The Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) gives the court details about you and your spouse, your marriage and separation, and what you're asking the court for. You need to fill out a Notice of Family Claim if you're:

• getting a divorce,
• getting an annulment,
• applying for final or non-final orders,
• applying to change a family order,
• applying for an adoption order,
• applying for an order to divide your property, assets, and/or debts,
• applying for a declaration of parentage (asking the court to declare that you're the parent of a child), or
• applying for an order under the Divorce Act or the Family Relations Act.

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Which parts should I complete?

You must fill out the first three pages of the Notice of Family Claim (see the instructions below). This form also has five schedules; you only have to fill out the schedules that apply to your situation:

• Schedule 1 — Divorce: Required if you're applying for a divorce; even if you're filing for an undefended divorce (your spouse doesn't oppose any of the orders that you're asking the court for), you have to serve the Notice of Family Claim on him or her.
  
• Schedule 2 — Children: Required if you're asking the court for any order related to the children. This includes orders about the parenting arrangements you would like (including custody, access, and guardianship, or about child support.
  
• Schedule 3 — Spousal Support: Required if you're asking the court to make an order for spousal support.
  
• Schedule 4 — Property: Required if you're asking the court for any order to do with property, like how you'll divide your assets and debts.
  
• Schedule 5 — Other Orders: Required if you're asking for any other order, including a name change.

Tips: To see a technical description of how the forms work, especially the Notice of Family Claim, watch our video, How to Use the Supreme Court Family Forms or read our fact sheet, Frequently asked technical questions about the Supreme Court family forms.

Or see the Supreme Court Civil and Family Forms "How To" Guide on the Court Services Branch website.

If you need help, see Filling out court forms — Who can help.

If you're in Vancouver and need help with these forms, the Vancouver Justice Access Centre Self-Help and Information Services can help you.

How to fill out the Notice of Family Claim (Form F3)

You must first fill out the first three pages of the Notice of Family Claim (Form F3) before you fill out the schedules that apply to your situation. The Notice of Family Claim has instructions to help you fill it out. You can either fill out the form online or print it and fill it out by hand (print neatly using dark-coloured ink).

The following are some tips to keep in mind as you fill out your form:

• You're the claimant.
• Your spouse is the respondent.
• Use full names, including your middle names.
• If you or your spouse often use an unofficial alias (nickname) or a name other than the name on your marriage certificate, be sure to include the alias as well. Click the "Add AKA/DBA" button and enter the information in the fields provided.
  Example: If your wife's legal name is Mary Jane Doe, but everyone calls her Janey Doe, click the "Add AKA/DBA" button and, in the fields provided, enter Janey Doe. Other examples of aliases include Tony for Anthony, Rick for Richard, or Tina for Christina, and so on.

Important: If you're applying for an undefended divorce, make sure all the information on what you've agreed to in your Notice of Family Claim and the schedules is the same as your separation agreement, if you have one.

At this time, earlier versions of Acrobat Reader and the Preview application on Mac computers (and some servers and the Google Chrome browser) don't support these new forms, so you may need to either update your Acrobat Reader or use a PC at your local library or a friend's place to access them.

The 5 schedules (divorce, children, spousal support, property, and other) are in the PDF form but they don't appear when you first open the file. To make them appear, either:

Click "Fill In Form" at the top of the form, then tick the appropriate boxes under "My Claims" on page 2 (as soon as you tick each of the first five options, the schedule for that option appears at the bottom of the form).

OR

Click "Prepare Paper Copy" at the top of the form and all five of the schedules will appear so you can print the form and fill it out by hand.^ Back to top

Schedule 1 — Divorce

Fill out Schedule 1 if you're applying for a divorce. You only need to get a divorce if you've been legally married. Usually the grounds for divorce are that you've been living separate and apart from your spouse for one year. If you're applying for a divorce and you and your spouse haven't lived apart for one year, you may ask for a divorce on the basis of adultery or physical or mental cruelty. If you claim a divorce on either of these grounds, you have to present evidence to the court to prove the facts of the adultery or physical or mental cruelty.

If you're asking the court to grant you a divorce either now or at a later date, you'll need to file proof of your marriage (usually a marriage certificate) along with your Notice of Family Claim. If you don't have a copy of your marriage certificate, see our self-help guide How to get a copy of your marriage certificate.

Schedule 2 — Children

Fill out Schedule 2 if you're asking the court for any order related to your children. This includes orders about the parenting arrangements you would like or about support payments for the children. For more information, see our fact sheets on Custody, Access, Guardianship, and Child support.

The following are some tips you can keep in mind as you fill out Schedule 2:

• Parenting arrangements refer to who the children will live with and how they will spend time with the other parent.
• If your access order falls under the Divorce Act, it includes the right to ask for and receive information about the child's health, education, and welfare. However, if your access order falls under the Family Relations Act, you'll also need a guardianship order to get similar rights to information about the child.
• There are different types of custody, including:
  • Sole custody — when a child lives primarily with one parent.
  • Joint custody (or shared parenting) — when a child either lives with both parents equally, or lives mostly with one parent (the child's primary residence), but the parents have agreed to share equally the rights and responsibilities for that child. Joint custody involves a great deal of communication and shared decision-making between the parents.

Schedule 3 — Spousal Support

Fill out Schedule 3 if you're asking the court to make an order for spousal support (payments to support you, not the children). For more information, see our fact sheet on Spousal support.

Note: You can claim spousal support if you and your partner were living common law; however, you must apply within one year of separating.

Schedule 4 — Property

Schedule 4 is required if you're asking the court for any order to do with property, like how you'll divide your assets and debts.

Important: If you're dividing property and assets, get legal advice. See Who can help for information on how to get a lawyer and the other resources available to you.

Schedule 5 — Other Orders

Fill out Schedule 5 if you're asking for any other orders. The main order that you might be asking for is to have your name changed. If you are, simply provide the information requested on the form.

Do I need to include any other documents with the form?

You must also file a Financial Statement (Form F8) if:

• your spouse is claiming spousal support,
• you're claiming spousal support, and/or
• your spouse is claiming child support, or
• you're claiming child support and:
  • you're claiming special expenses,
  • the child support is for your stepchildren,
  • at least one of the children for whom you're claiming support is over the age of 19,
  • you or your spouse is applying for a shared custody order,
  • you or your spouse is applying for a split custody order,
  • the party you're asking to pay child support makes more than $150,000 a year, or
  • you're claiming undue hardship.

For help, see our guide How to deal with a Supreme Court Financial Statement (Form F8).

What happens next?

When you file a Notice of Family Claim (Form F3), you and your spouse begin a family law case in Supreme Court. What happens next depends on whether your spouse responds to the Notice of Family Claim. Your family law case will move forward in different ways depending on your spouse's response. You can find a quick overview of the next steps in the process in a Ministry of Justice website chart, which shows the Flow of a Family Law Case Commenced by a Notice of Family Claim.

To determine your next step, see the relevant self-help guide for your court process.

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