Legal advice
At the Justice Access Centre, we provide legal advice about family and civil law issues. Some eligibility guidelines apply. We may be able to advise you for problems about:
- separation and divorce
- custody and access
- child or spousal support
- child protection matters
- income security
- housing
- employment
- money and debt
- immigration
- human rights
- consumer issues
- health and elder law
- wills and estates
Our advice may include providing you with information about your rights, obligations, and legal options, and advice about your own situation. We may be able to help with negotiations, review agreements, prepare court forms and other documents, and explain how to represent yourself in court. We also have resources that are specifically for helping Aboriginal people with their legal issues.
We do not provide advice for criminal matters, small claims court forms and filings, and personal injury matters.
You may be able to receive advice from a paralegal or a family or civil advice lawyer. You can also call LawLINE for legal advice over the phone. We may refer you to lawyers who work at local courthouses (called family duty counsel). For issues that are unique to Aboriginal people, we will refer you to our Aboriginal community legal worker.
If you need advice in another area of law or in another region, we may be able to refer you to other advice services such as the Workers’ Advisors Office, Bureau of Pension Advocates, Credit Counselling Society, Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority, BC Human Rights Coalition, Law Centre (Victoria), or Community Legal Assistance Society.
We may refer you to a local pro bono clinic where lawyers volunteer free legal advice about family and civil law issues for people who can't afford a lawyer.