How to file family court documents in ontario
How to: Start Family Court Application (Ontario) STEP BY STEP
Timecodes:
welcome my name is Jason with the
self-represented litigants Society and
this is starting a family court
application in Ontario now there may be
applicable for there's not gonna be any
applicable forms let's face it
jurisdiction by jurisdiction forms are
going to always be different now with
that said there is going to be
similarities when we take a look at some
of these forms you're going to see a lot
of the same information that's necessary
some basic things that you need in a
form are you know the names of the
parties the names of the court the
address of the court the file number the
details of the claim that's the most
important section is what it is that
you're actually asking the court for and
what is an application anyways it's
basically just a request of a court
because you can't seem to figure this
out with your ex-partner so that's the
problem that we have when we have people
going into into family court we have
them not being able to resolve their
issues and how do we do it well one way
to do it is to start a family court
application and here in Ontario is where
you go Ontario court forms dot o NCA
they have English and French and take a
look at the main landing page here
you're gonna find a lot of helpful
information a lot of helpful information
if you're a self represented litigants
I'd may be helpful
continuing law rule family law rules
continuing record so a continuing record
is essentially the formal book
the formal book for what the court file
looks like so this is what the actual
cover of the continuing record looks
like this will be printed off at the
courthouse already they will have a copy
of this volume one will go here when you
start off the put the file number here
the the name of the court the address
the applicants name the respondents name
again the applicant is the person that
is making the application first the
respondent is the person who is
responding to the application or the
opposing side and there can be there can
be multiple applicants and there can be
multiple respondents there can also be a
children's lawyer involved although that
usually wouldn't that that usually
wouldn't go in into into play until
after the file has been started but
sometimes somebody can retain a lawyer
separately for a child and they can be
involved right from the start which
could be a benefit to your case table of
contents so a table of contents is
important to look at when you are
actually getting to the courthouse here
in Ontario they make you fill out this
table of contents again with most of
these forms you're going to see the same
kind of heading section here you're
gonna see the file number up here the
name of the chord court office address
this is the name of the form right here
always in the top right hand corner of
the form you're going to see what that
form is so look right to the top right
hand corner of that form first page
that's gonna indicate what form you're
looking at all the time the applicant
the respondent on the bottom again your
address your contact information and if
you have a lawyer your lawyer will be
filling most of this out if you don't
have a lawyer this is why you're
probably watching this video and you
would leave this section blank sometimes
people put on here self represent
if I'm a respondent and I'm self
represented I'll put on my contact
information over here and then I will
have self represented over here the
document that I'm filing the first
document will be the application that
would be the form 8 in in this
particular case it would be filed by the
I would put an A right here that I am
the applicant the date of the document
would be the date of the completion of
the document which is typically this
date so the date of issue now this could
be prepared on a separate date and I
think there is another spot on here for
yeah date the date of the signature
could be different than the date of
issue so if I sign this right in front
of the clerk and then I'm having you
issued right there then I would
essentially have the same date here as
well as up here at the date of issue so
the date of issue what is the date of
issue the date of issue is essentially
the date that the court creates a court
file number the court file number is
important because obviously you want
this to be tracked in the computer
system at the courthouse
you want to be able to appear before a
judge so you need a court file number
and what goes hand-in-hand with a court
file number is paying a fee so to file
this application in Superior Court I
think I'm not positive I'm gonna take a
quick giggle Superior Court
I think it's a hundred and forty dollars
to start an application in Superior
Court okay one hundred fifty seven
dollars in Superior Court funny enough I
don't know why but in the Ontario Court
of Justice if you were to start an
application in the Ontario Court of
Justice there is no filing fee there is
no responding fee so to file an answer
just to respond to somebody filing an
app an application and to bring you into
court in Superior Court here in Ontario
it's a hundred and twenty-five dollars
on placing of the application on the
list of hearing so this is to be put
down for trial two hundred and eighty
dollars on the issue of a summons to a
witness
$19.00 you making copies out of the
court file is one dollar per page or
three dollars and fifty cents per page
if you want it certified and I think
okay so there's no I thought there was
but there isn't in in Superior Court in
civil matters there is a fee every time
you file a motion so there isn't a fee
for filing motions in Superior Court for
four motions in the Superior Court of
Justice but that's all kind of
encompassed with the the main filing fee
so what are we gonna do here we're gonna
go step by step through the application
form first step I would say right off
the bat is to organize yourself
you know you want to figure out you want
to take a look at these forms and you
want to figure out what information you
need and one of them one of the critical
forms that you need to file with your
application is your form 13 which is
your financial statements your financial
statement is a sworn document
it's an affidavit and it has a whole
bunch of information your employment
information it needs all your
contributions your cell phone bill how
much she spend in groceries a month your
tabled expenses for a a month are gonna
go in here all your debts and assets are
also gonna go in here as well also it's
it's it's essentially looking for what
your net worth is so don't sign this
make sure you don't sign this you want
to make sure your going to sign this in
front of a commissioner for taking
affidavits you can also do it a lawyer
or a paralegal in Ontario or a notary
public is is somebody also that can
commissioned an affidavit so the don't
don't sign this yet I'm just kind of
showing you this is one of the things
that you may want to peruse to gather
information first to organize step two
