Form 52: Fax Filing Cover Page — Provincial Court Family
Form 52 is the required cover page when you send documents to a BC Provincial Court family registry by fax for filing.
Use Form 52 when filing a Provincial Court family document by fax. Under Rule 194, a clerk may refuse a fax filing without this cover page. Sending a fax does not guarantee same-day filing; you remain responsible for meeting the court deadline.
What is Form 52 used for?
This is a fax-transmission cover sheet, not an application for a family-law order. Attach it to the documents you are filing by fax in an existing or new Provincial Court family case. Rule 194(1) permits a clerk to accept a faxed filing other than a certified copy of an order. The registry may refuse an incomplete, unreadable or improperly directed fax, a submission involving more than one court file, or one that does not comply with the rules.
Check whether your registry accepts your intended filing method and confirm the correct fax number through the BC courthouse locations directory.
How to fill out and send Form 52
- Identify the receiving registry. Enter its court location and correct fax number in the “To” fields.
- Identify the sender. Give the party, lawyer or firm name, contact person if different, and daytime phone number.
- Choose one confirmation method. Select fax, email, or mail for notice of the registry's acceptance or refusal, and provide the matching address or number.
- Describe the court file. Include the court file number, if one exists, and the parties' names. Do not combine documents for different court files on one fax submission.
- List every enclosed document. Enter its name and page count, then the total number of pages including the cover page.
- Fax legible, complete pages. Review the transmission result and keep a copy of what you sent. If the submission exceeds 30 pages, the official form recommends batches labelled “Batch 1/2”, “Batch 2/2”, etc., with contents specified for each batch, and says to consider other filing methods because registry fax machines may not handle a large submission.
- Confirm actual filing. Check the registry's acceptance/filing confirmation. Do not assume a successful fax transmission means the document was filed on time.
Filing deadlines, confirmation and original documents
The sender is responsible for filing on time. Rule 194(3) says a received fax is filed as soon as possible unless refused; the form warns that same-day processing cannot be guaranteed. Rule 194(5)–(6) requires the clerk, once a document is accepted, to send a filing confirmation with the stamped first page and any other page altered by the court or registry.
Under Rule 194(4), keep the original paper document until the earliest of final disposition of the case (including appeals), expiration of the appeal period with no appeal filed, or a judge's order that the original be filed. If the judge orders it filed, do so promptly. For documents submitted electronically instead of by fax, see Form 51: Electronic Filing Statement and Rules 192–193.
Example: filing a three-page reply by fax
A party faxes a three-page Reply to a Provincial Court family registry. They enter the correct registry and case details on Form 52, list “Reply — 3 pages,” and record 4 total pages including the one-page fax cover. They select email notification, keep the paper original, and look for the registry's filing confirmation rather than relying on the fax machine's delivery receipt.
Common mistakes and important exceptions
- Forgetting Form 52 or sending incomplete or illegible pages.
- Using an old or incorrect registry fax number, or putting more than one court file in a submission.
- Assuming faxing at the last minute will meet a same-day filing deadline.
- Sending a certified copy of an order by fax; Rule 194(1) excludes it.
- Forgetting the cover page when counting pages, or failing to label recommended batches over 30 pages.
- Throwing away the original paper document before Rule 194(4) permits it.