There are two courts that handle most family law court processes in British Columbia, Canada: Provincial Court (Family) and Supreme Court. Each court has its own rules, its own form, and its own process.
There are two main laws that apply to family law matters in BC. The law, in the sense of this word, means the rules made by the government. This Act is a federal Divorce Act and Family Law Act province. Each law deals with different issues, although they share many of the same issues. For some couples, both laws will apply; for others, only one of these laws will apply, perhaps Family Law .
You do not have to go to court, no matter how bad your problem is. The only time you should go to court is when:
- You need a divorce,
- someone threatens to do something serious, like taking the kids away,
- there is a risk of violence,
- someone threatens to hide property or money, or
- You can not agree on how to fix the problem, no matter how hard you try.
If you do not have to deal with one or more of these issues, you can always try to negotiate how to fix the problem, to find a solution that you both agree on. Couples who need help negotiating sometimes hire someone else to help, someone who is usually a stranger to them, is called a mediator . Mediators help guide the negotiation process and encourage people to see different ways of solving problems.
Lawyers who mediate family law issues are called family law mediators , and have special training in mediation apart from their training as lawyers. Since there are no rules in British Columbia about who can and who can not call themselves mediators, you should look carefully at mediator credentials before you agree to use that person as your mediator.
Video Family law in British Columbia
Common family law issues
Couples who live together and couples who are not, married couples and couples who can not all have family law issues when their relationship ends. In the British Columbia family law affecting same-sex couples in exactly the same way that affects the opposite sex. The types of problems couples have when their relationship ends include deciding how children will be treated, whether support should be paid, and who will keep the property and what debt.
Family law issues concerning children are:
- parenting time or custody , which includes deciding where children will live for most of the time,
- parental responsibility or custody , which includes deciding how parents will make decisions about important matters in the lives of children, on issues such as health care and education, and
- parenting time , contact or access , which is about deciding how much time each parent will have for the children.
Support means money that one person pays someone else to help the person's expenses. Family law issues about support are:
- child support , money paid to help expenditures on children, such as clothing and food, and
- spousal support , the money paid to support the cost of daily living of spouses, such as rent, telephone bills and hydro bills, and sometimes to compensate couples for economic decisions made during relationships.
When a couple has a property, sometimes including when only one person owns the property, they must decide whether and how the property will be shared among them. In family law, the property of married couples and unmarried couples sharing is called family property , generally only property that accumulates during a relationship. Family properties can include things like home, bank accounts, and cars. It could also include RRSP and retirement.
Sometimes couples must also decide who will be responsible for the debt. Generally, only the debt accumulated during a relationship will be split between married couples and unmarried couples.
Married couples must also decide if they want a divorce. Divorce is the final law of a marriage, and only a judge can make you divorce. Most married couples whose relationship has ended up wanting a divorce, but usually a low priority. Unmarried couples, including unmarried couples, do not need a divorce.
As you can see, the various family law issues that couples sometimes rely on what their relationship is like. In family law, there are three types of relationships:
- Unmarried couples. Unmarried couples may consider themselves as girlfriends. They may live together, but not too long. Sometimes unmarried couples who are involved in family law matters will be together for only a very short time - maybe long enough to make a baby.
- Unmarried couples. Unmarried couples are not legally married. Unmarried couples live together in love relationships, and, for most purposes of the Family Law Law, must live together for at least two years or less than two years if the couple has children. together.
- Married couples. Married couples have been legally married, by a marriage commissioner or a religious official licensed for marriage, and their marriage has been registered with the government in which they were married.
Maps Family law in British Columbia
British Columbia Court
There are three levels of courts in British Columbia: the Provincial Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals is the highest court in the province and the Provincial Court is the lowest. Most family law litigation takes place in the Provincial and Supreme Courts.
The Provincial Court branch dealing with family law is called the Provincial Court (the Family). Other branches of the Provincial Court include the Provincial (Youth) and Provincial Courts (Small Claims). When the wiki talks about the Provincial (Family) Court, it will only say "Provincial Court." The Provincial Court can deal with:
- the guardianship of children under Family Law ,
- parental responsibilities, parenting time and contacts under the Family Law Act ,
- child support,
- spousal support, and
- command to protect people.
The Supreme Court can handle all family law matters. On matters concerning guardianship and childcare, child support and spousal support under the Family Law , this court can also deal with:
- divorce,
- custody and access under [1] ,
- share family property and family debt, and
- orders protect property.
