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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = agreements}}{{JPBOFL Editor Badge | {{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = agreements}}{{JPBOFL Editor Badge | ||
|CoAuthor = [[Beatrice McCutcheon]] | |||
|ChapterEditors = [[Beatrice McCutcheon]] and [[Gagan Mann]] | |ChapterEditors = [[Beatrice McCutcheon]] and [[Gagan Mann]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
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People who sign a family law agreement are signing a ''contract''. A contract is an agreement between two or more people that creates an obligation to do or to not do something. Other kinds of contracts include the rental agreement a tenant has with a landlord, the lease agreement you might have with a car company, or the purchase agreement you might have with the people from whom you've bought a house. Contracts can be enforced by the courts when someone doesn't do what the contract requires of them; in fact, that's the whole point of having a contract. You want a document that describes your legal obligations to each other and you want to have a way of making the other party do what they're supposed to do. | People who sign a family law agreement are signing a ''contract''. A contract is an agreement between two or more people that creates an obligation to do or to not do something. Other kinds of contracts include the rental agreement a tenant has with a landlord, the lease agreement you might have with a car company, or the purchase agreement you might have with the people from whom you've bought a house. Contracts can be enforced by the courts when someone doesn't do what the contract requires of them; in fact, that's the whole point of having a contract. You want a document that describes your legal obligations to each other and you want to have a way of making the other party do what they're supposed to do. | ||
This section discusses how family law agreements can be enforced by the courts and by the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/helpmap/service/1082 Family Maintenance | This section discusses how family law agreements can be enforced by the courts and by the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/helpmap/service/1082 BC Family Maintenance Agency] (BCFMA), an agency of the provincial government that can help with the enforcement of agreements for the payment of child support and spousal support. The BCFMA used to be called FMEP, and may still be called that since it operated for decades as the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program. | ||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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====Orders about child support and spousal support==== | ====Orders about child support and spousal support==== | ||
Under sections 148 and 163 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', an agreement about child support or spousal support that has been filed in court can also be enforced under the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' and the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84h5 Court Order Enforcement Act]''. Filing an agreement with the Family Maintenance | Under sections 148 and 163 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', an agreement about child support or spousal support that has been filed in court can also be enforced under the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' and the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84h5 Court Order Enforcement Act]''. Filing an agreement with the Family Maintenance Agency can be very helpful, as the program provides its services for free and can take some steps, like seizing passports and driver's licences, that lawyers can't. | ||
Agreements about child support or spousal support made outside of British Columbia can be filed in court here under the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act]'', and then be enforced under the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act''. | Agreements about child support or spousal support made outside of British Columbia can be filed in court here under the ''[http://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act]'', and then be enforced under the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act''. | ||
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====Orders about property==== | ====Orders about property==== | ||
Under section 99 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', a party to a family law agreement about property can file a Notice of Agreement in the Land Title Office that will be registered as a charge on the title of a property under the ''[ | Under section 99 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]'', a party to a family law agreement about property can file a Notice of Agreement in the Land Title Office that will be registered as a charge on the title of a property under the ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8456 Land Title Act].'' This will stop the property from being sold or mortgaged until the Notice of Agreement is cancelled. | ||
Not all homes are houses attached to a piece of land. Under section 100 of the act, a party to a family law agreement about a ''manufactured home'' (a structure like a trailer home that is designed to be towed or carried from one place to another) can file a Financing Statement in the [ | Not all homes are houses attached to a piece of land. Under section 100 of the act, a party to a family law agreement about a ''manufactured home'' (a structure like a trailer home that is designed to be towed or carried from one place to another) can file a Financing Statement in the [https://bit.ly/3QNOw1X Personal Property Registry] that will be registered against the manufactured home under the ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8495 Personal Property Security Act]''. This will stop the manufactured home from being sold until the Financing Statement is cancelled. | ||
