BC Supreme Court Family Rules Changed October 1, 2026 - What It Means for Your Family Case

How Does the Serve Then File Process Work Now?

The amended Rule 10-6 of the Supreme Court Family Rules reverses the order. The sequence now runs like this:

1. Serve first. The applicant serves a copy of an unfiled notice of application in Form F31, along with any affidavit or other evidence to be relied on, on every party and on anyone else affected by the orders sought (Rule 10-6(2) of the Supreme Court Family Rules). Nothing is filed yet.
2. The other side responds. A person who wants to oppose serves an unfiled application response in Form F32 with their own evidence. The deadline is 5 business days after service for most applications, 21 days for a summary trial application under Rule 11-3 of the Supreme Court Family Rules, and 14 days for applications to change or set aside a final order, a filed agreement, a filed parenting coordinator determination or a filed arbitration award (Rule 10-6(8) and (8.1) of the same rules).
3. Reply, if needed. The applicant may serve reply affidavits, generally within 3 business days (Rule 10-6(12) of the Supreme Court Family Rules).
4. Then book the hearing. Only once everyone served has responded or run out of time may the applicant set the application down, by filing a new form, the notice of hearing of application in Form F31.1, together with the notice of application and the affidavits that were served (Rule 10-6(13.1) and (13.4) of the same rules). Most hearings are set for 9:45 a.m. on a regular chambers day, and a registrar fixes the date for anything estimated over 2 hours (Rule 10-6(13.2) and (13.3) of the same rules).
5. File and serve the notice of hearing. The filed notice of hearing of application must be served at least 4 business days before the hearing for most applications, with longer periods for the variation-type applications and for long hearings (Rule 10-6(13.5) of the Supreme Court Family Rules).

One more change deserves its own line: the change and set aside applications listed above, along with applications for contempt or for imprisonment under section 231(2) of the Family Law Act, must now be served by personal service (Rule 10-6(2.1) of the Supreme Court Family Rules). Our guide to serving court documents in BC explains what personal service involves.

What Else Changed on October 1?

B.C. Reg. 105/2026 also replaced a set of court forms, so Forms F17, F31, F32, F75, F82.2 to F82.4 and F94.1 all have new versions, and the new Form F31.1 joins them. Petitions now use a notice of hearing of petition with adjusted timelines under Rule 17-1 of the Supreme Court Family Rules, contempt applications under Rule 21-7 of the same rules follow the new service sequence, and several deadlines across the rules moved from one full business day to 2 business days. The Supreme Court Civil Rules received mirror amendments, centred on Rule 8-1 of those rules.

What Does Not Change?

The front end of a divorce is untouched. A case still starts with a Notice of Family Claim under Rule 4-1 of the Supreme Court Family Rules, and a spouse who is served still has 30 days to respond under Rule 4-3 of the same rules. If papers just landed on you, our post on the first 30 days after being served still applies. The desk order divorce under Rule 10-10 of the Supreme Court Family Rules is also unchanged, so an uncontested divorce finishes on paperwork exactly as our step-by-step desk order divorce guide describes. Urgent applications under Rule 10-9 and the judicial case conference requirement in Rule 7-1 of the Supreme Court Family Rules also remain as they were.

What Happens to Cases Already Underway?

B.C. Reg. 105/2026 contains no transition provisions. It simply took effect on October 1, 2026, and the Supreme Court of British Columbia announced that day that the new procedure applies to bringing applications in civil and family chambers. Your existing family law case continues: pleadings, disclosure and conferences are unaffected, and only the mechanics of bringing an application changed. The regulation does not say how an application that was filed and awaiting a hearing before October 1 is to be completed, so if you are mid-application, confirm the path with the registry or a lawyer before your next step.

What Should You Do Differently Now?

Serve complete materials the first time, because what you serve is what the court will eventually see. Diarize the response deadline the day you are served, since 5 business days is short and the clock runs from service, not filing. Expect the other side's position in writing before any hearing is booked, and treat that exchange as a genuine chance to settle or narrow the issues. And when you set a hearing down, remember that the filing now happens at the end.

If you are weighing an application, our divorce lawyers can tell you whether the new process helps or hurts your timing, and our contested divorce page shows where applications fit in the larger case. For the whole landscape from separation to final order, start with our complete divorce guide.

Talk to a Family Lawyer About the New Rules

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This post is legal information, not legal advice. Rules and fees are current to the date of writing and can change.