obviously is to fill out the forms you
know we could probably put
we could probably put a step in between
here that could be something along the
lines of explore mediation which could
be another complete step or a series of
steps I should say but we're not gonna
go into that today mediation and
alternative resolution or alternative
dispute resolution methods are very good
and I encourage you to look at that even
if you're self represented it's to your
benefit to try and be as quote-unquote
reasonable as possible in family court
this looks so good on paper and in front
of a judge and it will help your case
believe me if you want to be angry you
want to go and you want to fight you
want to do this you want to do that you
want to take what's yours you want to
get your kids you do this and da ba bla
what's gonna happen is you're going to
piss off people essentially and this
comes from personal experience I can
tell you for sure that being angry and
wanting to you know get the other side
that's something that doesn't work well
in family court the whole test for
family court when kids are involved is
what is in the best interest of the
children so the forms that I'm gonna be
showing you today are going to explore
full-out a custody dispute so you're
going to need you're going to need a
form eight loops a form eight is a
general application so if you're in a
custody if you're if you have kids
involved you want to you know settle
issues about access and custody I would
be using a form eight also
if kids are involved and if there's
going to be any kind of support paid you
have to be filling out a form 13 which
is financial statement also get to that
this is also something we're gonna get
to in a little bit a thirty five point
one is necessary for filing for filing
an application so a thirty five point
one is an affidavit in support of claim
for custody or access and that has to be
dated up here so these are the three
main forms that we're gonna talk about
we're also going to briefly get into the
affidavit of service the affidavit of
service once everything has been served
the applicant is then responsible for
filing the app affidavit of service so
step-by-step form eight a financial
actually let's just put the form numbers
again this is not going to be applicable
for everybody where am I going here okay
form 13 is the financials and form 35
oops
thirty five point one and then we can
also fill out the form six B
which is the affidavit of service um I
guess I should also get into in case
just in case you're interested and you
fall within the guidelines so back on
the Ontario Court form so NCA website if
you fall within the guidelines you could
be able to get a fee waiver and a fee
waiver is something that I don't suggest
easily it's people usually who have
income I think of less than a certain
amount per year I think under I don't
even know what it is actually and if I
open this up I don't have Microsoft Word
and it's not gonna look right so it's
not gonna be formatted so this is the
basic information yeah this is this just
doesn't look right
so it's gonna ask you if you're on
social assistance of any kind and if
it's yes I think that's an automatic
that is an automatic approval that's not
necessarily look it so here is where you
have to fill out they've changed this in
the last a little bit so if you're under
24,000 with your gross household income
and look at you have to you have to also
attach a financial statement and I think
there's a separate form for a financial
statement I don't think it's the I don't
think it is the actual financial
statement we were just looking at that
you have to file I think there's a
separate financial statement anyways
- your court clerk about this if you are
wanting to get a fee waiver it's really
dependent on income and you will have to
prove your income at one point a couple
years ago you did not have to prove your
income you just filled out the form and
it was an affidavit
so you basically swore to telling the
truth in the affidavit so that would be
another form that you could get ahead of
and fill out before so again the form 8
is the application form 13 as a
financial statement and formed 35.1 if
you have kids sorry if support isn't is
going to be involved you're making a
claim for support or responding to a
claim for support you have to file the
form file the form 13 which is the
financial statement and the form 35.1 is
just it's basically called a parenting
plan and this is basically something
that details out how you're going to
raise the children and we will get into
it in a little bit so step 3
after you've filled out the documents
what do you do well in my opinion you
would review the documents and you would
go over them over and over and over
again making sure that everything is
precise everything is accurate
everything is everything is as truthful
as possible step 4 would be to now go
get go get the file issued so when we go
and get a file issued that means that
the form is complete all the forms are
complete actually I think they may allow
issuing if just the form 8 is complete I
think I'm not positive but this all has
to be complete but to actually move the
case along and to force an answer to be
generated by the other side I think all
of the three four
that I mentioned have to be I think all
three of these have to be filled out
properly and commissioned so these two
have to be commissioned the formate does
not get commissioned and commissioned
again is essentially when you'd
basically take an oath I promise to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth kind of thing in front of
the clerk or in front of a lawyer and
then they will mark it down as if you
made that promise and what is the issue
with not telling the truth
in something that is commissioned well a
commissioned affidavit is now
enforceable by law in case you do in
case you do lie in that document
somebody could go after you for perjury
that's a criminal offense and you don't
want that believe me so here's the
formate application this is for making a
claim essentially for custody child
support here's the section I'm gonna
skip right to it just for a moment here
is the most important section here this
is what you are claiming as the
applicant and you're going to see here
that the divorce Act may be something
that you're claiming under the Family
Law Act or the children's Law Reform Act
would be for obviously for support to be
payable for custody to be made so
depending on which act you're filing
under you know that Act will now be
applicable to this file so be very
careful as to what it is that you're
putting here I can't give you specific
legal advice as to what it is that you
should or should not put here but if it
were me I would be and if this was just
a claim for children and and custody and
access and then maybe child support
I would be filling out this and this is
basically a tikki box system if I wasn't
sure about the rules under get into the
rules of divorce right now
I mean basically the rules of divorce
are you have to be you have to wait one
year minimum to start an application for
