Yukon Family Law Information Centre (FLIC): What It Can and Cannot Help You With

The Yukon Family Law Information Centre is genuinely one of the most useful free resources available to self-represented divorcing individuals in Canada. It is staffed by trained coordinators who understand the Supreme Court of Yukon's filing procedures, can explain court forms, and run free workshops on navigating the family law system. If you are at the beginning of a divorce proceeding and trying to understand how to file without hiring a lawyer, FLIC is where you should start.

But FLIC has a clearly defined mandate — and understanding where that mandate ends is as important as knowing what it covers. Most of the administrative complexity in a Yukon divorce happens after FLIC's job is done.

What FLIC Is

Yukon Family Law Information Centre (FLIC)
Address: 2nd Floor, 301 Jarvis Street, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2H2
Phone: 867-456-6721

FLIC is a government-supported public service designed to assist self-represented litigants through the court filing process for family law matters. Its services are free to anyone dealing with family law issues in Yukon.

FLIC operates under the authority of Yukon's court services and provides:

• Information about the Supreme Court of Yukon's family law procedures
• Assistance with completing and filing court forms
• Guidance on the step-by-step court process for divorce, separation, and parenting matters
• Free public workshops on family law topics
• Information about Yukon's family law statutes, including the Family Property and Support Act and the Children's Law Act
• Referrals to other community legal resources, including Legal Aid Yukon and the Yukon Public Legal Education Association (YPLEA)

The Yukon Public Legal Education Association (YPLEA) runs a complementary resource: the Law Line, which provides general legal information by telephone. Neither FLIC nor YPLEA provides formal legal advice — they provide legal information, which is a meaningful distinction.

What FLIC Can Help With

FLIC's assistance covers the court-based phase of a family law matter. Specifically:

Divorce application process: FLIC can explain how to apply for a divorce under the federal Divorce Act, including how to complete the application forms, what documents need to be filed with the Supreme Court of Yukon Registry, and what the filing fees are.

Separation and parenting arrangements: FLIC can help with forms related to interim parenting orders, claims for spousal support, and responses to court applications.

Court procedure navigation: FLIC staff understand the procedural requirements of the Supreme Court of Yukon — timelines, hearing procedures, required documentation, and how to respond to court documents.

Court form completion: This is FLIC's core function. If you are a self-represented litigant completing Form F3 (Divorce Application), Form F56 (Certificate of Divorce request), or other family court forms, FLIC coordinators can explain each field.

Workshops: FLIC periodically offers free workshops on topics like "Filing for Divorce Without a Lawyer" and "Understanding Your Separation Agreement." These are accessible and practical.

What FLIC Cannot Help With

FLIC's mandate is strictly limited to the court and court-adjacent process. Once the judge signs the Divorce Order and the 31-day appeal period expires, FLIC's role in your situation is complete. Here is what falls outside their scope:

Social Insurance Number update at Service Canada. The SIN update is a federal administrative process handled by Service Canada, not the court system. FLIC cannot contact Service Canada on your behalf or guide you through the name-change cascade.

Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan updates. Updating your health card after a name change or marital status change is a Yukon Health and Social Services administrative process. FLIC has no role here.

Yukon Motor Vehicles. Updating your driver's licence after a name change requires attending the Motor Vehicles office — not a court-related step that FLIC can assist with.

Canada Revenue Agency notifications. Notifying the CRA of a marital status change (Form RC65) and understanding the impact on your Canada Child Benefit and GST/HST credit is a federal tax matter. FLIC does not provide tax guidance.

Bank account closures and joint credit card freezes. These are private financial institution matters. FLIC has no involvement in the financial separation process.

Beneficiary designation changes on RRSPs, TFSAs, life insurance, and pensions. This is the highest-risk item in the post-divorce administrative process, and it falls entirely outside FLIC's mandate. In Yukon, a divorce does not automatically revoke a beneficiary designation under Section 197 of the Insurance Act. Your ex-spouse remains the legally entitled beneficiary until you file written change forms directly with each institution. FLIC cannot do this for you.

Land Titles property transfers. Transferring real property title at the Yukon Land Titles Office after a divorce settlement is a separate legal and administrative process handled with legal counsel and the Land Titles Office directly.

Pension division under federal rules. Dividing a federal public service pension, a Canadian Armed Forces pension, or an RCMP pension under the Pension Benefits Division Act involves federal Pension Centre forms and a separate administrative process that FLIC does not cover.

Estate planning. Updating your will, revoking Powers of Attorney that name your ex-spouse, and executing new estate documents are matters for an estate lawyer.

The Gap FLIC Leaves

There is a clearly defined gap between what FLIC covers and what a recently divorced Yukon resident needs. FLIC guides you through the court. Once the court process ends, you are navigating federal and territorial agencies on your own:

• Service Canada (SIN, passport)
• Yukon Vital Statistics (name change)
• Yukon Motor Vehicles (driver's licence)
• Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan (health card)
• Canada Revenue Agency (marital status, tax filing, CCB)
• Multiple financial institutions (bank accounts, beneficiary designations)
• Yukon Land Titles Office (property transfer)
• Federal Pension Centre (pension division)
• Estate lawyers (will, POA)

None of these agencies communicate with each other automatically. None of them are notified by the court when your divorce is final. The burden of coordinating every one of these updates falls on you.

The Yukon Divorce Rate — the highest in Canada at 13 per 1,000 married persons — means that a significant number of people are navigating this gap every year. Most figure it out eventually, but common errors include doing the name-change sequence out of order (leading to rejected applications), missing the CRA notification deadline (leading to benefit overpayments that must be repaid), and failing to update beneficiary designations (leading to assets passing to ex-spouses contrary to the deceased's intent).

Where to Go After FLIC

After your divorce is final, the agencies and resources you need are:

The Yukon After-Divorce Checklist picks up where FLIC leaves off — a complete, chronological task guide for every administrative update required after your divorce is final, including the exact forms, fees, and sequencing for each step.

See more Yukon guides →