(LPSC)Prepare for and attend the Family Management Conference

Prepare for and attend the Family Management Conference

Your Family Management Conference is your first step with the court. Your application and the other person’s counter application (if they filed one) will both be before the court.

To be prepared for your Family Management Conference (FMC), you need:

  • to know what happens at an FMC
  • all your documents or notes about what you want, or even a draft order.

For more information, see Family Management Conferences in Provincial Court. Your hearing won’t be as formal as a full trial.

If you resolve your issues at the FMC, the judge will make an order and adjourn your case.

Your lawyer or the other person’s lawyer will write up the order. If neither of you has a lawyer, the court will write up the order and send it to you both.

The order is effective as soon as the judge makes it, unless they specify a different date.

If you need more orders or to change your orders after your case is adjourned, you can file a form and come back  to court. You can have another FMC, a Family Settlement Conference, a hearing, or a trial. (See Final and interim orders for more information.)

If your case is in Kelowna Provincial Court, see our Child Support page for important information
If you receive a child or spousal support order, you can register it with the BC Family Maintenance Agency (BCFMA). BCFMA is a provincial government service that helps people get the support (maintenance) payments the judge orders.

For information about how to contact the BCFMA, see the BCFMA website.

If some or none of your issues are resolved the judge will send you both to one of the following:

  • another Family Management Conference
  • a Family Settlement Conference
  • a hearing
  • a trial (cases hardly ever go straight to a trial)

What happens at a family settlement conference?

A Family Settlement Conference (FSC) is a private, informal one-hour meeting between:

  • you,
  • the other person involved in your case (the law calls them the other party),
  • a Provincial Court judge, and
  • your lawyers, if either of you has one.

At a Family Settlement Conference, the judge will help you try to sort out some or all of your issues. It's a good chance for you both to try to settle the issues affecting your children.

The judge might make suggestions about things you can do to sort out your issues, but you don't have to do what they suggest.

If you don't agree with what the judge is suggesting and think a different judge might make a different order, you can:

  • refuse to do what the judge at the FSC suggests, and
  • go to trial, where the judge might make an order that works better for you.

See Trials in Provincial Court for more information about hearings and trials.

If your family law case is in Kamloops, a judge may offer you the option of an “informal trial.”
See Informal trials - Kamloops court registry.

Updated on 24 April 2024