divorce here in Ontario and I think this
may be generally the same across the
across Canada because the divorce Act is
a federal statute and I believe actually
I am not even positive the divorce Act
may be a federal statute I'm nearly
positive that the divorce act is a
federal statute which means it's
applicable across Canada but these two
pieces of legislation are Ontario
legislation so depending on what you're
putting here it's going to be something
you can or can't do if you were claiming
a divorce and you haven't waited a year
then you may not be able to file your
application you may have to amend this
to take divorce off so keep that all in
mind again minimum one year for a
divorce is the general rule of thumb
there are exceptions if if there is a
claim made for I think physical abuse or
emotional abuse some kind of abuse that
is yeah I'm nearly positive it's abuse
in the spousal abuse is one issue that
can have you not wait a year that can
have you essentially forego the waiting
period or what is the formal word for it
when you cheat on your spouse that is
cold oh my god
it's I'm dull tree there we go okay here
we go so so if
is cruelty so some kind of spousal abuse
happening happening in the relationship
or if there's adultery so if the if one
party makes this claim you can forego
the year waiting period now this has to
be something that both parties agree to
or that one party can prove for this to
happen now there are actual tests of
there are tests in law that will say
when adultery has happened there are
tests in law that will set out what it
means to actually have physical or
mental cruelty happen from one party to
another so there it's not just you know
click this box and then and then that
will have you forego the one year
waiting period it doesn't work like that
both parties have to agree that that
happened or one party has to be able to
prove that it happened so there will be
a hearing if there isn't an agreement by
both parties so say for instance I
wanted to forego the waiting period and
I put down adultery the onus is now on
me to now prove that adultery happened
anyways I'm getting ahead of myself here
so back up here to the beginning of the
forum so now we're in the fill out stage
obviously we talked about these headings
section this is gonna be pretty much the
same for every proof for every form
you're gonna find here in Ontario in the
in the family court system to the
respondent a fort first court date is
and it would be your responsible so now
this would go kind of as a step three
point one
get a date from the courthouse so you're
gonna need to find out your courthouse
location there are rules on where you
can be filing you can't be filing you
know in a jurisdiction that you don't
live in for instance or if there is well
that's not that's not necessarily true
you could be there are special rules
that apply for filing in different
jurisdictions but find out what your
courthouse is that you're gonna be
filing at and get a date so your first
your first date is going to be listed
here by you
you may also wanna you could leave this
blank I think if you bring the
application filled out then when you get
the form issued the clerk could attach
the date there you're gonna have to
consult with the rules
to see if you're on the fast-track case
management system or standard track so
in the standard track system no court
date has been set for this case but if
you've been served with a motion
excuse me if you've been served with a
notice of motion that will have a date
attached to it so these two items here
they're applicable in different
jurisdictions in Ontario so you're gonna
consult with the family law rules to
find out if that's applicable in your
jurisdiction you may also want to call
the courthouse to clarify so what
happens
say for instance let's get a little bit
ahead of myself let's say I serve this
and I don't make a response I don't make
an answer which is the formal form for a
response and I don't do that within 30
days after it's been served on me
if I don't the case will go ahead and a
default order could be awarded now
everything could pretty much be
overturned and in an appeal you know I'm
not saying that that is something that
could be appealed but it it might be
appealed everything that I asked for if
if the other side doesn't respond within
30 days then I could essentially get
everything here that I'm asking for
within reason
if it's for instance equalization most
likely a hearing would need to be made
to be able to prove some of this pretty
much anything here there is a
possibility for a hearing to occur even
if the other side doesn't respond if the
other side doesn't respond that just
means that it's easier to prove that it
will be based on information that you
provide to the court but you still have
to prove it so right here this case
includes a claim a claim for support
that means that you again you have to
fill out the form 13 this case includes
a claim for property or exclusive
possession of the matrimonial home and
you don't fill out the 13 you fill out
the thirteen point one and what are you
doing also you're also serving blank
copies so where would this go here
let's get a little ahead of ourselves by
putting service why do we serve blank
copies because it's essentially a
courtesy to the other side but it is
required by this form here obviously
it's saying that a blank copy is
attached if you didn't get a copy you
know probably nothing bad will happen to
you sorry if you didn't serve a blank
copy that nothing bad will probably
happen to you but it's a courtesy and
you should be trying to be as reasonable
as possible to allow the other side to
respond the courtesy kind of lies with
the ease of having to go search out
these forms so instead of putting the
onus on the other side to go and search
out the forms that are necessary to
respond then you're attaching them and
essentially you're saying that I want
you to be involved in this legal action
that's why I'm serving you and you have
the right to respond that's essentially
the message that's being sent by
including blank copies and here are the
blank copies so again these are all
instructions to the person that's
receiving this I thought maybe it
doesn't say no maybe doesn't say but the
35.1 is a requirement per the rules if
you're making a claim for custody or
support or sorry if you're making a
claim for custody or access and again
35.1 is the show you here and I'm only
showing you here in Google Docs
it's an affidavit in support of claim
for custody or access it's basically
called a parenting plan and I'm showing
you on here because on the court forms
website we don't have a PDF version and
I don't have word loaded on this
computer right now so you can see here
this one category over here these all
these sorry all these documents on the
right column here are Word documents all
of these documents here are PDF
documents now some of the PDF documents
aren't available so that means you're
gonna have to get word or something that
can fill out word or you could
essentially fill out things by hand
