Hello all! I have looked around, but didn't see anything that addressed our question. I am asking on behalf of my partner as he's not forum-savvy and I am preparing the application (hence the "we") but it is regarding him and his ex.
Quick background: My partner was in family court in Ontario, Canada regarding custody/access and spousal with his ex. The spousal issue (review and termination) was bifurcated due to property issues, and the custody/access was settled before trial trial. We had a lawyer, ex was unrepresented. Due to some major instability with the ex, and a refusal to come prepared, our legal fees were astronomical. Ex was ordered to pay a substantial amount of costs.
We are now opening a new application to deal with spousal at Superior Court, and are doing so self-represented. Our previous lawyer laid a lot of ground work, and we cannot afford the legal bills this go-around. We can at least start the process, not have to pay for delays when the ex isn't prepared, and have a lawyer jump in closer to trial (if it comes to that.) We are very adequately prepared in regards to our content of our application and case conference brief.
However, and the reason for my question is this: how much do new judges want to see in regards to what happened in a previous case? For example, ex came unprepared for 3 case/settlement conferences, did not even file a trial management brief, and has done everything possible to halt the legal process. Multiple costs awards against her. There's more, but trying to keep this post vague as to not identify too much.
Should past behaviour be included, or do we start from scratch with the new application? Should the application include a recap of the case conferences, settlement conferences, etc, or do we wait for the first case conference brief? The spousal was only bifurcated two months before we settled, so most of the behaviour was in regards to the spousal, and not just access/custody. As this has moved to Superior Court, it's obviously a brand new judge.
Thanks in advance!
Quick background: My partner was in family court in Ontario, Canada regarding custody/access and spousal with his ex. The spousal issue (review and termination) was bifurcated due to property issues, and the custody/access was settled before trial trial. We had a lawyer, ex was unrepresented. Due to some major instability with the ex, and a refusal to come prepared, our legal fees were astronomical. Ex was ordered to pay a substantial amount of costs.
We are now opening a new application to deal with spousal at Superior Court, and are doing so self-represented. Our previous lawyer laid a lot of ground work, and we cannot afford the legal bills this go-around. We can at least start the process, not have to pay for delays when the ex isn't prepared, and have a lawyer jump in closer to trial (if it comes to that.) We are very adequately prepared in regards to our content of our application and case conference brief.
However, and the reason for my question is this: how much do new judges want to see in regards to what happened in a previous case? For example, ex came unprepared for 3 case/settlement conferences, did not even file a trial management brief, and has done everything possible to halt the legal process. Multiple costs awards against her. There's more, but trying to keep this post vague as to not identify too much.
Should past behaviour be included, or do we start from scratch with the new application? Should the application include a recap of the case conferences, settlement conferences, etc, or do we wait for the first case conference brief? The spousal was only bifurcated two months before we settled, so most of the behaviour was in regards to the spousal, and not just access/custody. As this has moved to Superior Court, it's obviously a brand new judge.
Thanks in advance!
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