==Agreements about the care of children== | ==Agreements about the care of children== | ||
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When a payor falls behind in their support payments as required by an agreement, or stops making them altogether, they are in ''arrears'' of support. The good news is that terms about the payment of child support and spousal support are often the easiest parts of an agreement to enforce. | When a payor falls behind in their support payments as required by an agreement, or stops making them altogether, they are in ''arrears'' of support. The good news is that terms about the payment of child support and spousal support are often the easiest parts of an agreement to enforce. | ||
Once an agreement about support is filed in court, the agreement can be enforced using the general and extraordinary enforcement powers under the ''[[Family Law Act]]''. Under section 148 of the act, filed agreements about child support can also be enforced by the | Once an agreement about support is filed in court, the agreement can be enforced using the general and extraordinary enforcement powers under the ''[[Family Law Act]]''. Under section 148 of the act, filed agreements about child support can also be enforced by the [https://www.bcfma.ca/ BC Family Maintenance Agency]. The agency can enforce agreements about spousal support under section 163. | ||
The Family Maintenance | The Family Maintenance Agency has a free service that can be very effective in encouraging payors to meet their obligations and monitoring their ongoing payments. Their program has a number of tools to collect arrears of support, including a number of tools that aren't available to lawyers who are trying to collect arrears, including seizing payors' passports and driver's licences. | ||
==Agreements about property and debt== | ==Agreements about property and debt== | ||
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* ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8q3k Family Law Act]'' | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8q3k Family Law Act]'' | ||
* ''[https://canlii.ca/t/551f9 Divorce Act]'' | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/551f9 Divorce Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/84l3 Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/840m Family Maintenance Enforcement Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/84h5 Court Order Enforcement Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8456 Land Title Act]'' | ||
* ''[ | * ''[https://canlii.ca/t/8495 Personal Property Security Act]'' | ||
===Links=== | ===Links=== | ||
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* [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/index.html Enforcing Support] website from the Department of Justice | * [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/index.html Enforcing Support] website from the Department of Justice | ||
* [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/enforce-execut.html Provincial and Territorial Information on Interjurisdictional and International Support Order Enforcement] website from the Department of Justice | * [http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/enforce-execution/enforce-execut.html Provincial and Territorial Information on Interjurisdictional and International Support Order Enforcement] website from the Department of Justice | ||
* [ | * [https://www.bcfma.ca/ BC Family Maintenance Agency website] | ||
* [https://clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1618 Child & spousal support] from Legal Aid BC | * [https://clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1618 Child & spousal support] from Legal Aid BC | ||
**See "Family Maintenance | **See "Family Maintenance Agency" | ||
* [ | * [https://bit.ly/3QNOw1X Personal Property Registry website] | ||
* [https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/bc-legal-system/court-orders/enforce-order-or-agreement-made-bc Enforce an order or agreement made in BC] from Legal Aid BC | * [https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/bc-legal-system/court-orders/enforce-order-or-agreement-made-bc Enforce an order or agreement made in BC] from Legal Aid BC | ||
* [https://dialalaw.peopleslawschool.ca/child-support/ Child Support] from Dial-a-Law by the People's Law School | * [https://dialalaw.peopleslawschool.ca/child-support/ Child Support] from Dial-a-Law by the People's Law School | ||
* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4667 Court orders & hearings] from Legal Aid BC | * [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4667 Court orders & hearings] from Legal Aid BC | ||
* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4341 Income Disclosure for Child Support Purposes] from Canada Department of Justice | * [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4341 Income Disclosure for Child Support Purposes] from Canada Department of Justice | ||
* [https://www. | * [https://www.isoforms.bc.ca/selecting-forms/ Interjurisdictional Support Orders: FormSelect] from BC Ministry of Attorney General | ||
===Resources=== | ===Resources=== | ||
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* [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1883 "Interjurisdictional Support Orders: Forms & Guides"] from BC Ministry of Attorney General | * [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1883 "Interjurisdictional Support Orders: Forms & Guides"] from BC Ministry of Attorney General | ||
{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[ | {{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Beatrice McCutcheon]], 22 November 2023}} | ||
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | ||