Heading to Sechelt Family Court again to help a client. Whole week, 5 days, scheduled for final submissions in a trial which started almost 2 years ago and required many weeks of trial testimony and numerous interim hearings. Legal issues are defined by the 2013 Family Law Act (FLA) and by the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court, and the issues are defined by the circumstances of the litigants.
All the emotions and facts are organized into legal issues eg parenting time and child support and divorce are three different legal issues, each with different facts relevant to each issue. For example, income is relevant to support calculations but not relevant for divorce.
Two courts are available in BC to resolve family law issues: the
Supreme Court which is more traditional and has a greater scope of jurisdiction, and the lower Provincial Court which cannot resolve asset nor debt FLA issues nor grant a Divorce. Both courts can resolve all parenting and support issues.
The circumstances of the litigants also determine which legal issues need to be resolved eg if not married then no need for divorce and if never living together then no need for the legal issues of spousal support and the division of family assets does not apply.
The main legal issue for the trial ending this week is the issue of Guardianship for two parents who never lived together. The focus is on whether there remains any parenting rights under the 2013 FLA or are there only rights of the child in any event
