Summerland does not appear in the Province’s courthouse directory (updated October 1, 2026) or in the Provincial Court’s list of locations. A family case from Summerland is therefore filed in another town, and the rules for choosing it differ between the two courts.
Provincial Court: the registry is set by a rule
Parenting and support applications can be made in the Provincial Court, and there the registry is fixed by Rule 7 of the Provincial Court Family Rules. An earlier file between the same people stays where it is. For a new file, the test is proximity: to the child’s usual home (where the child lives most of the time) when a child is involved, and otherwise to the home of the first person to file.
The rule does not say how “closest” is measured. By road from Summerland’s municipal hall, the Penticton Law Courts are about 18 km away and the Kelowna Law Courts about 47 km, so for a child living in Summerland, Penticton is the likely answer. If you live at the north end of the district, or the child lives somewhere else, work the rule through from the real address and check with registry staff. Urgent applications are treated differently: with the court’s permission, a protection order or an order about a priority parenting matter can be sought at any registry (Rule 7(3)).
Both Penticton and Kelowna are Early Resolution Registries, so a Provincial Court case has compulsory first steps. Before an application is filed, the parties go through a needs assessment, complete parenting education and attend a session of consensual dispute resolution, after a Form 1 Notice to Resolve has been filed and served; urgent protection and a few other orders are exempt. In Penticton those steps are run by the Family Justice Centre in the courthouse, which takes appointments by phone and is not open for drop-ins. Our Penticton family law page sets out each step, the exemptions and what happens if you are the person served.
Supreme Court: divorce and property
A divorce, and the division of a house, savings, pensions or a business, are for the Supreme Court. Property and pensions sit outside the Provincial Court Family Rules altogether, the only exception being a companion animal. Penticton and Kelowna both have Supreme Court registries, and the early resolution steps above do not apply there. If your separation involves a divorce or property as well as parenting, it may make sense to bring everything in the Supreme Court; that is one of the first decisions we make with you.
Once granted, a divorce becomes final 31 days after judgment. An earlier date needs special circumstances, a court order and an undertaking from both spouses that there will be no appeal, and an appeal that is still pending pushes the date back (section 12). Our divorce lawyers page covers the process.
The divorce order itself can wait until other things are settled. Income, housing and the children’s weekly schedule cannot.
The first weeks after separating
A few early steps protect your position whichever court you end up in.
- Safety first. If you or the children are at risk, a protection order can be sought without completing the early resolution steps, and with the court’s permission at any registry. Call 911 in an emergency.
- Write down the date you separated and how it was communicated. Under the Family Law Act, spouses can be separated while still living in the same home, and a court looks at what each person said and did to show the relationship was over (section 3(4)). For a divorce, a short attempt at reconciliation, up to 90 days in total, does not restart the one-year separation period (Divorce Act, section 8(3)).
- Keep a simple calendar of who has the children on which days. It becomes evidence on parenting and, if time is close to equal, on child support.
- Start gathering financial papers: tax returns and notices of assessment, pay records, and statements for bank, investment, pension and loan accounts. Each party has a legal duty to give the other “full and true information” (Family Law Act, section 5).
- Do not move the children’s home, or sign up for a move, before getting advice on the relocation rules below.
- The Family Justice Counsellors at the Penticton centre, and at every other Family Justice Centre, also work by phone and video, at no cost, if you want help with parenting or support arrangements outside court.
Moving with the children: Summerland, Kelowna, the coast
- Family Law Act (sections 65 to 69). These rules apply only when an agreement in writing, or a court order, already governs parenting arrangements or contact. A “relocation” is a move that can reasonably be expected to have a significant impact on the child’s relationship with a guardian or another person with a significant role in the child’s life. The guardian who is moving gives written notice, 60 days or more in advance, naming the date and the destination, to every other guardian and everyone who has contact. A judge can excuse notice if it would expose someone to a risk of family violence, or if the other guardian has no ongoing relationship with the child. A guardian who objects has 30 days from receiving the notice to apply for an order prohibiting the move; without that application, the move may proceed on the notified date (section 68).
- Divorce Act (sections 16.9 and 16.91). Where a parenting order was made under the Divorce Act, a parent who intends to relocate must give notice at least 60 days ahead, in the prescribed form, with the new address and a proposal for how parenting time could work (section 16.9). The other parent has 30 days to object in the prescribed form or by application (section 16.91).
Which regime governs, and how a court weighs a proposed move, are questions for advice before you sign a lease or accept a job elsewhere. Decisions about children turn on their best interests. Our co-parenting page explains how we work, including with child experts, physicians and therapists where that helps a child’s view be heard.
Support when the children split their time
Counting parenting time accurately therefore matters, especially when parents live in different towns. More on our child support and spousal support work.
Property owned before the relationship
The spouse who says something is excluded must prove it, so keep the records: a purchase agreement, an old statement, a will or a letter accompanying a gift. The catch is growth. If excluded property rose in value during the relationship, the increase is family property (section 84(2)(g)), which is why a home or land one partner owned before the relationship may still be partly divided. If an equal split would be significantly unfair, section 95 lets the Supreme Court divide unequally. See our property division page.
Time limits matter here. A married spouse has two years from the divorce order to claim a share of property or spousal support; a spouse in a marriage-like relationship has two years from separation (section 198(2)). The clock pauses while both are working with a family dispute resolution professional, a mediator for example, or using a prescribed process (section 198(5)); it does not pause for informal negotiation.
Quick answers
Will my case be heard in Penticton or Kelowna?
In the Provincial Court, the registry is the one closest to where the child lives most of the time, or, without a child issue, to the home of the person filing first. From a Summerland address that points to Penticton, but confirm with the registry. In the Supreme Court there is more choice.
Is the Family Justice Centre step compulsory?
For a Provincial Court application in Penticton or Kelowna, the early resolution steps come first, except for urgent protection and the other listed exceptions. A Supreme Court case does not go through them.
Can I move to Kelowna with the children?
Possibly, but if an agreement or order about parenting is in place, a move with a significant impact on the children needs at least 60 days’ written notice, and the other parent can object. Get advice before you commit.
Do I need to travel to Vancouver?
No. Meetings are by phone, email or video, and a lawyer goes to court in person where your case calls for it.