that's not against the rules
you could fill out things by hand you
just want to make sure that it's all
legible that you're printing and that
the printing is legible and that yeah
you're being as honest as possible is
the most important thing
35.1 it doesn't have a PDF document so
that's why I was showing you there on
Google Docs otherwise these are all PDFs
here that I'm I'm looking at and my form
8 is right here so my form 8 you're
gonna describe your general family
history your age your birth date where
you live your surname at birth your
surname before marriage if you've been
divorced before all this is important
information that the court wants to know
and you should be filling all of this
out with very little exception you know
there are some spots where something
won't be applicable and you can just put
n/a for not applicable or just leave it
blank I wouldn't leave it blank
I would actually strike I would strike a
a pen mark through it and you do that
primarily because at some point you
don't ever want it to be that there was
a blank spot and somebody filled in that
spot and the genuineness of the document
comes into question your relationship
dates what date were you married on what
date did you start living together
separated on if you ever lived together
if you're still living together all
these are checkboxes you only pretty
much select one
although sorry you select what is
applicable I should say John Doe is my
child their 11 birthdate etc who are
they now living with this is an
important one if they're living with you
but you put on here that they're living
with the other party this could hurt you
because this could be called into
question at some point saying why should
we why should we change this have the
parties or the children been in a court
case
for yes or no the parties made a written
agreement dealing with any matter
involved in this case some kind of
parenting agreement typically so
indicate which of its terms are in
dispute so if there is a parenting
agreement or a separation agreement that
you have come to as free willing parties
you know that would be something that
you would indicate here I think there is
a spot where it's where it asks you to
attach it also as a notice of
calculation or a notice of recalculation
been issued by the online child support
service in this case again this is I
think this is if you've already been
involved with the court case I'm not
positive actually
if yes are you make are you asking the
court to make an order for a child
support that is different from the
amount set out in the notice so as a
notice of calculation and or a notice of
recalculation been issued by the online
child support service so I'm not sure
with the online child support services
but obviously it's something and I think
this is just like a support calculator
and it's a formal notice just I I don't
know I don't know what this actually
looks like actually of calculation or
recalculation
okay
you
to set up or update child support online
you or the other parent or caregiver may
have to provide your income so it's an
online service and there's a cost so
eighty dollars so going back to here
notice of calculation so this would be
essentially probably plugging in all the
information into that website the
Ontario website they're paying the $80
fee and then if you are asking the court
to make an order for a child support
that is different from the amount set
out in the notice if that's yes you have
to essentially provide an answer for why
it is and why the court should order
something different than what it's
setting out the guideline amount the
guidelines are essentially the child
support guidelines you're gonna hear
this a lot or it's also sometimes
referred to as the table amount or just
it could be referred to as the
guidelines the guidelines are
essentially I'll show you what they look
like
it's basically a big table so you punch
in all this information here
child support amount would be 880 a
month that's basically it
I've looked at something a little bit
different this is a really simplified
version of this so basically it's
telling you an estimate and there is an
actual table it looks like a it looks
like a an Excel spreadsheet and you can
essentially look up so for the number of
children you can kind of pinpoint where
it is on that table that you fall and
that's why it's called the table or the
table amount okay let's go back to form
eight this is the general application
again so you would have to give reasons
to why it is that the child support
should be different if you're asking for
child support have the parties
arbitrated or agreed to arbitrate on
matter to arbitrate any matter involved
in this case
so arbitration is essentially where both
parties go to a non judge could be a
judge but not really acting as a judge
and it's not really binding on the
parties to the degree that that it's
sort of an alternative dispute
resolution method it's different than
mediation but an arbitrator essentially
would be a judge like person at a very
decreased cost that would weigh all the
information and make a decision and that
becomes essentially binding on the
parties it's not necessarily binding in
a courtroom until that
arbitration agreement is is filed or the
arbor arbitration decision is to filed
once it's filed in court then it can be
enforceable by the court not pretty much
until then arbitration pretty much
doesn't give the opportunity for appeal
which is one of the downsides to
arbitration I think there's no appeal
from an arbitration I forget some of my
some of my schooling on arbitration
didn't really cover arbitration fully so
I can't really tell you the pros and
cons of arbitration I don't think that I
would do arbitration because it becomes
binding on you it becomes it becomes an
agreement that you pretty much have to
follow but it's not by a judge it
doesn't have the same power as a court
as a court order although it can be
turned into a court order the the
essence of the arbitration award can be
turned into a court order so again here
is the most important section this is
what you are claiming if you don't make
a claim here for something later on it's
very hard or it's harder it's not hot
it's not very hard but it's harder to
now go back and say oh I want to make a
claim for custody when I didn't intend
to when I filed my response or my
application so make sure you know and
research what it is that you're doing
here excuse me so if I'm looking for a
restraining order does that mean a
restraining order is going to be ordered
no it means that that's what I'm seeking
for the court to order and that's
something now that I have to prove so
one of the things to keep in mind at all
times
throughout the whole entirety of the
case is that legal costs the costs for
lawyers the cost for all the court fees
and etc those follow the winner the
winner the judge will decide who's the
winner and who's the loser essentially
and there will be a winner and there
will be a loser now that's typically
balanced against this section right here
so if I ask for support for me if I ask
