Help

[Stacey81]

My Trail hearing is on April 6th 2020 and have a few questions;

1. Is a trial hearing and trial the same thing?

2. When I look up court process for trial it says I have to serve the other party with a trial record See rule 23(1)..Is this correct? we both received a letter from the court with a date.

3.Am I allowed to add affidavit and other documents as evidence if this is just a hearing? And this can be served anytime before 7 days before correct?

4. Had a previous case conference and the Judge said if mediation was not an option to schedule trial hearing...Has anyone else been through something similar.
5. Main issue in case is child support.

Thank you

[rockscan]

Is it a trial hearing or a trial management conference? It should be on the form you have.

Did you ever have a settlement conference?

[Stacey81]

Its a trial hearing.`Just had a case conference judge suggested mediation, ex said no so judge said if no mediation agreed trial hearing date could be set...The clerk at the front desk said that its set this way because its expected to be more than an hour.

[Stacey81]

The letter states it’s a hearing. It was just set up by the trial secretary because they said they expect it to take more than an hour?

[Abba435]

Are you the applicant or respondent?

Is this under Rule 8 (Application) or Rule 14 (Motion)?

[Stacey81]

I am the respondent but I brought the motion to change last year. After the case conference the judge suggested mediation and ex denied so I asked for a hearing date. Because they say it would take more than an hour it had to be scheduled as a trial hearing. The motion was filed last year. I want to add an affidavit and some supporting documents and was wondering about the time line. I am also going to include a request for information and a offer to settle.

[Stacey81]

How do I know which rule it would be under??

[Abba435]

You are the Respondent to an Application.
You filed an answer but did not include counter claim(s) for access, custody, support?
Judge suggested mediation.
You then filed a motion to change after that Application was filed to add these claims?
You asked for an hour and appeared and the motion judge said trial hearing? Why not a long motion?

[Stacey81]

I am the respondent according to the court. Last year I filed a motion to have support changed because my oldest was no longer in school. A case conference date was set and we both attended. The judge said he couldn’t help as we did not agree. His order stated that if mediation wasn’t an option that a date would be set for a trial hearing. I called the court and they said this would be scheduled through the trial secretary as it would take more than an hour. The court send letters to both myself and ex stating that a hearing would take place on April 6. I would like to add an affidavit, request for information and a offer to settle. Can this be done

[rockscan]

You are “the moving party” even though you are the respondent.

As this is a trial hearing you don’t do an offer or request for information.

Look through the list of documents for Family Court and see if they have trial documents listed.

Your will do an affidavit and attach emails or other requests for information.

Your argument is basically kid 1 is over 18 and not in school full time. You have asked for information and was ignored. She is not in a full time program of study with a reasonable employment opportunity.

Your following arguments are that the remaining children have not demonstrated they will be attending a post secondary program of study therefore you want the order to include a clause that child support cease when they turn 18.

Your case is pretty simple and since your ex won’t agree or provide documents the judge needs to decide.

You can send her an offer yourself independent of the hearing date so it is on record but as this is a hearing it doesn’t get attached like in a settlement conference document.

[Stacey81]

Are there time limits around the affidavit. I know the offer to settle can be done at anytime correct ?
Thanks for all your help with this.

[rockscan]

I would send it within 14 days. You’ve got a month here, work on it over the next week and then serve it as soon as possible. There’s no sense sitting on it. You don’t need any expert reports or other documentation for your argument which normally delays you.

[StillPaying]

I would call court and make sure. The "more than an hour" part makes me think this is a long motion and not trial.

If it's a long motion, you'll need an affidavit and factum.
If it's trial, you'll need a trial record and document brief; no affidavit.

[Stacey81]

So I just got off the phone with the court and they said I should be following the rules are a motion to change. Am I still able to submit the affidavit, offer to settle and request for information.

[StillPaying]

Sounds like you asked a general question and got a simple answer. You have a file number and a court date. They should be able to tell you whether this is for a conference, motion or trial.

You can always request info or make offers to settle anytime. The affidavit will depend on what you're trying to do. Definitely worth speaking to a lawyer as you don't have much time.