Family lawyers in Kelowna

Divorce is federal law, so the rule is the same across Canada: the only ground is marriage breakdown, usually shown by living apart for one year or more. You or your spouse must have lived in British Columbia for a full year before applying.

Under BC's Family Law Act, couples generally share equally any property acquired during their relationship. Property each person brought into the relationship is kept, but its increase in value can be divided. The time limit to ask a court for an order is two years after a divorce order for married couples, or two years from the date of separation for unmarried couples.

Yes, if they lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years. BC's property division rules apply to them in the same way as to married couples. This is different from some other provinces, such as Ontario.

For Kelowna, both the Supreme Court and the Provincial Court sit at the Kelowna Law Courts, 1355 Water Street. Divorce and property division go to the Supreme Court; parenting, support and protection orders can also be dealt with by the Provincial Court. In BC only the Supreme Court can deal with divorce and property division; the Provincial Court can deal with parenting arrangements, child support, spousal support and protection orders.

To practise law in British Columbia a lawyer must be a member of the Law Society of British Columbia. You can look up any lawyer in the Law Society's public Lawyer Directory, which shows their practising status and any discipline history. Each lawyer on these pages was checked in that directory before being listed, but people move firms, so check again before you hire. Complaints about a lawyer go to the Law Society.