for support if I ask for spousal support
support for the children custody and a
restraining order and say for instance I
only get this I only get support well
that kind of doesn't make sense but I
mean if I ask for restraining order but
I didn't get it
that's partial that's a partial loss so
what it is that I'm asking for if I
don't get it
if I don't get all this stuff then I'm
not the sole winner
there could be what's called divided
success and now when we're talking about
costs the other side is going to be so
the losing side is going to be paying
the the costs of all this essentially
the winner gets the gets the costs paid
for which is a very important thing to
keep in mind at all times
whatever I'm asking for if I can't prove
it then why am I asking for it
first of all secondly if I can't prove
it then will I be successful most likely
not for each one of these I should say
pretty much all of these yeah pretty
much all of these there is a separate
test and a separate test which will be
found probably in probably in case law
so for the test for a restraining order
the test essentially is I have to prove
that I feel fear for myself or my family
or loved ones by the other party because
this is essentially a restraining order
that will last pretty much
forever so if there's a restraining
order then there may be separate terms
that are added here they may not be
forever it may be for a period of time
but essentially there's a test for
restraining or there's a test for who
should get the custody of the children
and that boils down to you know what I
talked about already the best interest
test what is in the best interest of the
child so that's those are some of the
some examples so other details of give
details of the order that you want that
you want the court to make include any
amount of support so essentially now
we're going to detail out the order that
I want the court to make an order for
custody of the child for the applicant
in order for access to the child for the
respondent in order for child support in
the amount of 880 per month etc so these
are all the details of the order that I
want to be made if I'm making a claim
for divorce then I would be setting out
this section here although this is
important here for I think it's only for
divorce actually important facts
my other claims important facts if I'm
making a claim for a restraining order I
may want to put throughout the marriage
there was spousal abuse from the
respondent to the applicant the
respondent would drink and throw things
at the applicant the respondent was
verbally abusive and again keeping in
mind what the test is for what a
restraining order requires it means that
I now have to essentially detail out
what that test is in my own words the
applicant fears for the safety of the
child and himself because of the
respondents behavior etc so now I'm
giving somewhat broad details in third
party in third-person language that
essentially will detail out or become
the basis for what I now have to support
at trial if this goes to trial so I'm
not putting anything on here that I
can't prove that's a big thing if you
put stuff on here just for this just for
the heck of it you may be looking at
getting penalized some somewhere down
the road if you put stuff on here that
you can't prove you could be penalized
with legal costs by paying the legal
costs of the other side even if you're
the successful party if you put stuff on
here that was essentially stuff to
lengthen the process unnecessarily
lengthen the process of court that would
be something that could be used against
you so keep that all in mind the lawyers
certificate is only something that would
be filled out by a lawyer if you have
one if they're if it's a divorce case
otherwise you're going to be signing and
dating here and if additional space is
needed you're gonna be attaching extra
pages so this is form 8 that's pretty
much it
this is the general application and this
starts off the court file I'm going to
delete this financial support now is
necessary again you're gonna put in your
file number here your the name of the
court the name the court address my find
the applicant I'd put my name here 5 5 5
Main Street anywhere Ontario my postal
etc my email address and telephone
number and all the information that I
know of the other party as well they're
going to have to fill out their
information when they respond so in case
you don't have their appropriate address
or their actual address their last known
address is necessary if you don't even
know that leaving a blank you may
encounter some problems but you may not
my name is John Doe anywhere
tario and I swear affirm that the
following is true again this is an
affidavit this is sworn or affirmed you
do not sign this by yourself this is
taken to a court the courthouse where
the clerk can now Commission the
document or basically give you an oath
or swear the document and then it will
be turned into essentially an affidavit
which again if you lie in it it's
enforceable against you can be charged
for perjury nobody usually will get
charged for perjury even if you'd make
blatant lies that you can prove the
police will probably do nothing about
this likely but you don't want that risk
I'm currently employed self-employed
unemployed I attached my paycheck blah
blah blah whatever is applicable last
year and now I'm gonna break all of that
down again you should have all this
stuff organized before you're filling
this out you should have your last three
notice of assessments for the past three
taxation years that you're attaching and
your most recent pay stub attached all
that are applicable it asks for so if
you have a pension or a workers comp or
anything a pay stub you're gonna be
attaching your most recent one as well
as your last three a copy of my tax
returns for the past three years as well
as the notice of assessments so that's
all stuff you're gonna need to gather
before and this all gets attached right
to this document
to the forum 13 again you're filling out
all this stuff I'm not gonna give any
kind of examples here but essentially
you're gonna total it all up you're
gonna total up all your expenses
you're gonna total up all your income
and then you're gonna essentially put
your assets and your debts and you're
gonna come up with a number of what your
total assets are and you're gonna
subtract your total debts and then
you're going to get your net worth which
is probably the most important thing on
here what your net worth is although the
only thing really that as we just saw by
looking at the calculator on the federal
government's website the only thing
that's really important is right here
and the number of children although I
should say if my income is expected to
be say for instance seventy five
thousand next year this is something now
where it's arguable that a lower child
support lower than the guideline should
be ordered and now it's on me to prove
whether or not that that should be the
case and what if the opposite is true
say for instance my last year's income
was a hundred thousand my next year's is
