If you file your application elsewhere in BC
Step 1: Apply to the Court
Fill out an application to obtain an order (Form 1) and make three photocopies of it. Application forms and instructions are available free of charge from any Provincial Court or online in PDF format.
If you are applying for spousal and/or child support (also called maintenance), you may also need to fill out a financial statement providing details of your current financial situation, including assets (what you own) and liabilities (what you owe). The financial statement is available from court staff. Make 3 photocopies of your financial statement.
Step 2: File your Application
Submit the original and 3 copies of your application and financial statement (if required) to the court registry. This is called "filing" your application. There is no fee for filing an application in Provincial Court.
Once your application is filed, you become the "applicant" and your former spouse is the "respondent" - he or she must "respond" to the application you have filed.
Step 3: Serve the Documents
Court staff will provide you with a package of information containing:
- an official copy of your completed application
- a blank reply form (Form 3), and
- a copy of your completed financial statement (Form 4), if you filed one, and a blank financial statement for the respondent to complete.
The reply form (Form 3) has spaces for the respondent to agree with what you have asked for, to disagree with all or part of what you have asked for, or to file a "counterclaim" - which means the respondent is going to apply for an order as well. (For example, you apply for sole custody, and your former spouse counterclaims for joint custody.)
You are responsible for having the package of information served on the respondent.
To "serve" a document simply means having the document delivered according to certain rules. First, you cannot do the delivery yourself. Instead, you can either ask an adult friend or hire a professional process server to serve the package of information. If you do not know where your former spouse is living now, you can also ask the court to allow you to use another method of service, such as leaving the documents with a relative or placing a newspaper ad.
For more information on serving documents, please see court staff or read the Provincial Court (Family) Rules. The Law Centre Website also includes information on serving documents.
Step 4: File an Affidavit of Service
Ask the person who served the package of information on the respondent to fill out and sign an affidavit of personal service (Form 5), then file it with the Family Justice Registry.
This affidavit is a written statement, sworn under oath in front of a person allowed by law to witness affidavits (called a commissioner), that states the person swearing the affidavit served the respondent with the required documents. Application forms and instructions are available free of charge from any Provincial Court.
Step 5: Wait for the reply
The respondent has 30 days to reply to your application. Reply filed If the respondent files a reply within 30 days, court staff will send you a copy of the reply, and any other documents attached to it.
Respondent agrees
If the respondent agrees with your application, you can then ask the court for a consent order (this is an order that both you and your spouse "consent" or agree to), based on what you asked for in your application. The request form (Form 18) to apply for a consent order is available from court staff. With a consent order, you will most likely not have to appear at a court hearing, and the process will end here.
Respondent disagrees/counterclaims
If the respondent disagrees with all or part of your application, or the reply includes a counterclaim, the court process will continue.
- If the respondent disagrees with your application, but does not file a counterclaim, you can ask court staff to schedule a first appearance (see Step 6). Court staff will mail you a notice of hearing, telling you the date, place and time of your first appearance.
- If the respondent files a counterclaim, court staff will send you a blank reply form (just like the one you served on the respondent), and you will then have 30 days to respond to the counterclaim. Once you have filed your reply, you can ask court staff to schedule a first appearance (see Step 6). Court staff will mail you a notice of hearing, telling you the date, place and time of your first appearance.
No reply filed
If the respondent does not file a reply within 30 days, you can ask court staff to schedule a first appearance (see Step 6) for you, without notice to the respondent. (Please see What if my former spouse does not file a reply, or is late in filing - are there any consequences? for more information.)
Please note:
If you live in Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Vancouver, Kelowna, Prince George, Abbotsford, Victoria, Kamloops or Nanaimo, you will be required to attend a Parenting After Separation session before you can go to court to obtain a custody, guardianship, access or child support order.
Court staff will schedule first appearance only after you or your former spouse have filed a certificate of attendance, or you receive an official exemption - usually only granted in exceptional circumstances (because your safety or the safety of your children is at risk, for example), or because you attended a Parenting After Separation session within the past two years. Exemption forms are available from your local Provincial Court. Please see our Parenting After Separation section for more information.
Step 6: Make Your First Appearance
A first appearance is a court hearing, where the judge will
look at what you have applied for and what the respondent has stated in his or her reply (if submitted).
Your first appearance may be the first and last time you appear in court, or it may be the beginning of a longer process - the judge will decide what needs to happen next based on the particular circumstances of your case.
You may represent yourself at the first appearance, or have a lawyer represent you.
