-19

Government of British Columbia Family Maintenance Program: FAQ's from Family Maintenance Program

• Frequently asked question from the BC Family Maintenance Enforcement Program about COVID-19

Government of British Columbia: Family Justice COVID-19 Legal Questions

• Provides important information about parenting arrangements, child and spousal support, and obtaining protection orders.

Government of British Columbia: Family Justice Services Division Response to COVID-19

• Provides information about Family Justice Centre and Justice Access Centre closures, and what services are available by phone and videoconference.

Government of British Columbia: Ministry of Children & Family Development Response to COVID-19

• Information from The Ministry of Children and Family Development on how they are responding to COVID-19 to ensure children, youth, families, caregivers, service providers, partners and staff have the information they need.

Abuse and Family Violence

Rise Women's Legal Centre: COVID-19

• Rise Women's Legal Centre physical location is currently closed but they are still available through phone and email.

Battered Women's Support Services: Legal Advocacy and COVID-19

• Support and legal advocacy services at the Battered Women's Support Services including information on Co-Parenting, staying safe, and contact information for urgent hearings

Domestic Violence Hotline:Staying safe during COVID-19

• Information and resource on staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic

Filing of Court Documents and Urgent Applications

Find current information on filing of court documents and urgent applications during the recovery of court operations here: Court Filing & Procedures

Family Law

John-Paul Boyd, QC: FMFL06 - COVID-19 and Family Law, Part 1 and FMFL11 - COVID-19 and Family Law, Part 2 (YouTube videos)

• The author of JP Boyd on Family Law talks about the most common questions people have about the coronavirus and family law problems.

John-Paul Boyd, QC: "Family law cases addressing the COVID-19 pandemic"

• A digest of the Canadian family law cases dealing with the pandemic as of April 21st, 2020 from the author of JP Boyd on Family Law.

Covid-19 Resources for British Columbians © Clicklaw and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

A term under the Family Law Act that describes the visitation rights of a person who is not a guardian with a child. Contact may be provided by court order or by an agreement among the child's guardians with parental responsibility for making decisions about contact. See "guardian" and "parental responsibilities."

A dispute resolution process in which a specially-trained neutral person facilitates discussions between the parties to a legal dispute and helps them reach a compromise settling the dispute. See "alternative dispute resolution" and "family law mediator."

A payment made by one spouse to the other spouse to help with the recipient's day-to-day living expenses or to compensate the recipient for the financial choices the spouses made during the relationship.

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

(1) A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched, and reviewed, or (2) a courthouse.

In law, to formally deliver documents to a person in a manner that complies with the rules of court. Service may be ordinary (mailed or delivered to a litigant's address for service), personal (hand-delivered to a person), or substituted (performed in a way other than the rules normally require). See "address for delivery," "ordinary service," "personal service" and "substituted service."

Money paid by one parent or guardian to another parent or guardian as a contribution toward the cost of a child's living and other expenses.

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

Processes used to resolve legal disputes, including negotiation, collaborative settlement processes, mediation, arbitration and litigation.

In law, any proceeding before a judicial official to determine questions of law and questions of fact, including the hearing of an application and the hearing of a trial. See "decision."

A term under the Family Law Act which describes the arrangements for parental responsibilities and parenting time among guardians, made in an order or agreement. "Parenting arrangements" does not include contact. See "contact," "guardian," "parental responsibilities" and "parenting time."

In law, in British Columbia a person under the age of 19.

The abbreviation of "Queen's Counsel." A QC is an honour often, but not invariably, granted to lawyers of particular excellence, and may also be granted for other reasons such as service to the legal community, the public or a political party.