expected to be a hundred and fifty
thousand that would be a case where one
party is trying to argue that more child
support should be should be ordered and
again this is a sworn document you're
going to all this stuff will usually be
filled out I usually prepare this stuff
I put here Ontario on the second
oops December 2nd 2017 and then the
Commissioner would usually fill out this
bar port they would just essentially
sign this and they would stamp it and
then I would sign my portion in front of
them again I don't sign this unless I'm
in front of a lawyer or in front of a
commissioner that somebody that is
commissioning this document there may be
a fee that is attached to commissioning
the document in family court I don't
believe there is I'm not positive
contact your courthouse if you're asking
a lawyer to do this they're definitely
going to charge a fee unless they're
probably a family friend or something
scheduled a additional sources of income
again Schedule A would be attached if
this is applicable Schedule B other or
other income earners in the home
complete this part only if you are
making or responding a claim for undue
hardship or spousal support or spousal
support so if you're making a claim for
spousal support you're gonna need to
fill out the section undue hardship
would be something over and above child
support that could be ordered there's a
legal test for it believe me there's a
legal test for everything Schedule C
special or extraordinary expenses for
the chunk for the child child's name
what's the expense the yearly amount for
that expense available tax credits or
deductions all this stuff a proportion
of this could be paid if you're making a
section 7 claim so this is section 7 I
think of the children's Law Reform Act
I'm maybe it's the Family Law Reform Act
so section 7 expenses or maybe no I
think it's the guidelines it's the child
support guidelines
section seven of the child support
guidelines essentially outline the that
special or extraordinary expenses can be
proportionately divided between the
parties and that's it that is the form
thirteen again make sure you're filling
all of this out very well
and to the best of your abilities a
[Music]
thirty five point one is the last big
form we're going to look at its an
affidavit and support of claim claim for
custody or access so if you're making a
claim for in some if you're making a
claim for custody or access you have to
fill it one of these and it has to be
filed it has to be updated every single
time something in here changes so if
your residence changes that has to be
that has to be filled out you know
there's a section on here where you're
essentially drawing out what your plan
is again the heading section is it's
going to be all the same on pretty much
all the forms in in Ontario here
affidavit in support of custody or
access my name is blank
my date of birth is blank I live in
blank during my life I have also used or
been known by the following names I
would put those names here the child's
name child's name full legal name of the
parents
this is gonna be tedious and it's gonna
be long and it's gonna be arduous to
fill out but believe me it's worth it
get you organized - child's full name my
relationship to the to the child I'm the
parent name of all people the child
lives with now all of the child's
siblings that the child is living with
right now or any other person all those
people have to be
stood here again this is I'm also the
parent or have acted as a parent or a
step parent or legal guardian to the
following children acted that means in
the past - so I'm detailing all this out
I am or have been a party in the
following court cases involving
involving custody or access to any child
I would name those out have been a party
or person responsible for the care of
the child in the following child
protection court cases and I would
detail all that out I have been found
guilty of the following criminal
offenses for which I have not received a
pardon charge approximate date of
finding of guilt sentence received I am
now charged with the following criminal
offenses somebody could argue that this
is unconstitutional the section here I
think saying and admitting that you're
charged doesn't mean that you're
convicted and obviously a judge would
look at this and understand that yes
you're not you're not convicted but just
having this information having to
divulge that information
I think that's prejudicial to some
degree and an argument could definitely
be made if you didn't fill this out that
it's unconstitutional but that's just
another fight you don't want to be
fighting do you and you need to attach a
copy of your bail conditions or your
release conditions if you are charged
with an offense when the court is
assessing a person's ability to act as a
person section 24 four of the children's
Law Reform Act I encourage you to go and
look at that section requires the court
to consider whether the person has at
any time committed violence or abuse
against his or her spouse a parent
a parent of the child to whom the claim
for custody or access relates a member
of the person's household or any child
so there are other parts of that section
of section 24 that are that detail out
what the test is essentially for how
custody should be awarded and that's all
stuff that you should be aware of so you
would detail out you know the the acts
of violence to the best of your
abilities and to whom suffered or was
the perpetrator of that violence to the
best of my knowledge since the since
birth a child in this case has lived
with the following caregivers and you
would list that out my plan for care and
upbringing of the child or children is
as follows I plan to live at the
following address
plan to live at the following address
and if this change is at any point this
whole form needs to be updated so what
do I recommend for all of your forms I
recommend you save a template for all of
them so you can pull them up at any
point and go back change what's
necessary and print that off to now go
and refile it so again this has to be
updated every single time that there is
a change full legal name or other
persons oh sorry the following people
involved in this case will be living
with me they want to know if that person
has been found guilty of a criminal
offense decisions for the child will be
made jointly by me and the other party
or by me or by the other party or
somebody else detail all that out I'm a
stay at home parent I work full-time
part-time all this stuff has to be
filled out again check ticky box
of system here but again make sure
everything is tikki din the right
section the children will attend what
school regular contact with whom and all
of this is in your own words essentially
children does not have any special
medical or educational or mental health
needs or the children does have special
needs and will receive support and
services for those needs as follows
so detailing all of this out is very
important again it will help to clarify
everything for the judge that looks at
this I will have support from the
