Difference between revisions of "Resolving Family Law Problems in Court"

*'''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. The claims says what orders the claimant wants the court to make. Serving the filed claim involves having the claim hand delivered to the respondent by someone other than the claimant (this could be a process server who you pay or a friend who is over the age of majority).   

*'''The claimant files a reply.''' The claimant has a certain amount of time after being served to respond to any claim made by the respondent by filing a reply in court. The claimant's reply says which orders the claimant agrees to and which they object to. The claimant's reply must be delivered to the respondent.

*'''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 well in advance of trial. This way everyone knows exactly what is going on and how strong each person’s case is. If financial matters are in dispute, one the key documents you will need to exchange is a sworn financial statement.  There are different processes in Supreme Court and Provincial Court for exchanging information.  For more details, see the section [[Starting a Court Proceeding in a Family Matter]] in this chapter.