Difference between revisions of "Recent Changes to Family Law in British Columbia"

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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC}}
{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC}}


The ''[http://canlii.ca/t/53z6j Divorce Act]'' has been around since 1985. It hadn't changed much over the last 35 years or so, except when the [http://canlii.ca/t/80mh Child Support Guidelines] were introduced in 1997 as a regulation to the Act. On 1 March 2021 it changed a lot.
Family law has changed a lot over the past 15 years or so, especially if you live in British Columbia. In 2010, we had new Supreme Court rules just for family law cases. In 2013, the ''Family Law Act'' replaced the ''Family Relations Act'' and brought in new ways of thinking about parenting after separation, a new test that applies when someone wants to move away after separation, a new scheme for dividing property between spouses, new provisions about parenting coordination, and new tools for judges to manage court processes. In 2019, the Provincial Court established a pilot project in the Victoria courthouse aimed at the early resolution of family law disputes, complete with a whole new set of court rules just for the pilot project. In 2020, the ''Family Law Act'' was changed to also address the arbitration of family law disputes, in terms very different from those of the old ''Arbitration Act'', and the Victoria pilot project was expanded to include the Surrey courthouse. 2020 was also the year that COVID-19 was declared to be a global pandemic and resulting in even more changes to day-to-day court processes.


On 18 June 2019, Parliament passed [https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&billId=9868788 Bill C-78], "An Act to amend the Divorce Act, the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act." The changes to the ''Divorce Act'', and to the other laws listed in that very long title, came into effect on 1 March 2021. This page provides an overview of some of the more important amendments to the ''Divorce Act.''
In 2021, sweeping changes to the federal ''Divorce Act'' came into effect that changed how we talk about parenting after separation and included a new test for figuring out children's best interests and a new test for when someone wants to move away. Thankfully, for people already used to the ''Family Law Act'', the changes to the ''Divorce Act'' felt very familiar, as if the federal government had simply copied huge swathes from our legislation. However, the changes to the ''Divorce Act'' also resulted in changes to the Child Support Guidelines, changes to the forms used by the Supreme Court and the introduction of brand new forms used when someone wants to move away or objects to someone moving away.
 
Frankly, the pace of change has been a bit dizzying, especially for those of us who prepare public and professional education materials on family law.


==Introduction==
==Introduction==

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