procedure question...

[neverending]

I had my ex served... he had the time required in order for responding.. he did not respond... first court appearance took place and he arrived un represented. Court date was set for Feb 13th... my laywer received a message today stating that my ex has retained a lawyer now, and that she is surpised my ex wasnt offered the opportunbity to reply to my motion to change. His lawyer is asking us to give more time to them so that he can collect financials (or whatever he needs to get together).
My lawyer advised that we allow them time (as the courts would more than likely give it anyway).

Does anyone know how much time they now have to get their info together? I am under the inderstanding that once they serve my lawyer with their reply that I will have 10 days to reply back.

Then what? It has already taken soooo long to get this in court, I was actually looking forward to Feb 13th to get things dealt with.

[Tayken]

Originally Posted by neverending

I had my ex served... he had the time required in order for responding.. he did not respond... first court appearance took place and he arrived un represented. Court date was set for Feb 13th... my laywer received a message today stating that my ex has retained a lawyer now, and that she is surpised my ex wasnt offered the opportunbity to reply to my motion to change. His lawyer is asking us to give more time to them so that he can collect financials (or whatever he needs to get together).
My lawyer advised that we allow them time (as the courts would more than likely give it anyway).

Does anyone know how much time they now have to get their info together? I am under the inderstanding that once they serve my lawyer with their reply that I will have 10 days to reply back.

Then what? It has already taken soooo long to get this in court, I was actually looking forward to Feb 13th to get things dealt with.

Your lawyer is the best person to answer these questions but, the extension should be negotiated between the lawyers. If not you have a motion date set.

I highly doubt they will file within the rules and you will probably not get a chance to respond. This is common practice these days. Late filings should always be rejected but, due to the nature of family law etc... They are not.

Good Luck!
Tayken

[neverending]

Originally Posted by Tayken

Your lawyer is the best person to answer these questions but, the extension should be negotiated between the lawyers. If not you have a motion date set.

I highly doubt they will file within the rules and you will probably not get a chance to respond. This is common practice these days. Late filings should always be rejected but, due to the nature of family law etc... They are not.

Good Luck!
Tayken

that is why his lawyer was in touch with my lawyer... he was already given the amount of time to file a response or do something... but he did nothing. So when the first apprerance took place he wasnt represented by a lawyer at that time, and brought nothing forward. NOW he had retained a lawyer they are claiming that he didnt have enough time to gather info ie; financial documentation etc...

my lawyer explained to me that if I dont let him file late, that the court would more than likely (9out of 10) grant him time to prepare. So instead of going with the set court date, my lawyer advised me to give them an extention and avoid waisting more money on going to court to only have them grant him more time anyway.

We are suggesting that if he wants more time he MUST contribute to child support in some way.. as he has neglected for more than 4months now.

We have not heard back yet from his lawyer.

[staysingle]

Welcome to the Monty Python skit commonly known as "family Court". For an interesting short read from one of Canada's imminent lawyers about why "Family Court" needs to be abolished The Family Law Fix | The Mark. He offers a view where we need to take this.

Good luck.

P.S. Give your lawyer strict instruction not to communicate anything with out your prior approval. If not they will spend hundreds if not thousand sending expensive letters and emails to one another in an attempt to establish a court date. This is a common trick between your lawyer and his.

Good luck

[Johnboy35]

neverending,
when you filed your application was a court date set then? i received my x's application but there was no court date on it (it was all crossed out). I filed my answer and now today my lawyer sent me a letter from my x's lawyer stating that "this will confirm you have agreed to give us an extension of time for filing a Reply in this matter to March 21 and that we can sign the Consent for late filing on your behalf". I guess my lawyer must have talked to hers and given a the ok to get an extension. Should there have been a court date set already or was your date set after he didn't reply? Will our court date be set after they file their reply?

[neverending]

this is how I understand it all - from my lawyer. My ex was served.. he had 35 days to reply... he didn't. A date for first apprerance was set on the served papers, and my ex showed up to that date. He had not replied, and also never brought anything to his first appearance either. That first appearance was to set a court date. When the day was over, my lawyer let me know that a court date had been set for Feb 13. Without my ex responding he left us little choice but to go ahead an set a date (to move things along). About 2 days later my lawyer received a phone call and an email.. it was from a lawyer who stated she was to asked to represent my ex, and that she was surprised a date was set considering she felt that my ex was not provided a sufficient amount of time to respond!! WHAT !!! anyway... she also asked for an extention on my ex's behalf so that he could gather his financials and such.
My lawyer suggested we give him the extra time, becuase once we got to court he would ask the judge to let him have it and it more than likely woul db egranted ( so this direction would save us time and money). My lawyer suggested that in return for an extention my ex need to provide a support payment (as he has not provided one in 6 months)... I still have not seen the payment - however I contact FRO and they said my ex was in contact and has agreed to a payment plan... however my case worker also said that at this point he has only agreed - but nothing has shown up!
Soooooo after allowing the extention was given a court date for March 5th is now the new date. My ex has to have everything filed by March 1. If he doesn't file anything, then we continue with an un-contested hearing.. if he does repspond then we basically start the whole thing again and have a case conference.. ugh!!! Very frustrating...
THEN.... after we agree to the extention.. my lawyer received another letter from my ex's "lawyer", and she explains that she has not been retained yet.. but that she is sure he (my ex) intends to retain her... brutal... so she really wasnt even respresenting him at that time.. and she won't do anyting more for him now until he retains her... what a time waister! The whole thing has taken sooo long...
The only positive that has come from this extention is that in the mean time I have received some info and such that will not fair well with my ex... and I am happy to have what has been given.

Johnyboy35 - our first apperance date was set once my ex was served. because he didn't respond the Feb 13th date was set (uncontested - and that was becasue my ex wasnt responding). Our March 5th date was set because my lawyer thinks this is riduculous and that my ex has had more than enough time..