Family law applications will fall under regular, desk, or urgent process streams
The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has published a notice to the profession and public addressing its new family-focused protocol (FFP) and other new processes that aim to introduce a resolution-oriented and streamlined approach to family matters, effective Jan. 2, 2026.
Pursuant to the FFP, a mandatory intake triage (MIT) justice, assigned to a family entering the system, will:
- Meet the family members
- Assess and address any interim concerns
- Act as their case conference justice
- Assist them with every required step
- Help them finally determine the matter via a resolution or trial
Under the FFP, those submitting family law applications can do so through one of the following three streams:
- the regular family process
- the desk process
- the urgent process
Regular family process
According to the notice, this stream covers families seeking final decisions on all issues, including requests for non-urgent contested interim relief.
Under this stream, eligible families should follow the following primary steps:
- Meet the mandatory requirements
- Commence the action
- Prepare and submit documents for vetting (through Justice Digital for counsel)
- Attend a mandatory intake triage conference
- Participate in a settlement conference
- Attend a case conference, if the matter remains unresolved, for a litigation order
- Proceed to trial
Desk process
Per the notice, families can file the following types of desk applications via email, subject to a referral to a designated family roster justice:
- mandatory requirement waiver or deferral requests
- resolution counsel meeting requests that comply with certain preconditions
- time-sensitive consent orders
- notice to disclose applications
- urgent requests, utilizing the current protocol
- requests for a meeting with a case conference justice
- applications under paragraph 47 of Family Practice Note 2, without an assigned MIT or case conference justice
Desk divorce applications and other desk applications not listed above will use the desk application processes currently implemented.
Urgent process
The notice stated that the court deems the following matters urgent:
- matters involving a risk of violence or immediate harm to a party or a child, including applications seeking exclusive possession of a family home meeting the criteria
- matters in which there is a risk of removing a child from the jurisdiction
- emergency protection order reviews
- matters regarding parenting time, contact, or communication with a child that the parties cannot reasonably delay
