Get an interim family order in Supreme Court if you can't both agree

About this guide

This step-by-step guide is for people who:

• want to get an interim family order in the Supreme Court of BC, and
• can't agree with the other person about what the order should say. This includes parenting orders, orders for child or spousal support, and orders about property.

The process to apply for an interim order is quite complex. Read through all the instructions before you begin so you understand the information you need to collect, the documents and forms you need to prepare, the time periods you have to work with, and what you can expect in court. Once you're familiar with the instructions, fill out the forms you need.

What if you don't succeed?

How long will the process take?

There's no set answer to this question. It depends on your answers to the following questions:

• Have you already filed the Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) and received a response?
• Will your hearing take more than two hours? If so, you'll have to wait longer to get court time.
• Is your case urgent?
• Where do you live? Some registries are busier than others.

Before you begin your Supreme Court application

Before you can apply for an interim order, you must have:

1. filed or responded to a Notice of Family Claim (Form F3), and
2. attended a Judicial Case Conference (JCC).

The person who files a Notice of Family Claim (and Financial Statement [Form F8], if required) is starting a family law case. The other person can respond to the Notice of Family Claim by filing and serving a Response to Family Claim (Form F4) and serving a Financial Statement (Form F8). The other person might also file and serve a Counterclaim (Form F5) to start their own claim for child or spousal support or for parenting orders. Or they might not respond to the Notice of Family Claim at all. But if they don't respond, the court can then make orders against them.

In most cases, before you can apply for an interim order, you and the other person must attend a JCC. There are some cases where you don't have to attend, and there are some cases where you can ask to be exempted.

If you and the other party still can't agree on how to resolve your conflict after you've attended a JCC, you can still go to Step 1.

You'll need

• A Notice of Application (Form F31) to apply for an interim order
• An Affidavit (Form F30) to support the application
• A Financial Statement (Form F8), if applicable and not already completed

Fill out the forms and complete the documents

Notice of Application (Form F31)

A Notice of Application must be in Form F31. It must not be more than 10 pages (not including any draft order you attach) and must include the information listed below. Follow the guidance to help you complete each part.

Court File Number and Registry

Your file number is located on the Notice of Family Claim. Select from the drop down menu of the F31 the name of the registry where your Notice of Family Claim was filed. In almost all cases, your application is heard in the courthouse where the Notice of Family Claim was filed.

The Parties

The top section of the Notice of Application sets out who the parties are to the claim. The parties should be the same as they are on the Notice of Family Claim (the court document that started the claim). If you are making the application, you are the “Filing Party”. The other party is the “Affected Party”.

Address of Registry 

Use the drop down menu from the F31 court form to type in your registry and it will automatically fill out the address of the registry where the application will be heard. 

Time Estimate

You are required to say in the Notice of Application how long you think the application will take to be heard. You must consider the time you think it will take the other side to respond to your submissions in court. For example, if you think you will take 30 minutes and you think the other party will take 30 minutes you will write 1 hour for your time estimate. It is important to be as accurate as possible in giving this time estimate to the court.

Proposed Date of Hearing

Write in the proposed date or date range of when the hearing will take place. Try to agree with the other party on a hearing date when you are both available. If you arrange a date for the hearing when the other party is not available, you will both have to appear in court when the other party applies to adjourn or reschedule the hearing. This can lead to delays and added costs.  However, if you cannot agree on a date, or get in contact with the other party, you can choose a date yourself when you file the Notice of Hearing (Step 4).

Make sure you allow enough time to serve the other party, wait up to 5 business days for their response, and complete the remaining steps. The shortest amount of time you can have between serving the unfiled Notice of Application and affidavits and the date of the hearing is 11 business days assuming the Application Response is served on the last day permitted. Business days do not include weekends or statutory holidays. 

Judge or Associate Judge

You will have to indicate if your application is within the jurisdiction of an associate judge, or if it must be heard by a judge. Associate judges can hear interim family applications; however, they cannot hear an application that results in a final order. If you are unsure you can ask the registry.

Part 1: Order(s) Sought (what are you asking for)

Part 1 of the Notice of Application requires you to write out the order(s) you are asking the court to make. This information should be set out in numbered paragraphs. Remember that you can ask for more than one order in your application. For example, you may want to ask for interim (temporary) child support, and orders relating to the use of the family home. While not required, you may also attach a draft of the order you are seeking.

