News & Announcements

The Court is now hearing Summary Dispositions via Webex in cases where all parties agree to proceed in this manner. Requests for a Summary Disposition Hearing must be made by completing the Summary Disposition Hearing Request Form online. The Court is continuing to follow the Hub model for these hearings – please ensure you select the correct Hub for the Judicial Centre the file is located in. The Justice will appear remotely from the Hub location but the file will remain in its original jurisdiction and it will be clerked there.

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Court is conducting an increased number of hearings by videoconference or audioconference. To protect the integrity of Court proceedings, parties participating in a videoconference or audioconference hearing must sign the Undertaking and Agreement of Non-Lawyer posted to the Court’s website at: https://www.albertacourts.ca/qb/resources/media, and return a signed copy via email to: CommunicationsOfficer.qb@albertacourts.ca or via facsimile to: (403) 297-8625.

The Surrogate Rules and the Wills and Succession Act are amended. These amendments are reflected in: (a) Surrogate Rules Amendment Regulation (AR 37/2020) (“Regulation”); and (b) Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, SA chapter 13, section 13(13) (“Act”).

Applications for grants of probate and administration require the execution and submission of documents to the Court. Several of those documents, such as NC 1 and NC 2, require the original signature of the Applicant. Surrogate Rule 16 requires the Applicant to mark the back of the will for identification. NC 6.1, if applicable, requires a trustee to execute an acknowledgment. Depending on the circumstances, other affidavits, such as NC 8, NC 9 and NC 11, may be required to be completed and filed.

Effective March 30, 2020 the Court will process all Consent Orders resolving any matter over which the Court has jurisdiction, including non-urgent matters and Consent Orders to enforce Mediation or Arbitration Awards, by email or fax.

Effective immediately, counsel may submit signed Applications Judge and Justice Consent Orders for processing through email.

Alberta is experiencing an increase in cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and it is anticipated that the virus will continue to spread. The Court is monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely, with a view to being prepared in the event of a disruption to court operations at court locations or a declaration by the provincial or federal government that impacts our court operations.

Oral Applications without Notice (formerly known as Ex Parte Applications) and Consent Orders, which have traditionally been heard at the start of Family and Civil Justice Chambers, have become so numerous in Calgary that they are impacting negatively on the time to hear matters on the Justice Chambers lists.

Effective March 30, 2020, court clerks in Calgary will no longer retrieve physical copies of court files and provide them to the Justices presiding over Family and Civil Morning Chambers with Counsel on Record (Courtrooms 1001 and 1002). Court clerks will continue to retrieve and provide court files to Justices presiding in Self-Represented Litigant Chambers (Courtroom 1004) and for Emergency Protection Order Reviews. Therefore, effective March 30, 2020, counsel will be required to bring a copies of all documents relevant to the application, and upon which they intend to rely, to the hearing in Family or Civil Chambers in Calgary.