On January 2, 2026, the Court of King’s Bench is significantly changing family court in Alberta with its new Family Focused Protocol.
Starting on January 2, 2026, the Court of King’s Bench is changing how it deals with family law cases. This new approach is called the Family Focused Protocol (FFP). The FFP means a huge change in the steps people must follow to get help from the Court with family issues.
Note that the FFP does not apply to family law cases in the Court of Justice. It also replaces Family Docket Court in Edmonton and Calgary, which will no longer run after December 19, 2025.
Here’s a summary of what to expect and where you can find more information.
What’s the reason for the changes?
The FFP focuses on resolving issues early and avoiding harm to families. The Court of King’s Bench is making these changes because it believes the current system is not suited to family law issues. Canada’s court system is an adversarial system, which means the parties (people involved in a case) act as opponents to each other. While this system might work for other types of cases, the unique nature of family law cases means they need a different approach.
In family law cases, the parties are often a separating couple or parents. Courts have realized that the current system increases conflict in families and causes lasting harm to children. The Court notes that children who go through high-conflict court cases are more likely to have mental health issues, experience poverty, and not do as well in school.
With the new process, the Court focuses on getting parties to work together to resolve issues. The early stages of the process take the form of collaborative meetings, where settlement is the main goal.
What are the mandatory pre-court requirements?
On December 18, 2023, the Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Justice implemented four mandatory pre-court requirements for going to court in Edmonton and Calgary. Since then, the Court of King’s Bench has rolled out these requirements to Red Deer and areas surrounding Edmonton.
These four mandatory requirements are:
- completing the Parenting After Separation course
- sharing financial disclosure to calculate support and divide property
- participating in Alternative Dispute Resolution, such as mediation
- meeting with a Family Court Counsellor if you do not have a lawyer
Starting January 2, 2026, all cases across the province in the Court of King’s Bench must complete these mandatory requirements, or get a waiver, before getting help from the Court.
What will the new process look like?
Once the parties have completed the four mandatory pre-court requirements and filed a claim with the court, the first step is a Mandatory Intake Triage (MIT) Conference. This is a meeting between the parties and a justice. The role of the justice at the MIT Conference is to guide the parties through the rest of the process, including:
- setting out the steps for each case to follow,
- referring parties to the right method to resolve their dispute,
- granting interim (temporary) orders, such as for child support and parenting, and
- deciding what supports the parties need.
From the MIT Conference, most cases will go to a Settlement Conference. This is also a meeting between the parties and a justice, though a different justice from the MIT Conference. At this stage, the Court expects parties to make a genuine effort to settle all issues.
If the parties cannot resolve all issues at the Settlement Conference, then a trial is a last resort. The parties may have to take part in further case conferences to prepare for trial.
The above process will deal with most family law cases. The Court will also have two streams for specific issues:
- The Desk Process is for simple issues that the Court can deal with by reviewing paperwork filed by the parties. An example is a joint divorce, where both parties agree to the divorce and all other issues, and the Court can grant a divorce judgment based on the paperwork alone.
- The Urgent Process is for issues which need to be dealt with more quickly, such as if one parent takes a child outside Alberta without the other parent’s consent.
Where can people without a lawyer get help with the new process?
The FFP includes supports for self-represented litigants (people without a lawyer) with some parts of the process.
Most self-represented litigants must meet with Family Court Counsellors (FCCs) before bringing their issue to court. FCCs can help self-represented litigants get ready for court and gather and organize court documents, and refer them to further support services. FCCs are not yet available everywhere in the province. If there is no FCC available in the litigant’s area, the Court will waive this requirement.
If a case goes to trial, self-represented litigants may meet with Resolution Counsel. Resolution Counsel are lawyers hired by the Court who can help a party create a plan for the steps they need to take before trial.
If a justice grants an order at any point in the process, court clerks can help to write and prepare orders.
More information is available!
The Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta (CPLEA) is updating our family law resources to include information on the new process. Look for these resources before the end of the year:
- A new “Go to the Court of King’s Bench” page on the Family Law in Alberta website that sets out what you should know before going to the Court of King’s Bench for a family issue.
- A new info sheet to join our collection of print resources that sums up the new family law process.
- A new video for our YouTube channel on the new family law process.
Finally, if you have a family law issue and don’t know where to start, the best first step you can take is to get legal support.
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DISCLAIMER The information in this article was correct at time of publishing. The law may have changed since then. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LawNow or the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.
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