This website deals with almost every aspect of family law in British Columbia, from fundamental issues such as child custody and spousal support, to more rarified issues such as dealing with property located outside the province and the psychological dimensions of separation, and does so in plain, easily understood English with a touch of humour. Common legal words and phrases in the text of the website are linked to helpful pop-up explanatory definitions, and a very basic but thorough introduction to the law and court system is offered in the chapter "Family Law 101."

The website features an extensive list of on- and off-line resources, including:

1. government and private agencies;
2. resource texts commonly used by family law professionals;
3. key statutes relevant to family law;
4. lawyers' websites and lawyer listing services; and,
5. pro bono organizations.

The "Breaking News" section contains regular updates of important court decisions and government policies relating to family law. Each chapter of this site is updated as the law about marriage, separation and divorce continues to develop.

While the website is intended primarily for the benefit of people who don't have the benefit of counsel, this website is often used by in- and out-of-province lawyers, family justice counsellors and government officials as a concise summary of the law in British Columbia; in fact, the domain "gov.bc.ca" is among the most frequent users of this site, followed fairly closely by ".gc.ca." In fact, Irwin Cotler, the former federal Minister of Justice, has said this:

"My officials have informed me of the high quality of the information provided on your Web site, including information on how to understand and apply the formulas for the spousal support advisory guidelines."

Click here to view the site's brochure in Acrobat format. Feedback from the users of this site is available in the Reviews & Write Ups section of this website.

History

This website was first published to the web in November 2001 and celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2006. Comprehensive, page-by-page updates are completed annually.

In June 2004, a new section was added to deal with same-sex and transgendered issues in family law as a result of the legalization of same-sex marriage. In January 2006, a new chapter was added to address the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, along with handy calculators that perform rough spousal support calculations using the SSAG formulae.

The most recent comprehensive review of this site commenced in January 2006 and completed in February 2006. The website continues to be updated as the law develops and government policy evolves.

Cost, Client Recruitment and Financial Support

This website is available to the public at no cost. For reasons of professional ethics and integrity, the author does not accept as clients people who have contacted him through this website; this website is provided as a purely non-profit public service, and the costs of hosting and maintaining this website are borne by the author alone.

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P from Nanaimo, BC says:

Wow. I just received a phone call from [a friend] who directed me to your site. This is excellent. I had to stop as it is overwhelming with the amount of information posted. Thanks for this awesome site.

John Pavey, the director of the Salvation Army's British Columbia pro bono program, says:

I have known about your website, but today was the first time I spent time going through it. Allow me to say that I am very impressed with the close attention you have given to providing relevant information in plain language. This is very excellent!

L from Cyberspace, BC says:

Your information was incredibly helpful. Your website is wonderful. Finally somewhere to go find answers that aren't in lawyer lingo.

D from Abbotsford, British Columbia says:

I have to admit, I was surprised and impressed to find such a great resource on the web. It has been the most straightforward information we've found in the last 7 months of researching on our own.

M from Vancouver, British Columbia says:

Thanks for the great info and particularly, the wonderful layout and images. I never thought I would laugh when I was researching my divorce proceedings!

J from Richmond, British Columbia says:

Great site... I've been a frequent flier in BC Supreme Court since 1997, acting in person since 1999. Wish your site had been around back then! I always meant to put something like this together to save other people the incredible headaches that go along with preparing for court. Glad someone beat me to the punch! It's nice to have a site with the process and documents laid out in an easy to understand fashion.

P from Victoria, British Columbia says:

I am very grateful for your service. I do not have the disposable income to hire a lawyer, so I am doing this on my own. Many people are in my situation and I am sure they too are also grateful for your advice.

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John-Paul Boyd is a family law litigator and family law mediator employed in private practice with the Vancouver family law firm Aaron Gordon & Daykin. He has practiced family law exclusively since being called to the bar in May of 2000, and is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster.

The author grew up in Toronto, Ontario and now makes his home in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Mr. Boyd flunked out of high school, after which he attended the purgatory known as night school and received his diploma in fine arts from the Ontario College of Art, followed by his bachelors and masters degrees in philosophy from the University of Guelph. He received his LLB from UBC almost without incident.

Mr. Boyd is the author of a number of articles on family law subjects published in The Lawyers Weekly, "Tsunami in a Tea Pot: Leskun v. Leskun" published in the UBC Law Review in May 2007, and other articles published in The Advocate, a journal for British Columbia lawyers and judges:

• "Intra- and Extraprovincial Restraining Orders under Section 67 of the Family Relations Act" (May 2002)
• "Dealing with Extraprovincial Family Support Orders in British Columbia" (November 2004)
• "The Interesting Evolution of Married Women's Property Rights" (July 2005)
• "Half-Baked Torts: Uncommon Causes of Action in Family Law Proceedings" (a two-part article published in January and July 2007)

Mr. Boyd is also a contributor to and author for the Continuing Legal Education Society, the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia's Dial-a-Law service and the Law Society of British Columbia's Professional Legal Training Course on family law topics. He has served as an author and faculty member for the Legal Services Society's 2006 Provincial Training Conference and, in differing capacities, as an author, chair and faculty member for a number of CLE courses, including:

• "Family Law Boot Camp" (October 2005)
• "Spousal Support Guidelines Update" (March 2006)
• "Family Law for Paralegals" (June 2006)
• "Family Law Boot Camp II" (October 2006)
• "Aging, Death and Divorce: The Big Three and The Perfect Storm" (February 2007)
• "Family Law Basics for Legal Support Staff" (March 2007)
• "Pro Bono Practice 2007" (April 2007)
• "Family Law Biennial Conference" (July 2007)
• "Writing for Litigation" (January 2008)
• "Family Law Boot Camp" (March 2008)

Mr. Boyd serves on a variety of professional committees. He is a member of the Editorial Board for CLE's British Columbia Family Practice Manual, he serves as the legislative liaison for the Vancouver family law subsection of the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia, he is a member of the CBABC's legislation and law reform committee, he serves as the CBABC representative to the Salvation Army's Pro Bono Community Council and he is a member of the BC Parenting Coordination Roster Executive Committee. Mr. Boyd is also a member of the Attorney General's Family Relations Act Review Advisory Committee.

Mr. Boyd wrote, coded and designed the entirety of this website by hand, including several child and spousal support calculators, but with the exception of certain public-domain java and perl scripts. This website was written and is maintained using the advanced technology of Microsoft WordPad.

Mr. Boyd is the recipient of the Canadian Bar Association's 2003 national Pro Bono Service Award, for this website and other pro bono work. In 2006, he received the inaugural National Pro Bono Distinguished Service Award for individual lawyers from Pro Bono Law British Columbia and Pro Bono Law Ontario. In 2008, he received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the UBC Law Alumni Association.

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The Legal System · Alternatives to Court · Children · Child Support · Spousal Support
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