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Difference between revisions of "Resolving Family Law Problems in Court"
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Resolving Family Law Problems in Court (view source)
Revision as of 00:44, 21 February 2013
, 00:44, 21 February 2013→Court Proceedings
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==Court Proceedings== | ==Court Proceedings== | ||
If you need the court to make an order about something, you must start a court proceeding. That’s the only way to get a court order. | If you need the court to make an order about something, you must start a court proceeding. That’s the only way to get a court order. Before going further, it'll help to learn some of the terminology: | ||
<blockquote>'''Claimant.''' The person who starts a court proceeding is the Claimant. In the Provincial Court, this person is the Applicant. In this page, "Claimant" refers to Claimants and Applicants.</blockquote> | |||
The person | <blockquote>'''Respondent.''' The person or people against whom the court proceeding is brought. In family law proceedings, there is usually only one Respondent.<blockquote> | ||
The other person has a fixed amount of time after being served to respond to the court proceeding by filing a reply in court. The reply says which orders the person agrees to and which are objected to. The | <blockquote>'''Claim.''' The document that is filed to start a court proceeding in the Supreme Court is a Notice of Family Claim or a Petition. In the Provincial Court, proceedings are started with an Application to Obtain an Order or an Application to Change or Cancel an Order. In this page, "claim" refers to all of these documents.</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote>'''Parties.''' The Claimant and the Respondent are the parties to the court proceeding.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>'''Reply.''' A Respondent who objects to all or some of the orders sought by the Claimant in the Supreme Court will file a Response to Family Claim. In the Provincial Court, the Respondent will file a "Reply". In this page, "reply" refers to both of these documents.</blockquote> | |||
Court proceedings in the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court, other than criminal proceedings, work more or less like this: | |||
<Blackout>'''The Claimant starts the proceeding.''' The person who wants a court order, the Claimant, starts a court proceeding by filing a claim in court and serving the filed claim on the Respondent.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>'''The Respondent files a reply.''' The Respondent has a fixed amount of time after being served to respond to the court proceeding by filing a reply in court. The reply says which orders the person agrees to and which are objected to. The Respondent may ask the court for other orders; if other orders are needed, the Respondent will file a claim of his or her own. The reply and any new claim must be delivered to the Claimant.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>'''The parties exchange information.''' Next, the parties gather the information and documents they need to explain why they should have the orders they are asking for. Because trials are not run like an ambush, the parties must also exchange their information and documents. This way everyone knows exactly what is going on and how strong each person’s case is.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>'''Each party is examined out of court.''' After the documents have been exchanged, in Supreme Court proceedings each party will schedule an examination of the other party. An examination is an opportunity to ask questions about the facts and the issues out of court so that everyone knows the evidence that will be given at the trial. This is also an opportunity to ask for more documents.</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>'''Go to trial.''' Assuming that settlement isn't possible, the only way to resolve the problem is to have a trial. At the trial, each of the parties will present their evidence and explain to the judge why he or she should make the orders asked for. The judge may make a decision resolving the decision on the spot; most often, however, the judge will want to think about the evidence and the parties' arguments and will make give a written decision later.</blockquote> | |||
And that's pretty much it. There are lots of details I've skipped over, including about experts, case conferences and applications, but this about it. You can probably guess that this can be a long and involved process, and that if you have a lawyer representing you, it'll cost a lot of money to wrap everything up. | |||
{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}} | ||