Part 2: Factual Basis (the facts) 

Part 2 of the Notice of Application asks you what is the factual basis of your application. Give a brief summary of the facts that support your application in numbered paragraphs. 

Part 3: Legal Basis (the law) 

In Part 3 of the Notice of Application, you must set out the legal basis of the application, including the rule or statute (e.g. Family Law Act or B.C. Supreme Court Family Rules) that gives the court the power to make the order(s) you are seeking. If you see a lawyer before preparing your Notice of Application, this is something you should ask about. If you need help with looking up the law see Canlii or Courthouse Libraries BC for access to legislation and caselaw. 

Part 4: Material To Be Relied On (your evidence) 

Part 4 of the Notice of Application requires you to list the affidavits and any other material that you are going to rely on in making your application. You must file at least one affidavit that sets out the supporting evidence along with your application.  You can also rely on other documents, such as pleadings (the Notice of Family Claim, Response to Family Claim), a financial statement (Form F8) of either party, or examination for discovery excerpts. List all these documents in numbered paragraphs. 

Affidavit (Form F30)

For help writing the Affidavit, see:

• Checklist of information to include in an affidavit or bring to court,
• How do you write an affidavit?, and
• Write an affidavit.

Financial Statement (Form F8)

For help filling out a Financial Statement (if you're applying to change an order for child or spousal support), see Complete a Supreme Court Financial Statement (Form F8).

The forms contain technical instructions to help you fill them out. For more help using the forms, see Common questions about the Supreme Court PDF forms.

You'll need

• Your completed Affidavit (Form F30) and relevant documents
• your completed Financial Statement (Form F8)

You have to do this in front of a:

• lawyer,
• notary public,
• government agent, or
• clerk at the court registry.

Bring picture identification with you.

Some people charge a lot more than others for this service. It's a good idea to shop around.

You'll need

• Your completed documents:
  • Unfiled Notice of Application (Form F31)
  • Sworn of affirmed Affidavit (Form F30) to support the application (with any attachments)
  • Any other supporting affidavits or documents that you intend to refer to at the hearing, but that haven't already been filed
• An Affidavit of Ordinary Service (Form F16)

Make copies

Make three copies of all your documents:

• One copy is for you
• One copy is served on the other person
• One copy is for the registry when you file

Keep the originals somewhere safe.

Serve the documents on the other person

Serve the documents on the other person, including the unfiled Notice of Application and any sworn or affirmed affidavits. 

You can serve these documents by ordinary service. This means that you can:

• leave the documents at the other person's address for service (the address they put on their court documents, such as their Notice of Application),
• mail the documents by regular post to the other person's address for service, or
• email or fax the documents, if the other person provided an email address or fax number as part of their address for service.

See Serve Supreme Court documents by ordinary service for more information on serving documents and help with filling out an Affidavit of Ordinary Service (Form F16).

If the other person doesn't attend the hearing, the Affidavit of Ordinary Service will prove to the judge that you served the documents in time.

You'll need to wait for a response

The other person has up to 5 business days from the day you served them with your Notice of Application and Affidavit to serve their Application Response and affidavit. Count 5 business days starting the business day after you served them if you served them on a business day, before 4pm, by email or by leaving it with them. If you served them after 4pm or on a weekend, they are deemed served the next business day.  If you served them by mail, then service is not complete until one week after the day you mailed the documents if that day was a business day. 

If they agree with your application

If the other person agrees with what you're asking for, you have a couple options. You can go to our step-by-step guide Get an interim family order in Supreme Court if you both agree. This way you will likely avoid going to court. You can also continue on this pathway and turn up in court to ask the judge for a consent order. Or, if the issue is about parenting or support, you can work out a written agreement with the other person that can be filed in court.

If they still don't agree with your application

If the other person doesn't agree with what you're asking for, within five business days of being served with your documents, they must serve on you their: 

• an Application Response (Form F32), and
• each Affidavit (Form F30) and any other document they refer to in their Application Response that hasn't already been filed.

File Your Documents 

Once the other party has served you with their documents, or once the 5 business days have passed from when you served your documents on them, you can then file them with the Supreme Court registry. 