following relatives friends or community
services in caring for the children I
acknowledge that the court needs
up-to-date and accurate information
about my plan this is sort of an
acknowledgement section this is exactly
what I've been saying all along that
this form needs to be updated all the
time and if it's not you're now in
breach of the rules and you could be
held accountable for that so you're
going to initial here saying that you
understand that that you need to update
this form and every time every single
time when you're in court in family
court in any pretty much any court you
need to serve then file and when you
file you need to file a 6b an affidavit
of service an affidavit of service
essentially details out again same
heading heading section the file number
would go here court this is going to
detail out your information where you
live and the date and time and how it is
that you served the other party and with
what documents so I served
the application and I was the applicant
so I'm gonna put an a here the date when
the document was signed December 2nd
2017 I also served the financial or I'm
just going to put form 13 I was the
author of that and it was dated December
[Music]
so I can put multiple forms on the
affidavit of service if I'm serving it
all together and it by the same method
also the form 35.1 I am the applicant
December 2nd 2017 so if I'm serving all
these at the same time what's good to
note is that special service or sorry
personal service is necessary for
starting off the application and there
is a rule that says that the application
can't be served by the actual applicant
I'm not sure what rule that is but it's
somewhere in the family law rules the
onus is on you to go look that up but
essentially it's trying to prevent
conflict so if I'm the if I'm filing an
application for for custody of the kids
and I'm serving it to you they don't
want the the court doesn't want a fight
to break code right
so a and it's also good to note that
every time a an application is filed in
family court all the time it has to be
personally served that person has to
physically get a copy a paper copy of
that document unless the court orders
otherwise the court can order something
like an e mail service he
if you've attempted 18 times by process
server to get them served but again I'm
going if if I'm the process server
I'm the process server John Doe process
server so the process server would be
filling this out they would give you a
copy of this commissioned pretty much
find out from your local process server
if that's the case if it's not the case
there may be an extra fee to give you an
idea it's it's around a hundred dollars
to serve documents like these in within
city limits but that may be a little bit
less maybe a little bit more depending
on the times that they attempted to
serve or where they're attempting to
serve etc you know get three quotes and
go with the middle one after special
service after they are personally served
you no longer have to physically serve a
copy on to them every single time you
can drop it in the mail mailing a person
sorry so I would detail out so after
after after after you have a file number
after after the application has been
served and all this initial these
initial forms have been served all the
other documents in the case that comes
after it can be served by mail by
courier by fax by email in certain
circumstances I'm not sure what
circumstances okay attach this email as
a copy of the email that the document
was attached to so it can be stuff can
be served after the original documents
after the originating
after the originating documents that all
is again the rules will detail out when
this is acceptable or not but if this is
important to note if for instance I'm
the applicant John Doe on I'm the
applicant and Mary Doe is the respondent
if after Mary has been served with all
these forms by a process server but not
by John Doe and then Mary now gets a
lawyer
Bob's lawyer service so she hires Bob
and Bob fills out this stuff and Mary
sends documents back to me with Bob's
information on so now Mary is
essentially represented by Bob I don't
send any more documents directly to Mary
that's inappropriate and improper I'm
now serving Mary by giving all the
documents to Bob all the time from now
on until Bob files or Mary files a
change of representation form so if I if
if Mary serves and files a form that
says that Bob's no longer representing
her so up until that time everything
after these documents is served um Bob
and it's considered to be served on her
so on blank the if if she was
represented after after the time that
she's represented at a later point a
different set of forms that are need to
being served and I'm faxing it over on
December 14 2017 at 4:07 p.m. I served
name of person to be served I served
married Oh
I would put on here via counsel of
record Bob lawyer I would put that on
here and then I would detail out that I
faxed it over there because that's what
I typically would do because it gives
you a confirmation that it's been
received so and Section eight says the
fax confirmation is attached to this
affidavit so I print out the fax
confirmation once I get it and then I'm
basically attaching it to this to this
affidavit and that's considered to be
served so this is a section this is an
important section on here my
relationship to any party in this case
so if I'm the process server that's what
I'm putting here and that's what will
that's what would be that was what would
be put down here to serve the document I
had to travel blank kilometers my fee
for service of the document I would put
this if there was actual legal costs
incurred and it was exhaustive to try
and serve that person say for instance
they were out of province or something
or I don't know but again no personal
service personal service has to be done
for the beginning the starting documents
the originating process or the the
original document the application the
first document in the case it has to be
served personally has to be personally
handed to that other person it has to be
hint it has to be personally handed to
Mary if it's not there's a problem
you're not this is not proper service
and after that point if she gets a
lawyer everything served um Bob if if
it's
if she's self represented then she could
be served by mail by fax whatever and
that doesn't happen you know no other
special rules applies she doesn't have
to be personally served every single
time for new documents now but you would
detail out on here and then you would
not sign this you would wait to sign
this again in front of a commissioner
for taking affidavits the Commissioner
for taking affidavits is you know a
lawyer is a commissioner a justice of
the peace a notary public a commissioner
for taking affidavits are all the clerks
at the courthouse they are all
commissioners so they will they will do
it sometimes they charge a fee but make
sure you're signing that in front of
them because this is an affidavit again
a promise to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing about the truth that's
