How to Do Your Notice of Family Claim in BC

Learning how to do your Notice of Family Claim in BC is perhaps one of the most important parts of BC family law litigation. It sets the stage for litigation and if you forget to include something or if you do not do it properly, you can risk losing fortunes in your case or not having orders granted in your favour.

Our Vancouver Divorce Lawyer, Leena Yousefi, explains everything about how to do your Notice of Family Claim both in the video and in this blog post.

Where to Find the Form for Notice of Family Claim in BC

You can find the Notice of Family Claim form online. Alternatively, you can go to any BC Supreme Court and ask the Registry to give you a form to fill out. To find the address of the closest court registry to you, click here.

At the courthouse, usually, there is a “self-help” desk, where you can ask duty counsel or other people to help you with filling out this form. At home, you can read this guide or watch our video below.

What Orders to Ask For in BC Notice of Family Claim?

There are mainly 5 types of Orders you can ask for:

1. Divorce
2. Spousal Support
3. Child Support
4. Child Custody
5. Property and Debt Orders and Other Orders

So if you are common-law and only want an Order for the custody and support of your children, you do not have to fill out claims for divorce, spousal support or property. You have to choose what issues you have to resolve in your situation.

It is recommended that you see a Vancouver family lawyer at least at the start of your BC Family Law Claim so you know exactly what you should get in court and how to approach the court process. Like any other wise decision in life, you will have to be fully informed of your rights and your issues which may not be limited to the above 5 sections. A lawyer can tell you what other orders you will need to seek from the Court such as BC exclusive occupancy of the matrimonial home or BC restraining Orders.

Call our award-winning family law firm at 604-974-9529 or get in touch. 

How to Complete your Notice of Family Claim

Leena Yousefi did a couple of video tutorials on how to properly fill out your Notice of Family Claim. You can find them below:

and

How to File and Serve Your BC Notice of Family Claim

Once you have filled out your BC Notice of Family Claim:

1. Print out 4 copies and sign them all;
2. Go to the Registry closest to you to file them;
3. The court will file one originally signed copy and will stamp the other three;
4. You will then have to personally serve the other party with one copy; meaning someone other than you has to physically hand the Notice to the other party. Note that a person cannot be under 19 years old. In most cases, we hire a process-serving company to have a neutral/stranger person to serve the Notice of Family Claim.
5. You will then be left with 2 copies – one for you and one for your lawyer if you have one.

What Happens After Serving the Notice of Family Claim?

After you have your ex-spouse served with the Notice of Family Claim, he or she will have 30 days after you personally serve him/her to respond to your claim. This is done by filling out and filing/serving the Response to Family Claim.

Your ex-spouse can also fill out and file what is called a Counter Claim in which he/she will be able to make his/her claims against you. Once served, you will have 14 days to respond to his/her Family Claim.

What Happens After a Response is Filed at the BC Supreme Court?

Once your ex-spouse has filed a response and/or a counterclaim, and after you respond to the Counter Claim, you and your ex-spouse will have to attend what is called a Judicial Case Conference. 

Prior to attending the Judicial Case Conference, you and your ex-spouse will have to file and serve your Financial Statements at least 7 days in advance.

After the JCC, you and your ex-spouse will have the liberty to set down applications to get temporary relief, and ultimately proceed to trial if you cannot agree to resolve issues between yourselves or with the help of mediation or negotiation.

1. To find out about very important steps to take between the Judicial Case Conference and the Trial, click here. 
2. To find out about Examinations for Discoveries, click here. 

The BC family law process is very complicated. It is always a wise idea to consult with a lawyer to obtain more information on this process. The fees can be expensive but I always tell my clients, separation and divorce are sometimes like accidents. You have to pay and you have no insurance. But if you make mistakes, you may have to pay much more than you have to and may end up with an unsatisfactory result.

For more information or questions, please contact our award-winning family law firm in Vancouver or Surrey, or call us at 604-974-9529. 

The content of this page was updated in January 2019, for more accuracy, freshness and comprehensiveness.