Family Law Deadlines in BC: The Two-Year Limit on Property and Spousal Support Claims

If you separated or divorced and never finished dividing property or sorting out spousal support, there may be a deadline running. BC's Family Law Act gives spouses two years to start a claim for property division, pension division or spousal support, and missing it can end the claim.

The rule is short, but the details matter: the start date is different for married and unmarried spouses, agreements have their own clock, and some forms of dispute resolution pause the count. Here is how section 198 works.

Most family claims have no deadline

Section 198(1) of the Family Law Act starts from a simple position: subject to the Act, a family law proceeding may be started at any time. Child support, guardianship, parenting arrangements and contact with a child are not subject to the two-year limit discussed below. One narrow exception: a child support claim against a stepparent must be started within one year after the stepparent last contributed to the child's support.

The main exceptions are claims about money and property between spouses. Those have a firm time limit, and people who waited to "deal with it later" can find their options narrowed.

This article is about family law time limits only. Other kinds of claims, such as debts or contract disputes, are governed by BC's Limitation Act, covered in our article on the general two-year limitation period in BC.

The two-year limit and when it starts

Under section 198(2), a spouse must start a proceeding no later than two years after the start date to ask for an order to:

• Divide family property or family debt under Part 5.
• Divide a pension under Part 6.
• Receive spousal support under Part 7.

The start date depends on the relationship:

• Married spouses. Two years after the date a judgment granting a divorce is made, or after an order declaring the marriage a nullity. The clock does not start at separation.
• Unmarried spouses. For couples who lived in a marriage-like relationship, two years after the date they separated.

For married couples, note that the count runs from the date the divorce judgment is made. Under the Divorce Act a divorce usually takes effect on the 31st day after the judgment, but section 198 refers to the judgment itself, so do not count from the later date.

For unmarried couples, the separation date is often the hard part. The Act says spouses may be separated even while living in the same home, and a court can look at things like one spouse telling the other they intend to separate permanently. If the date is uncertain, treat the earliest arguable date as the one that matters. Our article on common-law separation and property explains when unmarried partners count as spouses for property division.

Agreements have their own clock

If you signed an agreement about property or spousal support and now want to challenge it, section 198(3) gives you two years from when you first discovered, or reasonably ought to have discovered, the grounds for setting it aside or replacing it. That discovery date can be earlier than you think. If you suspected at signing that assets were left out or that you were pressured, the clock may already be running.

When the clock pauses

Section 198(5) suspends the two-year limits in section 198(2) while the parties are engaged in:

• Family dispute resolution with a family dispute resolution professional. Under the Act, that includes family justice counsellors, parenting coordinators, lawyers advising a party, and mediators and arbitrators who meet the regulation's requirements.
• A prescribed process. The regulation currently prescribes certain early resolution requirements under the Provincial Court Family Rules.

Whether a particular stretch of negotiation counts, and exactly when it started and ended, can be disputed. Do not plan around a suspension you cannot prove. Keep records of mediation dates, signed agreements to mediate and correspondence.

Spousal support reviews and the Divorce Act

Two further points can affect a support claim:

• Reviews. The two-year limit does not apply to a review of spousal support under sections 168 or 169 of the Family Law Act.
• The Divorce Act. Married spouses can also claim spousal support under the federal Divorce Act, which does not contain the Family Law Act's two-year limit. That can matter for a married spouse who missed the provincial deadline, but delay can still affect the outcome, and property and pension division are governed by the Family Law Act. Get advice before relying on it.

What to do if the deadline is close

The limit is met by starting a proceeding, not by sending a letter or opening negotiations. In the Supreme Court, that usually means filing a notice of family claim that includes the property, pension or support claims. Under the Supreme Court Family Rules, an unserved notice of family claim stays in force for 12 months and can be renewed by court order, and a renewed notice remains available to prevent the operation of a statutory limitation. Serve it promptly all the same.

• Find your dates. Your separation date, the date of any divorce order, and the dates of any mediation or other dispute resolution.
• List what is unresolved. Property, debts, pensions and spousal support.
• Act early. A claim filed to protect your position can still be settled.

Close to the two-year mark? Check your dates now

Our family lawyers can confirm which deadline applies to you, work out when it started, and take the steps needed to protect a property, pension or spousal support claim.

Call 604-259-2844 or send us a message to arrange a consultation at our Vancouver office.