Definitions

1   In this regulation:

"Act" means the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act;

"child support guidelines" has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Family Law Act Regulation, B.C. Reg. 347/2012.

[en. B.C. Reg. 290/2016.]

Designation of courts

1.1   The Supreme Court and the Provincial Court are designated for the purpose of proceedings under the Act.

[en. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 1.]

Competent authorities

1.2   (1) The Supreme Court and the Provincial Court are competent authorities in relation to all powers and duties under the convention.

(2) The director is a competent authority in relation to the following:

(a) administering applications under article 10 (1) (b) of the convention;

(b) providing documents for the purposes of articles 25 (1) (b) and 30 (3) (b) of the convention;

(c) making requests under article 25 (2) of the convention;

(d) drawing up abstracts or extracts of decisions referred to in article 25 (3) (b) of the convention.

[en. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 1.]

Prescribed circumstances — section 2.06 (5) of Act

1.3   (1) In this section, "decision" means a decision within the meaning of article 19 (1) of the convention.

(2) For the purposes of section 2.06 (5) of the Act, an abstract of a decision may be substituted for the complete text of the decision if the abstract is

(a) drawn up by an appropriate authority in a contracting state, and

(b) is substantially in the form recommended and published from time to time by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

[en. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 1.]

Rules respecting direct requests

1.4   If a direct request under article 37 of the convention is made to a competent authority other than the Supreme Court or the Provincial Court, the direct request must

(a) be directed to the central authority referred to in section 2.03 (1) of the Act, and

(b) be treated as an application under article 10 (1) (a) or (2) (a) of the convention.

[en. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 1.]

Required information — sections 9 (1) and 29 (1) of Act

2   (1) The notice referred to in sections 9 (1) and 29 (1) of the Act must require a respondent to provide the following:

(a) the respondent's response to the support application or support variation application, as the case may be;

(b) subject to subsection (2), the respondent's financial information in one of the following forms:

(i) if the notice relates to a support application or support variation application in the Provincial Court, Form 4 "Financial Statement" of the Provincial Court Family Rules, B.C. Reg. 120/2020, or a form similar to that form;

(ii) if the notice relates to a support application or support variation application in the Supreme Court, Form F8 "Financial Statement" of the Supreme Court Family Rules, B.C. Reg. 169/2009, or a form similar to that form.

(2) Subsection (1) (b) applies only to a respondent who is responding to one or both of the following:

(a) a support application or support variation application respecting spousal support;

(b) a support application or support variation application respecting child support and at least one of the following applies:

(i) the application is for the respondent to pay child support;

(ii) the application involves a child for whom support is claimed who is at least 19 years of age;

(iii) the income of the person asked to pay child support is more than $150 000;

(iv) the application includes a claim for special or extraordinary expenses under section 7 of the child support guidelines;

(v) there are two or more children, the applicant and respondent are both guardians of each of the children, and each guardian has the majority of parenting time with one or more of those children;

(vi) the applicant and respondent have parenting arrangements in which each has at least 40% of the parenting time, and the child is the subject of the application;

(vii) the application includes a claim of undue hardship under section 10 of the child support guidelines;

(viii) the application is for an amount of support other than the amount set out in the applicable table in Schedule I to the child support guidelines.

[en. B.C. Reg. 290/2016; am. B.C. Reg. 23/2021, App. 7.]

Notice of registration of foreign order

2.1   For the purposes of section 19 (1) (a) (ii) of the Act, the British Columbia court registry must send notice of a registration to the appropriate authority of the reciprocating jurisdiction in which the party who is required to pay support under the order resides.

[en. B.C. Reg. 23/2021, App. 3, s. 1; am. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 2.]

Notice under section 19 (2) of Act

3   (1) Notice of an application to set aside the registration of a foreign order under section 19 of the Act must include the following information:

(a) which of the circumstances referred to in section 19 (3) (b) (i), (ii) or (iii) of the Act the applicant is relying on to set aside the registration of the foreign order;

(b) the evidence on which the applicant is relying to support the application to set aside the registration of the foreign order.

(2) For the purposes of section 19 (2) of the Act, an applicant must

(a) serve notice of an application to set aside the registration of a foreign order on the designated authority by certified mail at least 30 days before the date the application is to be heard by the court, and

(b) at least 10 days before the hearing, file proof of the service of the notice with the court in which the application is to be heard, in accordance with the rules of that court.

[am. B.C. Reg. 64/2021, s. 3.]

Required information — section 25 of Act

4   For the purposes of section 25 (3) (e) of the Act, the applicant must include a statement that sets out in detail

(a) the financial circumstances of the applicant at the time the statement is sworn, and

(b) the basis for the application, including changes in the applicant's financial circumstances from the time the support order was made until the time the applicant's statement is sworn.

[am. B.C. Reg. 23/2021, App. 3, s. 2.]

Currency conversion — section 39 of Act

5   (1) For the purposes of section 39 (2) (a) of the Act, the designated authority must convert a foreign support amount by applying the rate of conversion, as determined by the Provincial Treasury, on or about the date of registration of the foreign support order.

(2) The director or, if the foreign support order is not filed with the director, the designated authority, may, from time to time, revise the conversion of the foreign support amount into Canadian currency to reflect

(a) current conversion rates, or

(b) the conversion calculations of a reciprocating jurisdiction or contracting state.

[en. B.C. Reg. 303/2012, s. (b) (i); am. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 3.]

Direction for method of attendance

5.1   (1) The chief judge of the Provincial Court may direct that a class of court appearances for proceedings in the Provincial Court may or must be attended by telephone, video conference or other means of electronic communication.

(2) A direction under subsection (1) may be different for different court registries, types of court appearances, classes of persons or circumstances.

[en. B.C. Reg. 275/2022.]

Judge may specify method of attendance

5.2   (1) A judge of the Provincial Court may, despite a direction made under section 5.1 (1), allow a person to attend a court appearance by any method of attendance that the judge specifies.

(2) The judge may consider the following in making an order or direction under subsection (1):

(a) the distance between the person's residence and the location of the court appearance;

(b) difficulty in attending because of illness or disability;

(c) the financial cost associated with attending;

(d) the expense incurred, or savings realized, by using electronic communication;

(e) any concerns related to security, including a risk of family violence;

(f) any difficulty in conducting the court appearance that may arise from using electronic communication.

[en. B.C. Reg. 275/2022.]

Prescribed certification-exempt records

5.3   The following records are prescribed as certification-exempt records:

(a) an extraprovincial order within the meaning of section 16 (1) of the Act, if it is provided by an appropriate authority in a reciprocating jurisdiction in Canada;

(b) a foreign order within the meaning of section 16 (1) of the Act, if it is provided by an appropriate authority in a reciprocating jurisdiction outside Canada;

(c) a decision, within the meaning of article 19 (1) of the convention, respecting support, if it is provided by an appropriate authority in a contracting state.

[en. B.C. Reg. 213/2023, App. 2, s. 4.]

Reciprocating jurisdiction

6   Pursuant to section 44 (3) of the Act, each jurisdiction referred to in the following Schedule is a reciprocating jurisdiction:

Schedule

[am. B.C. Regs. 351/2003; 164/2004; 303/2012, s. (b) (ii).]