Difference between revisions of "How Do I Prepare an Affidavit?"

Every page of your affidavit must be numbered, including each page of any exhibits you might have attached. An ''exhibit'' is a document, including a picture, that is included in an affidavit to support to the facts described in the affidavit.

Once your affidavit is done, you must have it ''notarized''. Affidavits can be notarized by lawyers, notaries public and certain court clerks, or anyone else who is authorized to take oaths in British Columbia.  

The lawyer or notary <span class="noglossary">will</span> then sign their name and provide certain additional information about where the affidavit was notarized, and the date and so forth. The lawyer or notary <span class="noglossary">will</span> ask you to produce government-issued photo identification, like a driver's licence, to prove that you are who you say you are.

*'''Background:''' Describe who you are, who the other side is, when your relationship started and stopped, who your children are and how old they are, when the court proceeding started, and any significant orders that have been made since litigation started.

*'''Summary:''' If necessary summarize your position and perhaps describe the order that you want the court to make.

| align=right | <tt>4.</tt>||<tt>I am 32 years old and am presently employed as an <span class="noglossary">accountant</span> by the firm Smith Smith and Smith. I earn approximately $42,000 per year.</tt>

| align=right | <tt>8.</tt>||<tt>I started this action on 1 July 2016, when I filed my Notice of Family Claim. I am asking for an order that the Respondent and I share parental responsibility for the children, that the children live mostly with me and that the Respondent have parenting time with the children every other weekend and overnight every Wednesday. I also seek an order that the Respondent pay child support to me for the benefit of the children.</tt>

| align=right | <tt>45.</tt>||<tt>As a result of the Respondent's conduct I believe that the Respondent may decide to take the children to Calgary. I seek an order that the Respondent be restrained from removing our children from Kelowna without my express permission or the further order of this Honourable Court.</tt>

Remember to tell your story in the first person. It is ''you'' who is telling your story, and you are me, myself or I, not "the Claimant" or "the Respondent."

''Hearsay'' means saying anything you don't know yourself but have learned from someone else. It also includes repeating someone else's statements in your own affidavit. It's hearsay, for example, to say "Sally told me that she went to the park at noon on Saturday." It is not hearsay to say "I saw Sally in the park at noon on Saturday" or "Sally and I went to the park and noon on Saturday."

Hearsay is permitted in affidavits used for interim applications. However double hearsay is not, nor is anonymous hearsay.

''Anonymous hearsay'' is saying what someone told you but without identifying the person who told you, like "Someone told me that Sally was in the park at noon on Saturday", or "I have been advised that Sally was in the park at noon on Saturday, but I cannot identify the person who told me that she was in the park".

The other thing that is generally not permitted in an affidavit is ''opinion evidence''. Only people with special, recognized skills, like doctors or engineers or psychologists are allowed to write about their opinions in affidavits. Again, some opinion evidence is permitted in affidavits used for interim applications, however it is never permitted in affidavits prepared for trial.

The easy way to spot opinion evidence is by sentences that start with "I think..." or "I believe that..." For example, saying "I believe that Sally is not a good mother because she spends too much time in the park" is really your opinion about Sally's parenting skills; it is not a statement of fact and is not allowed in your affidavit.