What is family law?
Family law deals with a range of legal issues that arise when families break down or change. Family law deals with:
- separation, divorce
- child custody, parenting time
- child support, spousal support
- property division
- family violence, protection orders
- adoption
- marriage
In BC, family law is mainly governed by the BC Family Law Act (opens in a new tab) and the federal Divorce Act (opens in a new tab).
JES publishes three websites to help individuals deal with the legal and emotional realities of family law issues.
- Family Law in BC (opens in a new tab): This is the primary website in BC to help people deal with family law issues. The site provides a series of guides to help people move through the legal steps of separation and divorce. It includes practical tools like a separation agreement builder, parenting plan information (opens in a new tab) and resources to calculate child support. In addition, this website provides an AI Chatbot that provides on-demand answers to your family law questions, based on legally reviewed information from the website.
- HowToSeparate.ca (opens in a new tab): This website provides helpful information to support people going through separation or divorce. The site includes sections on Working it Out, Separating Finances and Going to Court.
- FamiliesChange.ca (opens in a new tab): This national website provides age appropriate information for parents, teens and kids to help them deal with a family break up. It does not address legal issues. It focuses on problem solving, communication and making decisions in the best interests of the children.
Each year, LegalHelpBC responds to thousands of family law questions. If you have legal questions about your situation Ask a Human or Ask AI.
Others found these helpful...
- Family Law in BC (opens in a new tab)
BC’s most comprehensive family law website covers separation, divorce, adoption, protection and more.
- HowToSeparate.ca (opens in a new tab)
Provides help for separating couples on: Working it out, Separating the Finances and Going to Court.
- BC Family Justice Services (opens in a new tab)
The BC government provides a range of information and services to support people with separation, divorce, and other family law issues.
- FamiliesChange.ca (opens in a new tab)
Age-appropriate information for parents, teens and kids on how to deal with family changes due to separation.
- Legal Aid BC (opens in a new tab)
Provides a range of services to support British Columbians get legal advice on family law and other issues.
- Rise Women’s Legal Centre (opens in a new tab)
Provides legal services to women, especially regarding family law and intimate partner violence.
- BC Provincial Court (opens in a new tab)
This court applies BC’s Family Law Act and the Divorce Act to deal with a range of family law issues related to parenting arrangements, support, child protection, etc.
- Supreme Court BC (opens in a new tab)
This JES website provides a series of guidebooks to help people understand and move through family law processes in BC Supreme Court.
