Rule 82.Jurisdiction and venue unaffected

One sentence, and it draws a line that matters. These rules shall not be construed to extend or limit the jurisdiction of the Family Court, or to affect the venue of actions in it.

Rules of procedure say how a case moves. What kinds of case this court may hear at all is decided by statute and by the constitution, and no procedural rule — however broadly worded — adds to that or takes from it. A litigant cannot manufacture jurisdiction by pointing at a rule, and cannot lose it that way either.

The venue half has a companion. Rule 87.2 sets out where in the State a petition is heard and how it moves between counties, and it operates within whatever the statutes allow rather than on top of them.