Alias – an assumed or additional name that a person sometimes uses

Asset – any item worth money that’s owned by a person, especially if it could be converted to cash

Basis of Claim (BOC) Form – where you give information about yourself and explain why you are afraid to go back to your home country, to present your claim for refugee protection in Canada. See the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada website for more information.

Child support – money paid by one parent or guardian to another parent or guardian after separation to help take care of their children

Common-law partner – not a legal term, but in BC family law often used to refer to unmarried couples who live together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years. Used in some federal laws to refer to a marriage-like relationship of a year or longer.

CPP – Canadian Pension Plan (a monthly, taxable benefit paid to retired people who are at least 60 years old and have contributed to the plan)

EI – Employment Insurance (temporary benefits paid to eligible unemployed workers)

Equity – the amount of money the owner of an asset would be paid after selling it and any debts associated with the asset were paid off

Family violence – any behaviour that is violent or threatening to another family member, such as:

• physical abuse of a family member (includes forced confinement and deprivation of the necessities of life, but not the use of reasonable force to protect oneself or others from harm)
• sexual abuse of a family member
• attempts to physically or sexually abuse a family member
• psychological or emotional abuse of a family member, which includes: 
  • intimidation, harassment, coercion, or threats, including threats against other people, pets, or property
  • unreasonable restrictions on or denial of a family member’s personal autonomy
  • stalking or following a family member
  • intentional damage to property
• financial abuse of a family member (includes unreasonable restrictions on or denial of their financial autonomy, refusing to let them get a job or making them lose their job, or running up debts in their name)
• in the case of a child, direct or indirect exposure to family violence

Gross income – all the money you earn from wages, tips, investments, interest, and other forms of income before taxes and other deductions are subtracted

Household – one or more persons who live together in the same dwelling and don’t have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada or in a different country

LABC intake worker – a Legal Aid BC employee who works with clients on applications 

Maintenance/​support order – a court order for financial assistance payments from one parent or guardian to another, or by one spouse to the other, after separation.

Market value (actual value) – the probable price that an asset would sell for in a fair sale.

Net income – all the money that comes into your household after taxes and other deductions. It can include your salary or wages, social assistance benefits, child or spousal support, student loans, and your spouse’s income.

OAS – Old Age Security (a benefit paid to eligible seniors who are 65 years or older)

Opposing (other) party – the other person in a legal matter

Parenting order – a court order for parenting time, and parental responsibilities or decision-making responsibility

Refugee – a person who has been forced to flee conflict, violence, or persecution in their own country and seek safety in another; they can’t return to their country because their safety and life is at risk. 

Rental income – income you earn from renting property that you own or have use of.

Served – the act of delivering or leaving documents with the other party in a case that gives notice to them that it has been started or that a step is being taken in the case

Spousal support – money paid by one spouse or parent to the other spouse or parent after separation

Spouse – a member of a same-sex or opposite-sex couple who are or were married. A spouse is also someone who is or was in a marriage-like relationship for at least the following minimum periods:

• two years if you want to divide property and debts, or
• two years if you want to ask for spousal support and don’t have children, or
• any length of time if you want to ask for spousal support and you have children together, or
• one year if you want to apply for some federal (Canada) benefits.

Under the law, the start date of a spousal relationship is the day two individuals begin living together in a marriage-like relationship, or the day they were married, whichever is first.