Who these guides are for

These self-help guides are for people who want to get a final custody, access, guardianship, and/or child or spousal support order, if you and the other party agree on what the order should say. This is sometimes also called a consent order.

If you have children, these guides can help you get the final order you need before you can use our do-your-own divorce guides to get an undefended (uncontested) divorce. This guide won't tell you how to apply for a divorce.

In some cases, you may get a divorce order and your final family order at the same time. Get legal advice about how to do this, as you may be able to combine the steps from the different guides. However, these guides are designed for separate applications.

A family law case can move forward with or without a divorce. You'll find an overview of the family law process in the chart, Family Law Process, With or Without a Divorce, on the Ministry of Justice’s website.

If you and the other party are having some difficulty agreeing on the terms of your order, consider the following options to help you work out the terms of your order:

• Parenting After Separation courses
• Family justice counsellors
• Private mediation
• Notice to Mediate
• Collaborative family law

Choosing Provincial or Supreme Court

You can get a support, custody, guardianship, or access consent order from either the Provincial (Family) Court of British Columbia or the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Your first step is deciding which court you should apply to. See the multimedia presentation If you need to choose a court to find out which court would be best for your case. Also read our fact sheet Do you need to go to Provincial (Family) Court or Supreme Court?, watch the video Choosing a Court (six minutes), or listen to our audio clip to find out which court would be best for your case.

You can also read our fact sheet Which laws apply to your case? or watch our audio-visual clip Which laws apply to your family law case? for more information about which court you should go to and which law(s) you can use to get your order.

Once you have the information you need, select the appropriate court below to go to the self-help guides.