Helping patrons with court forms

BC court forms are freely available online through the BC Government in PDF format. You can also find direct links to the forms through Clicklaw, a freely available online resource that provides legal information from trusted, BC-focused agencies and specialists.

Don’t have access to a PDF reader? Court forms are also available in other formats.

Plain text

The court rules provide plain text versions of the forms which patrons can fill out and file with the registry. These forms are not fillable online; patrons will need to copy the forms into a Word Doc to edit and fill out the forms.

• Supreme Civil Court Forms: the forms are listed in order by form number. Click on the link to bring up the plain text version.
• Supreme Family Court Forms: the forms are listed in order by form number. Click on the link to bring up the plain text version.
• Probate Court Forms: the forms are listed in order by form number. Click on the link to bring up the plain text version.
• Small Claims Court Forms (Provincial Civil Court): the forms are listed in order by form number. Click on the link to bring up an image of the form which can be printed.
• Provincial Family Court Forms: the forms are listed in order by form number. Click on the link to bring up an image of the form which can be printed.

Word

Some court forms are available in Word format which patrons can fill out and file with the registry.

• Supreme Civil Court Forms: CLBC can provide some Supreme Civil Court Forms in Word format from our subscription databases. Please contact our reference desk to request a copy!
• Supreme Family Court Forms: The Clicklaw Wikibook JP Boyd on Family Law has Word doc versions of some Supreme Court forms.

The Ministry of the Attorney General provides online access to the BC court forms and is responsible for any technical and usability problems with them. They’ve provided this online guide to help with troubleshooting the forms, but restrictions on your public access computers (PACs) may cause additional issues regarding downloading, saving, and editing forms.

Here are some troubleshooting tips that you may find helpful:

• Many browsers will need to be configured to download BC Court Forms. There are configuration instructions for Google Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge available on the court forms website. Note: you will need to click into the link for court level/area of law to see the instructions.
  1. Note: the forms do not save automatically once downloaded. Patrons will need to save to the desktop or to USB.
  2. Note: if you are having trouble downloading a court form, right click on the hyperlinked form name and select Save Link As or Save Target As. This will allow you to save a copy of the PDF form to the computer. You can then open the PDF court form from the saved copy on the computer. Note this will only work if Adobe Reader is installed on the computer.
• Opening the forms usually requires a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader) and downloading documents to the computer drive. Some PACs will restrict this kind of use.
• Patrons may need reminding that their work is not saved online or on a downloaded file. To save their work, they should email the forms to themselves or save copies to a personal drive.

Also check out Common Questions about the Supreme Court PDF forms on Legal Aid BC’s Family Law website. These tips and tricks are useful for all Supreme Court Forms, not just family forms.

Which court forms your patron needs depends on what area of law their legal problem is in and what court level they are working in. Each court level has different legal issues they can address; for example, if your patron wants to do their own divorce, they will need to go to Supreme Family Court, not Provincial Family Court.

Not every legal problem needs the same court forms; depending on what your patron is trying to do, different forms will be needed. For example, a patron doing their own divorce will need different forms than a patron changing a court order. There are many resources available online and in print which can help you find out what court forms your patron needs for their specific legal issue. Check out the Online Resources and Print Resources tabs for links!

As library workers, we want to ensure we are providing reliable legal information, not advising our patrons in their legal matter. Make sure to always have a reliable resource to point to when assisting your patron in determining what court forms they need. The Online Resources and Print Resources tabs below will give you places to start.

As a library worker, you may be asked to help troubleshoot technical issues, guide patrons to forms, and help with ‘de-mystifying’ the forms (i.e. help patrons understand them). It is outside your role to help patrons complete court forms or advise on what to include in them. This type of help is considered legal advice and is provided by legal professionals. However, some of the resources you can use to determine which court forms are needed will also give your patrons some guidance on filling the forms out as well. Check out the Online Resources and Print Resources tabs below for help!

Sometimes patrons will ask if there are completed examples of forms available to help them fill out their own forms. Some completed sample forms are available for family law matters:

• Family Law in BC – Supreme Court Forms
• JP Boyd on Family Law Wikibook - Supreme Court Forms (Family Law)

Courthouse Libraries may also be able to find completed examples of some civil court forms from previously filed court documents in our databases. Please contact our reference desk for help!

Some advocates and organizations offer help to members of the public needing to fill out court forms. One organization you can refer patrons to is Amici Curiae (AC) Friends of Court, which offers free court form help and is available virtually throughout the province. To find other programs, you can search Clicklaw's Services or PovNet's Find an Advocate tool. 

These resources can help your patrons determine which court forms they need and provide some useful guidance for patrons filling out the forms. Make sure to double check the court level when showing patrons a resource! If a patron is doing something in Supreme Family Court, you want to make sure the resource is specifically for that court level and area of law.

These titles are available at Courthouse Libraries BC branches throughout the province and possibly in your collection through LawMatters. If your library does not have a copy, please refer your patron to CLBC! You can check our catalogue to see if the title is available at a branch near you. We can also email scanned sections from our books to you or your patron at no cost.