Difference between revisions of "Family Law Trials in Supreme Court"

Depending on the scope of the assessment, a social worker or a counselor or a psychologist may be appointed.  The section 211 assessment involves the appointed person conducting interviews with both parents as well as the children and may involve additional steps such as observing each parent with the children (either in each parent’s home or at the psychologist’s office), conducting psychological testing of the parents (if the person is a psychologist and qualified to do so) and conducting interviews with collateral witnesses, and then preparing a written report of the observations and opinions (if asked that an opinion be provided).   

The cost of such a report can vary greatly from a couple or a few thousand dollars for interviews of the children only to over $10,000 (and often considerably more) for a more extensive assessment and report.  Publicly funded reports (free-of-charge) are available through the province but are less extensive, often take longer to prepare, and require a court order.

For more information on these types of reports, see the following resources under the part ''How Do I?'' in this resource:

*[[How Do I Get a Needs of the Child Assessment?|How do I get a needs of the child assessment?]]

*[[How Do I Get a Views of the Child Report?|How do I get a views of the child report?]]

Expert evidence is a form of opinion evidence that is admissible in court due to the specialized education, training, skills, certification or experience of the person providing the opinion and would not otherwise be within the judge’s knowledge. Experts can provide opinion evidence about many types of issues such as a person’s medical and/or psychological condition, the valuation of property (i.e.: the family home, a pension, a business, shares in a company), whether a party’s income earning capacity is impaired due to physical injuries or psychological conditions, the level of income person is capable of earning (i.e.: in their business or their field of employment), and the like.   

If either party wants to present expert evidence about a ''financial issue'', that evidence must be presented to the court by means of an expert you and the other party hire together (often referred to as a ''jointly appointed expert''), unless the court orders or the parties agree otherwise (Rule 13-3(1) & (2) of the Supreme Court Family Rules). Once appointed, the jointly appointed expert is the only expert who is allowed to give expert evidence on the issue, unless the court orders otherwise (see Rule 13-4(5) of the Supreme Court Family Rules).