This chart shows which court can handle which issues:
To get to court, you have to start the trial and tell the court what you want. In the Provincial Court, the process begins with a court form called the Application for Ordering. In the Supreme Court, the court form is called Family Claim Notice. In the Provincial Court, the person commencing the litigation is called the applicant ; in the Supreme Court, this person is the plaintiff.
Once the trial begins, the person who has been asked for a dispute can answer the claim made and make a new claim. In the Provincial Court, this answer is called Reply. In the Supreme Court, two court forms can be used: Responses to Family Claims and Refusals. In the Provincial Court and in the Supreme Court, the person who answers the litigation is referred to as the respondent .
Applicants and respondents (in the Provincial Court), and plaintiffs and respondents (in the Supreme Court), are called parties to the court proceeding.
After the respondent has filed a reply to the claim, both parties may ask the court to make an order of some or all of the issues raised in the litigation. A command is a judge's decision that requires a person to do something or not to do something. For example, a court can make an order that a child lives mostly with one party, ordering that one party does not harass the other, or an order that one party has a family car.
Orders can be made with consent, which means that they are made with the consent of both people. If the spouse can not agree to the terms of the order, they must go to the hearing before the judge and ask the judge to decide the terms of the order. There are two types of orders: temporary orders, which are orders made before the trial; and, end orders , which are orders made at the end of the experiment. The trial is the last trial before the judge ending the trial.
If you do not like the orders you get from a judge, you can sometimes challenge the order before the higher court level in the court process referred to as the appeal . The orders of the Provincial Court are submitted to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court order was submitted to the Court of Appeals. You can not appeal the order you approve.
Over time, order requirements may need to be changed. If there is a serious change in your circumstances or in a child's state since the order was made, you may return to court and request that the order be changed to fit the new circumstances. This is called varying the order.
Legal
There are two types of law: laws made by governments, called laws , laws or acting ; and, the law made by the court. Laws created by a court are known as common law , precedent decisions or case law . They come from various court hearings for hundreds of years, and decisions made by the courts in different processes.
Legislation is made by the federal government and provincial governments. The two most important pieces of legislation for family law in British Columbia are the federal Divorce Act and the provincial Family Law Act. Each section of the law deals with different family law issues and applies to different types of relationships.
The Divorce Act applies only to people who are married or who are used to marry each other. It deals with:
- divorce,
- custody,
- access,
- child support, and
- pair support.
The Family Law Act applies to married couples, unmarried couples, and unmarried couples who are not married couples or unmarried couples and may be just dating. This law deals with:
- child guardianship,
- parental responsibility and care time,
- contacts,
- child support,
- spousal support,
- share family property and family debt,
- command protect people, and
- orders protect property.
Unmarried couples can only use the Family Law to ask for instructions on childcare, child support, and the command to protect people. Married couples and unmarried couples can take action to request orders on childcare, child support, and the command of protecting people, as well as instructions on spousal support, property and debt, and the order of protecting property.
The Supreme Court can make an order under the Divorce Act and Family Law . The Provincial Court may only make orders under the section of the Family Law not related to the property.
This diagram shows which law addresses which issue:
There are many other laws relating to family law issues, such as the Adoption Act (related to adoption), Name Act (relating to the alteration of your name and the name of the child- your child, the Land Title Act, and the Vital Statistics Act (relating to birth registration, death, marriage, and divorce). The most important of the other laws is the Child Support Guidelines .
The Child Support Guidelines establish rules on how much child support should be paid according to the income of the person paying the child support and the amount of child benefit allowance paid. For most people, the amount to be paid is set out in the table at the end of the Guide. It also sets out rules about when child benefits can be paid in amounts that differ from what the table says to be paid.
Parenting Time and Custody of Children
There are three things parents must decide when their relationship ends: where most children will stay; how parents will make decisions about important events in children's lives; and how much time each parent has with the children.
The Divorce Act talks about this issue in terms of custody and access . Such custody means where children live most of the time, but separated parents can have custody, called civic custody , and there is nowhere near half the time of the children. In such cases, joint custody means equal rights to participate in decision-making about children. Access is the word used to describe a child's time schedule between parents.
The Family Law Act talks about this issue in terms of parental responsibilities , parenting time and contacts . Generally, the natural parent of a child is a 'guard' under the Family Law Act. Guardians generally divide parental responsibilities and take care of children with their children, unless the court determines otherwise. A person who is not a guardian, who may include grandparents, stepparents or parents who are not guardians, may have contact with a child.