You will need:

• Your Notice of Application (Form F31) (3 copies)
• Your Affidavit (Form F30) (3 copies)
• Any other supporting affidavits you haven't already filed but intend to rely on at the hearing (3 copies)
• A completed the Notice of Hearing of Application (Form F31.1) (3 copies)
• An Affidavit of Ordinary Service (Form F16), which shows you served the other party (2 copies)

It is $80 to file a Notice of Application. Take these documents and the fee to your Supreme Court Registry. A clerk at the registry will take your money, check your documents, stamp them with the court seal, and put the originals into the file for your case. 

Notice of Hearing of Application (Form F31.1)

You will need to complete the Notice of Hearing of Application. This form will set the date of the hearing. You must file and serve this form at least 4 business days before the hearing. Make sure you give yourself enough time. 

Service - You will set out when you served the other person and when or if they responded. 

Date of hearing - You will tick whether you and the other person have agreed on the date of the hearing or whether you will serve this Form F31.1 notifying the other person of the date of the hearing at least 4 business days beforehand. Or whether the application is by consent (agreed), unopposed (the other party will not argue against it) or without notice to the other party. Without notice applications are only allowed in specific circumstances or cases of urgency.

Duration of hearing - this part asks whether the parties agree on how long they estimate the hearing will last. 

Jurisdiction - this part asks if your issue can be heard by an associate judge. If you aren’t sure, ask the registry. Associate judges cannot give final orders and have other restrictions. 

Orders sought - if you are seeking the same orders as set out in your Notice of Application, set them out here. If you and the other party have agreed on any orders in the meantime, you can set out that those ones are “by consent”. 

Serve the Notice of Hearing of Application (Form F31.1)

Once you have filed the Notice of Hearing, serve it on the other person. This will let them know the date of the hearing. As a reminder, you must serve the other party this document at least 4 business days before the date set for hearing. 

Prepare any Reply Affidavits

If the other person responded to your application and raised new facts or issues in their Affidavit that you'd like to address, you can file a Reply Affidavit (Form F30). If you don't need to file a Reply Affidavit you can go straight to Step 6. 

In your Reply Affidavit (Form F30), respond only to those new issues or facts that you haven't already addressed in your earlier Affidavit to support the application. Your responding Affidavit must contain:

• a description of who you are, and
• your response to the new facts or issues raised in the other person's Affidavit.

Serve and file any Reply Affidavits

You must serve your Reply Affidavit within 3 business days after the other person served you their Application Response. If they served you on a Tuesday, you must serve your Reply Affidavit by the Friday of that week. 

You must file your Reply Affidavit by 4pm on the day that is 2 business days before the hearing. For example, if the hearing is Friday, you must file it with the court registry by Wednesday at 4pm. 

For help writing the Affidavit, see:

• Checklist of information to include in an affidavit or bring to court,
• How do you write an affidavit? and
• Write an affidavit.

The Affidavit contains technical instructions to help you fill it out. For more help, see Common questions about the Supreme Court PDF forms.

You'll need

• Two ring binders big enough to hold all the documents related to your case (1‑inch or 1.5‑inch are common)
• Two sets of tabbed binder dividers numbered 1 to 15 or higher (depending on how many documents you're including)
• Some loose-leaf paper
• A three-hole punch
• A Supreme Court Application Record title page
• An Application Record index
• Two elastic bands big enough to go around the binders

An Application Record is a loose-leaf ring binder, divided by tabs, that contains the evidence that the judge or associate judge will use to decide whether to give you the order you're asking for. It includes a table of contents (called an index). The Application Record contains photocopies of the documents you've collected, including those sent by the other person.

You need two copies of the Application Record — one for you and one for the court. The court copy will be returned to you at the end of the court hearing. You don't have to make a copy for the other person.

What goes in an Application Record

The Application Record can include draft orders, written arguments, lists of authorities (any case, textbook, article, or statute you might use to support your argument), or a draft bill of costs.

Your Application Record must not include Affidavits of Service, copies of authorities, or other documents unless the other person has agreed to let you include these.

Make a cover page

Prepare a cover page for the outside of the binder that contains:

• the style of proceedings (names of both of you), court file number, and registry,
• the title "APPLICATION RECORD" and a brief description of what the material is about (for example, "Application for an interim order for child support"),
• contact information for each of you or your lawyers, including addresses for service, phone and fax numbers, or email addresses that the registry can use to contact you,
• the time, date, and place of the hearing,
• the name of the person or lawyer who's filing the Application Record, and
• the estimated length of time for the hearing.

