How Do I Stop a Family Law Action in the Supreme Court?

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Only the claimant to a Supreme Court proceeding can stop the court proceeding before the proceeding goes to trial or is settled.

No one can stop a court proceeding for the claimant or force the claimant to stop a proceeding.

While it often happens that a proceeding is abandoned, typically when no one does anything in the action for a long time, that doesn't stop the court proceeding altogether or cancel any orders that have already been made.

To bring everything to a halt, the claimant must file a Notice of Discontinuance in Form F39, and deliver a copy of the filed notice to everyone else named in the proceeding. If the claimant does this too late, after a court proceeding has already been set for trial, the claimant can only stop everything with the consent of the other parties or a court order.

While there is no fee charged to file a Notice of Discontinuance, Rule 11-4(4) says that the respondent may be entitled to claim their court costs of the proceeding up to the date it is discontinued.

The discontinuance of a claim does not itself prevent a claimant from commencing a new proceeding later, including a later proceeding for the same (or substantially the same) claims that were discontinued.


This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Julie Brown, September 21, 2023.


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