How do I amend (change) a civil or family form in BC Supreme Court?

Last reviewed June 2025 by the Clicklaw editors

Changing what you had written on a court form is called amending a court form. Not all court forms can be amended, but you can amend pleadings. Pleadings are court forms that begin a court proceeding or reply to a court proceeding. You may also be able to amend a Petition, a Response to Petition, and a List of Documents.  

For other forms, you’ll probably have to file a new form instead of amending it, although there are some exceptions. You may wish to consult a lawyer for legal advice specific to your situation.

Civil court pleadings

In civil court (BC Supreme Court), the following forms are considered pleadings:

  • Form 1 — Notice of Civil Claim
  • Form 2 — Response to Civil Claim
  • Form 3 — Counterclaim
  • Form 4 — Response to Counterclaim
  • Form 5 — Third Party Notice
  • Form 6 — Response to Third Party Notice
  • Form 7 — Reply

The instructions for amending a pleading are in Part 6 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules:

The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation provides more details about Rule 6-1 and Rule 6-2. It also has further instructions and an example under “Amendment to Pleadings.”

If you need to get leave (permission) from the court to amend your pleading, then you have to make a special application. The CanLII manual explains that this application involves three forms:

  • Form 32 — Notice of Application. Supreme Court BC (Justice Education Society) has a guide to this form.
  • Form 109 — Affidavit
  • Form 35 — Order Made After Application

The manual also mentions an Application Response (Form 33), but that form is for the other side to file in response to your Notice of Application.

You can find other examples of amended pleadings in Lexis Advance Quicklaw’s “Pleadings, Motions and Facta.” Visit a Courthouse Libraries BC location to access it on our public computers.

Family court pleadings  

In family court (BC Supreme Court), the following forms are considered pleadings:

  • Form F3 — Notice of Family Claim
  • Form F4 — Response to Family Claim
  • Form F5 — Counterclaim
  • Form F6 — Response to Counterclaim

The instructions for amending a pleading are in Part 8 of the Supreme Court Family Rules:  

JP Boyd on Family Law has a page that explains the process further: See How Do I Change Something in My Notice of Family Claim?

If you need to get leave (permission) from the court to amend your pleading, then you have to make a special application. There is more information in the . Supreme Court BC (Justice Education Society) help guide.

Petitions

If your court action was started by a Petition, you can amend these forms:

  • Form 66 (civil court) or Form F73 (family court) — Petition to the Court
  • Form 67 (civil court) or Form F74 in (family court) — Response to Petition

The instructions for amending these forms are in Civil Rule 16-1(19) and Family Rule 17-1(19). The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation provides more details under Part 16 — Petition Proceedings.

List of documents

Civil Rule 7-1(9) and Family Rule 9-1(6) sometimes allow for the List of Documents (Form 22 in civil court; Form F20 in family court) to be amended after it has been served.

The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation provides more details for amending a civil List of Documents under “List of Documents.” It also has an example under “Form 22 — List of Documents.” 

What if I can't edit the PDF the way I need?

Because the forms are often filled out using fillable PDFs (also known as Smart Forms), making changes to them isn’t straightforward. Here are a few tips:  

  • Consider making some or all of the changes on the printed-out form by hand.
  • If you have saved the original fillable PDF, you can edit the file.  
  • Many of the pleadings are available in the court rules, on the BC Laws website, which you can copy and paste directly from the web page into Microsoft Word or any word processor. You can use the word processor to type in your original answer and then underline or strike through your text. Note: Some of the forms that you can amend are PDFs instead of HTML, but you can still copy and paste the text.
  • Contact Courthouse Libraries BC to ask about how to get a blank, editable form emailed to you, or visit one of our locations to download and edit a Word version of the form you’d like to amend.

Helpful resources

Helpful services