Family
The Court of King's Bench of Alberta has sole jurisdiction over divorce and the division of property in the Province of Alberta, and presides over matters involving child and spousal support and child custody and access.
Additional contact information for family litigants is available on the Court’s Legal Resources & Useful Links page.
Alberta Rules of Court
The Alberta Rules of Court govern practice and procedure in the Court of King's Bench of Alberta and all persons who come before the Court for the resolution of a claim; whether the person is a self-represented litigant or is represented by a lawyer.
Alberta Rules of Court (Reg 124/2010)
Family Law Steering Committee
The Family Law Steering Committee has primary responsibility for policy development in the area of family law. The mandate of the Committee is to provide support and assistance to Judges so that they may fairly adjudicate the legal issues in family law cases in a just, efficient and appropriate manner.
International Child Abduction
In cases of high conflict separation, a situation may arise where one parent effectively abducts the child from the other parent and then leaves the country with the child. The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention), which became law in Alberta on February 1, 1987, was designed to help the parents who have been left behind to locate and retrieve their children from the abducting parent in a foreign country. Applications to return a child located in Alberta to their home country are usually brought before the Court of King's Bench, which has developed the following documents to assist parties in preparing return applications.
- User's Guide
- Preparing Return Applications
- Return Application Flowchart
- Alberta Procedural Protocol
- Additional Resources
- Recommended Practices for Court-to-Court Judicial Communication
Court Directed Services
Other court-directed services are available to assist parents in resolving disputes concerning child-related issues. Parties may apply to the Court to access these services, or the Court may direct parties to these services.
Parental Conflict Intervention - in family law proceedings where child parenting time / custody / access is at issue, the Court may appoint a chartered psychologist or social worker to facilitate resolution of parenting issues quickly and effectively. At the conclusion of the parental conflict intervention, the parenting expert forwards a letter to the Court to assist the Court in determining what is best for the child. While parties are responsible for paying for the assessment, they may qualify for a subsidy to offset the costs.
For more information, consult your lawyer or refer to the Court of King's Bench Family Law Practice Note 7, Court of King's Bench Family Law Practice Note 8 and list of psychologists and social workers.
Bi-Lateral Custody Assessments - where an application for parenting time / custody / access has been filed with the Court of King's Bench ad resolution is not possible requiring the Court to determine best interests of the child, the parties may be referred to a parenting expert for a bi-lateral custody assessment. The parenting expert evaluates the circumstances of the parties and provides a written report of their assessment and recommendations to the Court. While parties are responsible for paying for the assessment, they may qualify for a subsidy to offset the costs.
For more information, consult your lawyer or refer to the Court of King's Bench Family Law Practice Note 8.
Publications
Information on upcoming Town Hall Meetings may be found on the Town Hall Meetings resource page.