Prepare for your trial
You have a lot to do to prepare for your trial.
Until now, you and your partner put all the documents you wanted the judge to look at in the continuing record. You can't use the continuing record for your trial. Instead, Rule 23: Evidence and Trial says you must prepare a trial record.
Your trial record has to be ready at least 20 days before your trial date. It includes:
- a Table of Contents
- Form 8: Application, Form 10: Answer, and Form 10A: Reply
- any Agreed Statement of Facts, that lists the facts that you and your partner agree on
- Form 13: Financial Statement or Form 13.1: Financial Statement, if you or your partner are asking for support or to divide property
- Form 13A: Certificate of Financial Disclosure, if you or your partner are asking for support or to divide property
- Form 13B: Net Family Property Statement, if you or your partner are asking to divide property
- any assessment reports that have been prepared by a mental health professional like a social worker or psychologist, or any report by the
- any temporary orders dealing with a matter that has not been resolved
- any orders related to the trial
- the parts of any court transcript you want to use at trial
Your trial record must be served on your partner and filed with the court at least 20 days before your trial starts. You your partner by or . Serve your documents below explains how to do this.
See Count time below to understand how to calculate days or time correctly. This is important because court staff may not accept your documents if you haven't followed the rules.
You have to tell the court that you will be at your trial. Confirm your court date below explains how to do this. If you or any of your witnesses need an interpreter or any special arrangement because of a disability, see Ask for a special arrangement below.
Your partner can add to the trial record. They must serve you with their documents at least 7 days before the trial starts.
You also have to think about the documents and witnesses that you plan to use at your trial.
Get your documents
You and your partner should have exchanged financial information, and any other documents that are relevant to the case by now.
You should let your partner know as soon as possible if there are other documents that you plan to use at trial. Your partner should be able to look at those documents before the trial starts.
The documents that you want to use as evidence at your trial must be originals and relevant to your case. Examples of documents include bank account records, report cards, and real estate documents.
Get your witnesses
If you plan to call witnesses, you need to make sure they will come to court when you need them. If they are family members or friends, you may be able to rely on them to show up. For other witnesses, you may want to issue a to them to come to court. A summons is a legal document that orders a person to come to court to give evidence, and to bring documents or other things to the hearing if needed.
To issue a summons you fill out Form 23: Summons to Witness and serve it on your . In it, you tell them the date and time you need them to come to court and the documents you want them to bring.
You must pay the witness $50 for each day they are needed in court and give them travel money. If they don't live in the city where the trial is being held, you also have to give them an allowance for meals and accommodation. These fees and expenses are listed in Rule 23: Evidence and Trial.
You should only call witnesses at your trial who:
- have important information that will help the judge decide your case
- can give evidence that support the orders you want the judge to make
- have important information that goes against your partner's case
Remember, a witness can only give evidence about what they know, not what other people have told them.
If your witness is an expert in a particular area that is an issue in your case and they have written a report, you need to give that report to your partner at least 90 days before the trial.
You need to prepare the questions you want to ask your witnesses and your partner's witnesses. If you plan to give evidence as a witness, you should prepare what you will testify, and get ready to be cross-examined by your partner.
How to:
Ask for a special arrangement
If you or any of your witnesses need an interpreter or any special arrangement because of a disability, you can ask for this at any stage in the court process.
You can speak with any staff member at court about what you need or you can contact the Accessibility Coordinator at the court where your case, motion, or trial is being held. More information on how Ontario's courts can be more accessible is available on the Ministry of the Attorney General's website.
Confirm your court date
You must confirm your court date by 2 p.m., at least 3 days before your scheduled hearing. To confirm a court date, you must fill out and file Form 14C: Confirmation. To confirm a conference date, you must fill out and file Form 17F: Confirmation of Conference.
These forms tell the court that you'll be at your hearing, what specific issues will be discussed at it, and what documents the judge should read. You can file the form in person at the courthouse or by email through the Justice Services Online website. It can no longer be filed by fax.You must give your partner a copy of the form before you give it to the court.
If you don't file your confirmation form in time, the hearing may not be held and you will have to get a new date.
Count time
Rule 3: Time tells you how to count time or days.
You must follow court rules that say the day by which you have to:
- serve your partner, or other people or agencies, with your documents
- file your documents with the court
- confirm your court dates
When you serve your documents, counting starts on the day after the "effective" service day. The effective service day depends on how you served the documents. If you served them:
- personally - service is effective the same day
- by mail - service is effective 5 days after the documents are mailed
- by courier - service is effective the day after the courier picks it up
- by fax or email - service is effective the day it's faxed or emailed as long as it's sent before 4 p.m. on a day when the court is open
- at your partner's home with anyone who seems to be an adult and then mailed to that address - service is effective 5 days after the documents are mailed
For example, suppose your partner has to get your documents at least 7 days before the date of your motion. If you serve them personally on Monday, the first day you count is Tuesday and the 7th day is the following Monday.
If the last day is a holiday, the time period ends on the next day that is not a holiday.
But if you have less than 7 days to serve or file your documents or to confirm your court date, then Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays when court offices are closed are not counted.
Counting time or days is important because court staff won't accept your documents if you have not followed the rules.
Serve your documents
- give a copy to your partner directly
- leave a copy with your partner's lawyer
- mail a copy to your partner, but your partner must send back a special form to confirm they received the document
- leave a copy in an envelope addressed to your partner at your partner's home with any adult living with your partner, and then mail a copy of the documents to that address within one day
- mail a copy to your partner or their lawyer
- courier a copy to your partner or their lawyer
- fax a copy to your partner or their lawyer
- email a copy to your partner or their lawyer
- serve a copy by special service
- an Application
- a motion to change
- a notice of contempt motion
- a summons to witness
- a notice of motion or notice of default hearing where the person to be served faces a possibility of jail
- the name of the person who served the documents
- the name of the person or agency that was served
- when the documents were served (day, month, and year)
- where the documents were served (house number, apartment number, street name, city, and province)
- what documents were served (Application, Answer, Reply, notice of motion)
- how the documents were served (in person, at place of residence, by regular mail, courier, fax, or email)
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