Form 1: Notice to Resolve a Family Law Matter
Start the early-resolution process before asking the Provincial Court for family-law orders.
Use Form 1 if your case is at a BC early resolution registry and you need to begin the required resolution steps. It opens the support process; it is not the application asking a judge to make an order.
Before filling it in
- Check that your filing location is an early resolution registry; requirements vary by registry.
- If the same parties already have a court file, identify the existing file and court registry.
- Protection orders and urgent priority parenting matters use different applications; you may be able to seek those orders without finishing early-resolution steps first.
How to complete Form 1
- Notice: identify who must receive a copy and how you expect to provide it.
- Parties: provide your name, contact information, and the other party or parties involved.
- Issues: choose only the topics you want help resolving, such as parenting arrangements, child support, guardianship, spousal support or a companion animal.
- Children: identify the children involved, if relevant.
- Existing orders and safety: disclose relevant court orders, agreements and safety restrictions so staff can assess the appropriate process.
- Registry: use the correct location and existing file information where relevant.
What happens after you file?
- Provide Form 1 to every other party under the early-resolution rules. This step is not the same as the personal service normally required for a Form 3 application.
- Take part in a private needs assessment with a Family Justice Counsellor.
- Complete parenting education and attempt an appropriate consensual dispute resolution session unless the rules provide an exemption.
- If resolution is not reached and the requirements have been met, proceed with Form 3 to ask the court for an order.
Worked example
Two parents in New Westminster disagree about weekdays and holidays. One parent files Form 1 describing a parenting-arrangements dispute. A counsellor helps identify next steps. No parenting schedule changes merely because Form 1 was filed. If the matter is unresolved, a Form 3 application may follow.
Important exception
A protection-order application, priority parenting application or certain other applications can follow a separate route. If there is an immediate safety issue, do not wait for a Form 1 process to finish; check the relevant urgent procedure.
Common mistake
Submitting Form 1 as if it were a request for a judge to order child support or parenting time. Use it to start the process, then use the correct court application when allowed.