(LSSC)Introduction

About this guide

This step-by-step guide is for anyone who

• lives in BC,
• wants to apply to a BC court to change an order for child or spousal support made in a divorce proceeding in another province,
• knows that their support order was made in Canada under the Divorce Act.

This guide doesn't apply to

• support orders made outside of Canada,
• support orders made in Canada but under provincial family law, or
• parenting orders.

Was your order made under the Canadian Divorce Act?

Orders about support often say they're made under the Divorce Act. Sometimes they say they're made under provincial family law (called the Family Law Act in BC). But sometimes an order doesn't say which act it's made under.

If it isn't clear which law your support order was made under, you might need to figure this out another way. Here are some clues:

• Was the order was made in one of the following courts? Only these courts have the power to make a Divorce Act order in Canada:
  • Supreme Court of British Columbia, Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or the Yukon Territory
  • Court of King's Bench in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan
  • Superior Court of Justice (or Unified Family Court) in Ontario
  • Superior Court in Québec
  • Court of Justice in Nunavut

These courts can also make support orders under provincial or territorial laws.

• If you were never legally married, your support order wasn't made under the Divorce Act.
• Child support under the Divorce Act usually refers to children as "children of the marriage." Child support under provincial or territorial laws refers to children as "children."
• If your order contains a paragraph granting the divorce, the order was made under the Divorce Act. (Older orders for divorce may refer to a decree nisi or a decree absolute.) However, support might still have been ordered under provincial or territorial law unless the order states that support is ordered under the Divorce Act.
• If the order granting your divorce is different from the support order, compare the court file number on the divorce order with the one on the support order. If the numbers are the same, the support order was likely made under the Divorce Act.

If you still aren't sure if your support order was made under the Divorce Act, contact the court registry where your order was made or the lawyer who helped you get your divorce. You may have to look at the documents filed in the court when the action was started.

If your support order was made in Canada but not under the Divorce Act

If your order wasn't made under the Divorce Act, you can't apply to have the BC Supreme Court change the order. You'll have to either:

• apply under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act,
• go back to the court that made the order, or
• apply to a BC Provincial Court and ask the other person to accept the jurisdiction of the BC court to change the order.

See Interjurisdictional orders: When a case involves more than one province, territory, or country and the Interjurisdictional Support Orders website (Attorney General ministry).

If your support order was made under the Canadian Divorce Act

Use this guide to start your own case in BC Supreme Court. The BC Provincial Court can't change Divorce Act orders.