Parental responsibilities include making decisions about where children go to school, how they are treated when they are sick, whether they will play sports or take music lessons, and about the religion they will teach. Parental responsibilities can be shared between guardians or shared amongst them, so only one guardian can make decisions about certain parenting issues. When more than one guardian shares the responsibility of the parent, the guardian must endeavor to work together to make a decision about the matter.
Parent's time and contact is the term used to describe the child's timetable between the guardian and between the guardian and the non-guardian.
Child support
Child support is usually paid by parents who have children for the least time to parents who have children for most of the time. Child support is paid to help children's day-to-day expenses, and covers many things, from new clothes to school supplies to children's part of the lease. Child support is not the cost that parents have to pay to see the children. Child support has nothing to do with custody or guardianship; it has nothing to do with access, nurturing or contact time; it has nothing to do with whether the parent is a good parent or a bad parent. Parents have an obligation to pay child support just because he is a parent.
Child support is almost always paid monthly, in the amount specified in the Child Support Guidelines . The parent's obligation to pay child support does not end until the child is 19 years old. It can take longer than that if a child has an illness or disability that prevents the child from earning a living, or if the child is going to university or full-time college.
Usually parents pay the right amount of child support mentioned in the Guidelines table to be paid. Parents can pay smaller amounts if the time of children is shared almost equally between parents, if one or more children live with each parent, or if paying the amount required by the Guidelines will cause serious financial difficulties.
The basic amount of child support is intended to cover most child expenses. Some costs, called special or outstanding expenses , are not covered in this basic amount. Typically, extraordinary expenses are expenses such as daycares and orthodontics - large, important expenses that most but not all children need. Where children have extraordinary expenses, parents contribute to such expenditures proportionately to their income. For example, if one parent earns $ 30,000 per year and the other earns $ 20,000, the first parent must pay 60% of the outstanding cost and the other must pay 40%.
Pair support
Spousal support is money paid by one spouse to another for one of two reasons. Spousal support may be paid to help other couples meet their living expenses, or may be paid to compensate couples for the economic consequences of decisions taken during the relationship. Spousal support is not automatically paid only because the couple is in unmarried or unmarried marital relationship; people in need of support must prove that he deserves support.
Decisions made by a spouse during their relationship may result in the spouse being entitled to compensation if the decision takes a partner from a paid workforce, requiring them to move to a place where there is little financial opportunity, preventing the couple from taking promotion or making it more difficult for the couple to get a job after parting. Say, for example, the couple decides that one of them should stop working and stay home to raise the children and become a housewife. Couples who live at home may have to leave work or a career, and it will be very difficult to get back to work after leaving the workforce, especially when the relationship is long and there is no career to return.
The end of a relationship can cause a partner to need financial help. After a separate spouse, the same amount of money they have during the relationship now has to pay two rent bills, two hydro bills and two shopping bills. When the couple is together, their combined income should only pay for one rent bill, one hydro charge and one phone bill.
Spousal support is usually paid every month, although it can be paid in bulk, single payment. The amount of spousal support to be paid is usually the amount that people with more money can afford to pay, using the money left over after the basic life expenses of that person have been paid.
When the relationship is very long or the spouse is older, the spousal support can be paid forever or until they both get a pension or government allowance such as CPP. When a couple is younger, spousal support is usually only paid for a certain amount of time. This is because the support person has an obligation to try to become financially independent of the person paying the support.
The amount of spousal support to be paid and the length of time support to be paid can also be calculated using the Spatial Support Advisory Guidance. The Advisory Guidelines use two formulas, one for when a spouse has a child and one for when they are not, which calculates how much support should be paid according to the length of each party's relationship and annual income.
There are three very important things to know about the Advisory Guide:
- The Advisory Guide is not a law and there is no rule that says the Advisory Guidelines formula should be used. However, lawyers and courts use the Advisory Guidelines almost every time when spousal support will be paid out.
- The Advisory Guide is only used when a person is found to be eligible to receive support; if there is no right, the Advisory Guidelines do not apply.
- The formulas described by the Advisory Guidelines are complex. Specifically, the formula used when a spouse has children can not be done without a computer program.
Only those who are married couples or unmarried couples may request the support of a spouse. Married couples should seek partner support within two years after their divorce. Unmarried couples should seek partner support within two years of their separation.
