court house question

[1up]

i was wondering if anyone could tell me if you could just walk into the courthouse and ask questions regarding your rights?(in the north toronto area)and would they charge you for it?

[Mess]

That is exactly what you should do. Every courthouse that handles divorce has a FLIC (Family Law Information Centre) that is there for exactly that reason. You can sit with a lawyer for free for 1/2 hour and ask anything you want. The clerks there will also help you to look things up on your own.

In the court there is also a "Duty Council" who is there to help people fill out forms if they are self-representing. The DC is only allowed to answer basic questions regarding filling out and filing forms, how long you have to respond, what supporting doc's you need, etc.

You should write out a list of questions and split them up so the ones about proceedure and forms you ask the duty council, the ones about your rights ask at FLIC.

Get a binder and some tab dividers at Staples. Write up everything about your marriage in point form and divide it into sections in the tabs in the binder. First page should be you and your ex's name, social insurance number, date of birth, current addresses, date and location of marriage, official date of separation.

Have a page with children's info if you have them. A page with both your current employment and income info. A page with estimates of each of your assets and debts at the time you married and assets and debts at the time you separated (just estimates for conversation purposes, this can take weeks to do properly).

Start writing a timeline of your marriage (use tab dividers to mark years) and note major events, how you handled childcare and parenting, changes in employment and finances, major purchases, how your roles changed within the marriage, family discussions about the future, etc. Keep working on this timeline as you go, this will be what you refer back to time and again for many legal arguments, almost as much as the financial info.

At the back start photocopying you and your ex's tax returns, bank statements, etc, anything you can find easily, and build it up as you go so you have the supporting statements in one place. Include a copy of your marriage licence, copies of children's birth certificates, etc. Statements will all be needed, birth certificates might not be but have them included so they are at hand if something comes up.

Keep working on your binder. When you meet with a lawyer you will save a ton of time and money keeping all this info organized and at hand. Most of these pages you should have a photocopy in the binder so when you hire a lawyer, just hand them the copy of your names, SIN number, children's info, etc. This save a lot time in your interview and saves you money and allows you to get to your important questions.

Lawyers love to talk. At times you will get overwhelmed with info, a lot of it useless. Keep list of questions that are important to you written out, with spaces to write in the answers. Lawyers will first of all distract you from your questions with so many of their own, and you will leave with so much information in your head you won't remember it all.

Keep focused on what your goal is. Your goal may change from month to month, but have a target in mind. Anything that doesn't bring you a step closer to your target is a waste of time and money. So don't keep phoning your lawyer over small stuff so they can send off a threatening letter every week. Stay on track and focused on a particular result.

Good luck and come back here with as many questions as you need.

[1up]

Thank-You so much your info has given me a starting point.I will go in A.S.A.P. How will i find the courthouse that is in my area?

[dadtotheend]

No offence dude, but that took me about 10 seconds on Google.

Ministry of the Attorney General - List of Ontario Court Addresses