Legal Aid BC provides free child support mediation

VANCOUVER, BC, July 7, 2021 /CNW/ - Legal Aid BC has expanded its online Family Resolution Centre to now include child support. Separated parents can now use the service to resolve issues around child support, parenting time, vacations and other important details of their children's care.

The Family Resolution Centre is a confidential, web-based negotiation tool that parents can use on their own, or to request free assistance from a professional family law mediator.

"By adding child support services, we're covering the full range of parenting issues people need to navigate when separating," said Sherry MacLennan, Legal Aid BC's vice president, Public Legal Information and Applications.

"The addition expands legal aid services and helps ensure all British Columbians have equal access to justice," she said. "The online service will save people time, stress and money by helping them avoid going to court, while obtaining fair and timely solutions to their legal problems."

The Family Resolution Centre is part of Legal Aid BC's MyLawBC. MyLawBC is a unique, interactive website that helps people solve a variety of legal problems ranging from family breakdown to missed mortgage payments.

With the Family Resolution Centre, couples can work to resolve family issues themselves, or they can request help from a professional mediator qualified under the BC Family Law Act. Five hours of free mediation is available for parenting issues and child support, for a total of ten hours for parents who need to resolve both.

This expanded service is part of Legal Aid BC's mission to increase access to justice in BC. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated a demand for online tools that offer direct help from experts. The combination of self-help tools with expert assistance will help British Columbians get the support they need and avoid going to court. The service complements the other family law services offered by Legal Aid BC.

To access the Family Resolution Centre, go to MyLawBC (mylawbc.com).

The Family Resolution Centre was developed by Legal Aid BC in cooperation with Tyler Technologies. It was funded with the help of the Law Foundation of BC, and the Notary Foundation of BC.

About Legal Aid BC
Legal Aid BC (LABC) provides legal aid in British Columbia. Created by the Legal Services Society Act in 1979, LABC is a non-profit organization whose priority is to serve the interests of low income people who have legal problems. LABC is funded primarily by the provincial government and receives grants from the Law Foundation and Notary Foundation. Legal representation services are available for financially eligible people facing some types of family law matters, and child protection, refugee, or criminal law problems. Public legal education and information is integral to our services. It includes legal information and community referrals. We provide online information through our LABC website, Family Law in BC website, Aboriginal Legal Aid in BC website, and MyLawBC website.

SOURCE Legal Aid BC

Jaqueline Wood, Manager, Communications, Legal Aid BC, 604.601.6220, [email protected]