Script 112 gives information only, not legal advice. If you have a legal problem or need legal advice, you should speak to a lawyer. For the name of a lawyer to consult, call Lawyer Referral Service at 604.687.3221 in the lower mainland or 1.800.663.1919 elsewhere in British Columbia.

This script explains why you may need interim order in a family law case in the British Columbia Supreme Court, how to apply for the order, and what to do before the hearing. At the end of the script, other information sources with much more detail are listed, including where to get the Supreme Court Rules and Forms.

Why you may need an interim order in a family law case in the Supreme Court
People involved in a family law case will often need an “interim order” after the case has begun but before it has resolved. Interim orders are meant to be temporary and to last only until another interim order is made or until the case concludes with a final order or a settlement. Interim orders can deal with urgent problems that can’t wait, such as stopping someone from disposing of assets or stopping the children from leaving town, or they can deal with questions about how the family will function until the case concludes, such as where the children will live, whether support should be paid and if so to whom and in what amount.

Applying for an interim order
Rule 10-6 of the Supreme Court Family Rules describes how to apply for an interim order, called making an “interim application.” One party (the “applicant”) starts the process by preparing a Notice of Application (using Form F31 found in Appendix A of the Rules). This form tells the judge the sort of order the applicant is looking for, explains why the judge should make that order, says what materials the applicant will be relying on in making the application, and says the day when the application will be heard. The applicant will also prepare at least one affidavit, in Form F30. An affidavit is a written statement of the facts important to the application that is signed under oath before a commissioner for taking oaths. The affidavit tells the court the information it needs to make a decision on the application.

Unless the application is made without notice to the other parent (the “application respondent”) or by consent, both the Notice of Application and affidavit must be sent to the application respondent by ordinary service. Rule 6-2 describes ordinary service. Most of the time, ordinary service is effected by mail to an address for service, by fax to a fax number for service or by email to an email address for service.

Picking the hearing date
You must specify the date when the application will be heard in the Notice of Application. Except for urgent applications, the very soonest an application can be heard is eight business days (not counting weekend and holidays) from the date the application materials are served on the application respondent. You get to pick the day of the hearing, unless the hearing will take two hours or longer in which case you must schedule the hearing date with the court registry staff. Even if your application will take less than two hours, you should contact the court registry to find out whether the day you’ve picked is a day when family law matters are heard in chambers. Some court registries only have family law chambers on certain days.

Responding to the application
The application respondent has five business days after the day of service to file his or her Application Response and supporting affidavits in court and serve them, by ordinary service, on the applicant. The Application Response says which of the orders sought in the application are agreed to and which are opposed, and says why the court shouldn’t make the orders that are opposed.

Replying to the application respondent’s response
The applicant is allowed to prepare one more affidavit to answer any important points raised in the application respondent’s materials. This affidavit must be filed in court and served on the application respondent by ordinary service before 4:00 p.m. two business days before the date set for the hearing of the application.

The Application Record
The applicant is responsible for preparing the Application Record for the hearing. An Application Record is a binder containing the following documents, separated by tabs:

1. the Notice of Application,
2. the Application Response,
3. the affidavits relied on by the applicant, and
4. the affidavits relied on by the application respondent.

Any kind of bound format will do, but it’s usually easiest to put these documents into an ordinary three-ring binder. The Application Record must begin with an index which says what document is at each tab.

The applicant must file the Application Record in court and serve a copy of the index on the application respondent by ordinary service before 4:00 p.m. two business days before the date set for the hearing of the application.

The hearing
Judges and Masters hear interim applications in chambers, a courtroom open to the public. Rule 10-6 says how interim applications are filed and brought to a hearing in chambers. Rule 10-3 talks about the hearing process.

On the day of the hearing, the applicant and the application respondent should go to the chambers courtroom at 9:45 a.m. and check in with the court clerk to say they are present in court. When the court clerk calls the name of the case, the applicant and application respondent (or their lawyers) approach the lawyers’ table and introduce themselves to the judge or master. The judge or master has already received the Application Record.

The applicant starts the hearing by summarizing his or her Notice of Application and the facts in the applicant’s affidavits. The applicant explains why the court should make the orders sought. The applicant does not “take the stand” to give oral evidence and the applicant will not be questioned by the application respondent. It is important to know that the applicant cannot give the court any more evidence or facts than what is already in his or her affidavits; all of the evidence you give to the court must be found in the affidavits.

When the applicant finishes, the application respondent will summarize his or her Application Response, the facts in the application respondent’s affidavits, and explain why the court shouldn’t do as the applicant asks. The application respondent does not give oral evidence and the application respondent will not be questioned by the applicant. The application respondent cannot give the court any more evidence or facts apart from what is already in his or her affidavits; all of the evidence must be in the affidavits.

After the application respondent finishes, the applicant will be allowed to make a short reply to answer any new points raised by the application respondent.

The decision
After reviewing the documents and hearing the parties’ arguments, the judge or master will make an order. The court may make all or some of the orders sought by the applicant or dismiss the application altogether.

If one of the parties is represented by a lawyer, the lawyer will prepare the written interim order and file it in court. If neither party has a lawyer, a court clerk will prepare the written order. The order is in force from the moment the judge or master gives his or her decision, not from the date the written order is prepared, and the interim order will remain in force until the court makes another interim order on the same subject or until the family law case is resolved by a trial or a settlement.

Summary
The applicant begins an interim application by filing a Notice of Application and supporting affidavits in court and serving those materials on the application respondent at least eight business days before the date set for the hearing.

If the application respondent wants to object to the application, he or she must file an Application Response and supporting affidavits in court and serve those materials on the applicant at least five business days after the date he or she was served with the applicant’s materials.

By 4:00 p.m. on the business day that is one business day before the hearing date, the applicant must: file any reply affidavits in court and serve them on the application respondent; prepare the Application Record and file it in court; and, serve a copy of the Application Record index on the application respondent.

Check in with the court clerk by 9:45 a.m. on the day of the hearing. When the application is called, the judge or master will listen to each party explain why the orders sought by the applicant should or shouldn’t be made. The judge or master will make a decision which is then prepared as a written order and filed in court. The interim order is in force from the moment of the judge or master’s decision and remains in force until another interim order is made or until the family law case is resolved.

More information
Much more information on this complicated topic is available on several websites, including:

• The Justice Education Society’s “Court Tips for Parents” at www.courttips.ca has instructional videos on presenting a case in chambers.
• The Vancouver Justice Access Centre's Self-Help and Information Services at www.supremecourtselfhelp.bc.ca. Also, see the Court’s home page at www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court with a link to Court Services Online.
• The Legal Services Society’s Family Law in British Columbia website at www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca – see the self-help guides at www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca/guides/.
• The Justice Education Society at www.justiceeducation.ca – click on “Self-Help”, then on “Guidebooks for Representing Yourself in Supreme court”.
• The Supreme Court Family Rules and Forms are available at www.bclaws.ca – click on “Statutes and Regulations” and then on “C” in the alphabetical. The Supreme Court Family Rules are listed under the Court Rules Act.
• JP Boyd’s BC Family Law Resource at www.bcfamilylawresource.com – click on “The Legal System” and then on “Interim Applications”. This webpage includes charts of the minimum timelines for bringing an interim application to a hearing.

[updated December 2010]

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