Divide family property and family debt
Married couples and unmarried couples who have lived together for at least two years each are entitled to half of their family when their relationship ends. Family properties include:
- property owned by the couple during their relationship, including real estate as well as personal property,
- bank account, investment, RRSP, and retirement,
- partner interest in company, business or partnership,
- payable to spouse, and
- increase the value of "excluded property" during the relationship.
Each pair is entitled to keep all excluded properties . Excluded properties include:
- properties owned by each couple on the date they start living together or the date they were married, whichever comes first,
- gifts or inheritance received during the relationship,
- some types of court rewards and insurance payments made during the relationship, and
- properties purchased during a relationship with an excluded property.
Each couple is also responsible for half of the family debt . Family debt includes:
- all debts borne by one partner during the relationship, and
- the debt arising after the separation, if the debt took place to preserve the family property.
The right of the couple to share in the family property and the obligation to share in the family debt occurs when the couple split up. Separation does not always happen when someone moves. Couples can be separated while living together, as long as one of them says the relationship is over and then the couple behaves as if it's over, for example by stopping to sleep together or eating together, and stop doing work for each other.
Separation and divorce
You do not need legal documents to be separated, and you do not need to see lawyers or judges to separate. You just leave the relationship or announce that it's over and then behave as it ends. There is no such thing as legal separation in British Columbia.
For unmarried couples and other unmarried couples, their relationship ends when they part. There is no such thing as "legal marriage," and unmarried couples need not divorce.
However, for marriage to end, married couples should be divorced, and that means they must obtain a court order stating that they are divorced. A husband and wife can be separated for years but still married if they have not received divorce orders.
Sometimes married people can not divorce for years. It is okay. The only married separated person can not do that, the unmarried person can do is remarry. Separated married people can date other people, live with others, have unmarried relationships with others, own property on their own behalf, have bank accounts and credit cards in their own name, and so on.
There are three reasons why the court will make a divorce order:
- the couple has split up and remained apart for more than a year,
- one partner has sex with someone other than their spouse, called adultery , or
- one partner has been verbally, emotionally or physically abusive to his/her spouse, which is what Divorce Act means with cruelty .
To get a divorce order, you must start a trial. You do not have to ask the court for anything but divorce. When couples agree to a divorce, they can get divorced using a do-it-yourself table process, and they do not have to go before a judge.
Family law agreement
Family law agreements are contracts, such as contracts you may have with your landlord or employer, or contracts you may have if you rent a car.
There are three types of agreements a couple can make in family law:
- collective living arrangements, agreements a couple can make when they live together or plan to live together,
- a marriage agreement, which couples may want if they will marry, and
- the separation agreement, which can be taken by married or unmarried couples after their relationship ends.
cohabitation agreement and marriage agreement is for couples who are just starting relationship. This kind of agreement can talk about how the relationship will be managed (who will pay the bills, there will be a shared bank account or credit card together, or who will do what part of the household chores), but most often they talk about what will happen if the relationship is over. This agreement is usually meant to stop a couple from arguing after a relationship ends by determining who gets what's right from the start.
The law does not require couples to make cohabitation agreements or marriage agreements when they begin to live together or marry. You do not have to sign an agreement like this if you do not want to.
The cohabitation agreement and the marriage agreement are not for everyone. People who bring lots of property, money, or children into a relationship may want a cohabitation agreement or a marriage agreement. People who have no property or children, are young, and expect long-term relationships may not require approval.
The separation deal was created after the relationship expired. They talk about how the couple has agreed to deal with things like child care, child support and spousal support, and how family assets will be shared. Separation agreements do not necessarily cover all family law issues the couple has. They can handle some of these problems and leave the rest to the court to decide.
Usually couples talk together about the problem and try to make a deal that they both like. It is not unusual for only one person to make a separation agreement without talking to others. You do not need to sign a separation agreement if you do not want to.
No matter what type of family law agreement you have signed, you both expect that each of you will follow the agreement, and that the court will enforce the agreement if you do not follow it. Courts will generally respect the agreement that the couple is willing to sign, as long as the agreement is fair and nobody misleads others about something important, such as money or property.
Source
Boyd, John-Paul. "JP Boyd on Family Law". Clicklaw Wikibooks . Retrieved September 28 2013 . , especially articles about Family Law in British Columbia. Materials are copied with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License.
Yousefi, Leena. "Hukum Keluarga YLaw". YLaw . Diperoleh 28 April 2017 . , Materi disalin dengan izin sesuai dengan Lisensi Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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