Family Law

Find out if you are eligible.

Do you need help with a family law matter?

We help with matters related to parenting, guardianship, child support, property actions, spousal support, and divorce.

We strongly recommend that you take the Parenting After Separation course before you apply for legal aid services.

The course is free and is available online. The Court of King’s Bench requires that you take this course before you can file a court application.

Services offered by RCAS include:
  • Mediation – you and your former partner can meet with a trained mediator who can help resolve your legal issues without going to court.
  • Assistance preparing and filing Family Law Act court applications.

If your matter is not resolved through RCAS, then you can contact us to apply for a lawyer.

If you want to proceed with a court application in the Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton or Calgary, you will need to attend King’s Bench Family Docket Court where the presiding justice will determine the next step for addressing your legal issues. Duty Counsel will be available to assist you.
If you are proceeding with a court application in the Alberta Court of Justice, Duty Counsel will be able to assist you on your court date in certain locations across Alberta including Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat, and St. Paul.

We can help with child welfare matters if your child has been taken away and you have been served with a temporary or permanent guardianship order. In addition, if child protective services have served you with a supervision order application, we can assist you.

If you are the parent still residing outside of Canada (and your children have been brought to Alberta), you must first contact your Country’s Central Authority.

 

If you meet our financial eligibility guidelines:

  •  Legal Aid Alberta may be able to legal representation where the child(ren) have been removed from a foreign country and brought to Alberta.
  • Legal Aid Alberta will issue a Certificate for a lawyer in Alberta to help you prepare for and attend a Hague hearing regarding whether the child will remain in Alberta or return to the foreign country.

LAA cannot assist directly with matters where the children have been removed from Alberta and taken to a foreign country.

 

If you are the parent still residing in Alberta and your child(ren) is now in a foreign country, you must contact the Central Authority in Alberta, through Alberta Justice.

 

 

If you meet our financial eligibility guidelines, Legal Aid Alberta may be able to assist you with completing any forms that the Central Authority in Alberta provide to you. In addition, you will also need to contact the Legal Aid organization in the foreign country or state for coverage.

We can help provide your child with a lawyer if the court orders a lawyer be appointed for your child in a high conflict family matter.

Criteria

  • The court has deemed the matter to be a high conflict case.
  • There is a court order requesting LAA to appoint counsel for the child.

There is no financial eligibility requirement in child representation cases, however, child counsel is not a free service. The parents will have to pay for the child’s counsel.

Legal Aid Alberta does not appoint counsel for children in child welfare matters.

Find out if you are eligible.

Find out how we can help you.