I Have a Family Problem and I Want to Resolve It out of Court

There are a number of services available to help people resolve family issues such as child custody, access, guardianship, child and spousal maintenance (support payments), divorce and division of family assets, without having to go to court.

Child custody, access, guardianship, and child and spousal maintenance come within the jurisdiction of both the provincial Family Court and the BC Supreme Court but divorce and division of family assets are only within the jurisdiction of the BC Supreme Court.

For help with challenges in caring for children, see the question "I am having challenges with my children and don’t want the Ministry to remove them".

First steps

1. Decide if the situation you are facing is one that can be safely and fairly resolved without involving lawyers and the courts. If the other party has dominated, harassed or abused you or your children or has denied you the custody or access to children that you are entitled to, it may be tough to resolve your problems fairly without going to court.
2. Speak with a lawyer, advocate or family counsellor for advice on whether your problem is one that can probably be resolved out of court.

The 4 main services for people with low incomes who want to resolve family problems outside of court are Family Justice Counsellors, Family Advice Lawyers, the Family LawLine and Family Mediators.

1. Family Justice Counsellors If you are dealing with an issue such as child custody, access, guardianship, and child and spousal maintenance, you can contact a Family Justice Centre and make an appointment to speak with a Family Justice Counsellor. Family Justice Counsellors can provide information and referrals, provide mediation and conciliation services and assist with writing separation agreements and filing documents in Provincial Family Court. Family Justice Centres in Vancouver, Surrey, Nanaimo and Kelowna have specialists in child support called Child Support Officers. You can ask your Family Justice Counsellor if a Child Support Officer can be involved in your case.(Remember that Family Justice Counsellors cannot assist with divorce or division of family assets). Some Family Justice Centres can refer you to Family Advice Lawyers provided by the Legal Services Society for parents with low incomes.
2. Family LawLINE If you are a person with a low income and a family law problem, you may be eligible for brief free over-the-phone "next step" advice about family law issues such as custody, access, guardianship, child support, spousal support, property division, family agreements, adoption, and court procedures. To see if you can speak with a LawLINE lawyer, contact the Legal Services Provincial Call Centre at 604-408-2172 (Greater Vancouver) or 1-866-577-2525 (no charge elsewhere in BC) between 9:30 am and noon on weekdays.
3. Family Mediators Other than Family Justice Counsellors (see above), most family mediators are professionals in private practice who assist couples in trying to resolve their family issues by agreement. Some family mediators are also family law lawyers. They almost always charge for their services. You can find a list of mediators in your area in the Yellow Pages, the Mediate BC website (mediatebc.com. Click on the “Directory of Family Mediators” link).

Mediate BC provides “Distance Family Mediation Services” to people who live in less populated areas of the province or outside the province, or to couples who live in separate communities. They have a “sliding scale” of fees to help people with lower incomes. See “Where to get help” below for contact information for Mediate BC.

Before talking with a Family Justice Counsellor, lawyer or mediator, complete the form, Preparing for Your Interview in Part 3 of this Guide. Make sure you have the dates of birth of your spouse and children, your date of marriage or cohabitation (if applicable), your date of separation, information about your income and assets and those of your ex and some notes on the issues that concern you.

What happens next?

1. Family Justice Counsellors and Family Mediators A Family Justice Counsellor or Family Mediator will meet with you and discuss your options. They will contact your ex to see if he or she agrees to resolve your issues out of court. If so, the counsellor or mediator will communicate with both of you separately or together to help you reach an agreement. If not, a Family Justice Counsellor may assist you in preparing court documents or refer you to a lawyer or an advocate. Family Mediators may assist in drafting agreements, but are unlikely to assist you with other court documents.

1. Family LawLINE The Family LawLINE can give you advice about how you can proceed with your case and may refer you to other services, but will not represent you in court or mediations. Family LawLINE services are provided through brief phone calls.

If you and your ex have resolved all the other issues between you, and you are only seeking a straightforward divorce, there are a number of publications to help you do this. (See below under “Where to get help”). However, if you and your ex are still discussing how to divide your assets (house, money, vehicles, furniture, etc.) you should definitely speak with a lawyer. Division of family assets is a complicated area of the law.

Where to get help

See the Resource Guide in Part 2 for a list of helpful resources. Your best bets are:

• Mediate BC
• Family Justice Centresto make an appointment with a Family Justice Counsellor to discuss custody, guardianship, access or maintenance.
• Duty Counsel - Family Lawyer Advice
• Family Law in BC, for forms, self-help materials and other legal information about family legal issues.

For Mediate BC:

1. 1.855.660.8406 (Toll free – Canada & US)
2. 604.660.8406 (Vancouver local)
3. 604.660.4177 (Fax)
4. mediation.advisor@mediatebc.com

In family law, an antiquated term used by the old Divorce Act to describe the right to possess a child and make parenting decisions concerning the child's health, welfare and upbringing. Replaced in the new Divorce Act with the term decision-making responsibility." See "access," "decision-making responsibility" and "parenting time."

Under the old Divorce Act, the schedule of a parent's time with their children under an order or agreement, replaced with "parenting time" and "contact" in the new Divorce Act. Access usually referred to the schedule of the parent with the least amount of time with the child. See "contact," "custody" and "parenting time."

In family law, an antiquated term referring to child support and spousal support. See "child support" and "spousal support."

With respect to courts, (1) the authority of the court to hear an action and make orders, (2) the limits of the authority of a particular judicial official, (3) the geographic location of a court, or (4) the territorial limits of a court's authority. With respect to governments, (5) the authority of a government to make legislation as determined by the constitution, or (6) the limits of authority of a particular government agency. See “constitution."

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."

In law, a person named as an applicant, claimant, respondent, or third party in a court proceeding; someone asserting a claim in a court proceeding or against whom a claim has been brought. See "action" and "litigant."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

(1) A lawyer or a person other than a lawyer who helps clients with legal issues, or (2) to argue a position on behalf of someone.

Under the Family Law Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a guardian of a child, including a parent who is not a guardian, has with that child. Under the Divorce Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a married spouse has with a child. 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."

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.

(1) In law, a court proceeding; a lawsuit; an action; a cause of action; a claim. (2) A historic decision of the court; case law. See "action," "case law, " "court proceeding," and "precedent."

In law, (1) a written argument, or (2) a memorandum of law. A brief is usually presented to a judge as a summary of an argument or the law on a particular issue. Curiously, briefs are rarely brief.

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."

In family law, the act or process of taking another person's child as one's own. The child becomes the adopting parent's legal child as if the child were the adopting parent's natural child, while the natural parent loses all rights and obligations with respect to the child. See "natural parent."

Under the Divorce Act, either of two people who are married to one another, whether of the same or opposite genders. Under the Family Law Act, spouse includes married spouses, unmarried parties who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, and, for all purposes of the act other than the division of property or debt, unmarried parties who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together. See "marriage" and "marriage-like relationship."

In family law, the decision of one or both parties to terminate a married or unmarried relationship; the act of one person leaving the family home to live somewhere else with the intention of terminating the relationship. There is no such thing as a "legal separation." In general, one separates by simply moving out, however, it is possible to be separated but still live under the same roof. See "divorce, grounds of."