Make an Application Record title page

Prepare a title page for the inside of the binder. The title page should have the style of cause, your name and the other person's name, and the name(s) of your lawyer(s), if you have any. Look at your Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) to find the style of cause. It's all the information above the title of the document. Copy this information exactly as it appears on your order.

Add the dividers and documents

• Number your tabbed divider pages consecutively starting at 1, if they aren't already numbered.
• Punch holes in each page of your remaining set of photocopied documents, and put them into the binder behind the numbered tabs in the following order:
  • Behind Tab 1, insert two copies of your filed Notice of Application (Form F31). Secure one copy in the binder, but leave the other copy loose. On the loose copy, highlight or mark in some way which orders you'll be referring to at the hearing.
  • Behind Tab 2, insert the Application Response (Form F32) from the other person (if you receive one).
• Insert the remaining documents behind tabs in this order:
  • Your Affidavit to support the application.
  • Any of your previous Affidavits that you want the court to consider.
  • An Affidavit in response to the application from the other person, if you receive one.
  • Your responding Affidavit, if any.
  • Your most recent Financial Statement (Form F8) and any attachments.
  • The other person's most recent Financial Statement (Form F8) and any attachments, if you received them.
  • Any of the other person's Affidavits.
  • Any of the other person's other Financial Statements.

Make an Application Record index

Download a blank Application Record index form and use it to make a table of contents for the Application Record.

List all the documents in the Application Record in the table of contents. Put this completed index after the title page, but before Tab 1.

Make a second Application Record

Repeat the whole process to create a second Application Record. One copy's for the court, and the other's for you.

File the Application Record

You'll need

• One copy of the complete Application Record
• One copy of the Application Record index only

Give an Application Record to the court registry

Give one copy of the full Application Record to the court registry.

The court registry has only limited space for storing hearing materials, so you must file your application record:

• no earlier than 9 am on the business day that's 5 business days before your hearing, and
• no later than 4 pm on the day that's 2 business days before the date set for the hearing.

Serve the Application Record index on the other person

If the other person responded to your Notice of Application, serve them a copy of the Application Record index. You can serve the index by ordinary service.

You must serve the index no later than 4 pm on the day that's 2 business days before the date set for the hearing in your Notice of Hearing of Application (Form F31.1). If the hearing is Friday, you must serve the index by 4pm on the Wednesday. 

You'll need

• Your copy of the Application Record
• An Order Made After Application (Form F51)

Go to court

You'll be appearing in Chambers to ask a judge or associate judge to make the orders you want. See What happens in a Supreme Court Chambers hearing? to find out more about this.

Prepare the Order Made After Application (Form F51)

After you appear in court, you have to prepare an Order Made After Application (Form F51) that says what the judge or associate judge decided. If you or the other person has a lawyer, the lawyer's usually required by the court to prepare the interim order even if they're not your lawyer. If this happens, ask to have an opportunity to review and sign the interim order as written by the lawyer before it's given to the court registry. You and the other person (or their lawyer) must both sign the interim order unless the other person didn't appear at the hearing.

The Order Made After Application contains technical instructions to help you fill it out. For more information about preparing orders, see:

• Tips for writing Supreme Court orders, and
• Write a Supreme Court order.

You'll need

• A copy of the completed and signed Order Made After Application (Form F51)

Make a copy of the completed and signed order and take it to the court registry where the hearing was held. At this point, the order is usually called a draft order.

The court registry staff will review the order, then have it signed by the court, stamped, and entered or filed. Keep a copy of this draft order for your records until you get the entered Order Made After Application (Form F51).

You'll need

• The entered order
• A copy of the order for the other person
• A copy of the order for BCFMA, if necessary

Pick up the approved order

You must either go to the court registry to pick up your order or provide a self-addressed envelope and ask the clerk to mail it to you. The entered (signed, sealed, and filed) order is your official court order. Be sure to keep a copy of the order for yourself.

Give a copy to the other person

You're responsible for mailing, giving, or emailing a copy of the entered order to the other person. Do this as soon as possible.

You've now gone through all the steps required to get an interim family order in Supreme Court. Thank you for using our step-by-step guide.