that's because you can be charged with
perjury if you lie if you say you serve
something and you didn't you know there
should be legal consequences obviously
so that is form 6b affidavit of service
so what do we have here
get file number pay file filing fee so
let's go over this step by step starting
a family court application in Ontario
first of all you want to organize things
definitely organize things before you
start to fill out things when you do get
to filling out the things these are the
forms that are necessary for any new
application for custody or and/or
support in Ontario if you're just doing
a divorce this is gonna be a different
form if you have property involved this
is going to be a different form if
you're not filing for custody or if
you're not I think if you even if you're
not asking for custody or access access
but the other side is this still has to
be filled out but usually if you're
asking for access the other side's
asking for custody
this has to be filled out mandatory and
any changes in this form need to be a
resurface and a refiling of this form
and then the form six B that is the
affidavit of service once all of these
have been served but they don't get
served until they're issued but make
sure you're reviewing everything in
detail before you're going down to the
courthouse you're going to get a date at
the courthouse and then get it issued
you're going to get a file number the
file number will now go on every single
court document that you get you're then
also going to pay a filing fee
think it was 157 I'm not positive you're
also going to pay a fee to respond if
you're the responding party you're also
going to be paying a response a response
but again this can be waived and yeah
this can be waived if you are going to
be complying and fit within the
parameters of the fee waiver document
and take a look at that fee waiver if
you feel like that would be it's for low
income family and families and house
households so if that's applicable to
you then you may be able to get the fees
waived find a process server you're not
gonna be able to waive this but it
doesn't necessarily have to be an actual
formal process server it can be any
adult third party it just can't be the
applicant it can be an uncle and aunt it
can be an adult cousin they can all
serve it but they have to fill out the
affidavit of service that's the
important thing here is that they are
they are filling out the affidavits
they're going to get it commissioned
which is a fee if it's in front of a
lawyer or if it's at the courthouse it's
probably not a fee but they you have to
get this served personally this is
probably probably the only time that
you'll need to hire a process server in
this whole process and it's the only
time that these forms have to be
personally served or sorry that these
forms have to be personally served or at
minimum this form has to be personally
served the starting document that starts
off everything the originating serve the
originating process and so again you're
looking at probably 75 to $100 for a
process server depending on your area
and depending on if they can find the
person you may have to get an
alternative an alternative method of
service you may be able to serve them by
Facebook if they're if they're you
somebody that has no home address or
whatever I don't know like there are
creative ways to go about getting an
alternative order for service but you
have to attempt several times personal
service but that could take weeks until
so from the time that you fill out the
documents and get the documents issued
to when it's served that could be weeks
then to go and then allow them to
respond they get 30 days to respond and
that can even be extended they get 30
days to respond and then after that 30
days you get a I think another 10 days
to file what's called a reply I'm not
going to tell you what a reply is but
the applicant is the only party that
gets to file a reply and it's any new
issues essentially that are raised in
the answer the answer is the respondents
reply essentially that's them responding
to your application then the applicant
then gets a chance to make a formal
reply and that's actually called the
reply on the on the form section
actually here at the top of the page I
think again notice the change of
representation some of these are stuff
that you'll use on a regular basis okay
so here's the answer and the reply there
those are the names of forms so those
are the four the answer is used by the
respondent the reply is then used by any
for new any any new information I should
say raised in the answer so in the reply
you can only essentially respond to new
information that the
that the respondent raises the
respondent then doesn't get a chance to
reply to that it's just we would go on
forever like that so from this point
here to service it could be a couple
weeks and then they get 30 days to
respond with the answer then you get
another ten or so days to make a reply
after all that is done pleadings are now
closed it's a stage so this is this this
is the pleading stage the pleading stage
is essentially all the formal paperwork
that needs to be completed all the all
the paperwork the initial paperwork all
these initial forms this is the pleading
stage these this stage is for getting
all the paperwork together getting you
prepared to go to trial so now once the
pleading stage is closed then you're
going into a different phase of the
court file usually that's referred to as
the discovery phase but in family court
case management is kind of a better word
for it
you then go into your first appearance
usually is a conference and that could
be three months away from this point it
could be more so just keep that in mind
this is not a very fast or easy process
there is the ability to bring a motion
for temporary relief before the first
conference but that get that date that
get a date from the courthouse section
on the on the formate that's for the
first conference that's where you get to
sit in a room with a judge and you
essentially have a casual atmosphere
it's closed off to the public and you
basically talk about what the issue
are of the case and that could be three
months away from the time that you start
this so keep that in mind so once
everything is served again serving blank
copies of all the forms that will be
necessary so you're going to include a
blank answer at blank thirty form
thirteen and a blank thirty five point
one if those are applicable the service
is once once that's complete with all
the blank copies served you're then
gonna go back to the courthouse and file
the affidavit of service and now the 30
days starts ticking from the date that
service was made the 30 days for them to
file an answer so this is the
application process for the family law
rules
you can find the family law rules here
on Ontario court form 0n CA you can just
Google Ontario family law rules and they
will come up read through these rules
they're pretty simple but pretty easy to
get there's not a lot of hard legal
jargon to get but if there is I mean you
know ask questions as much as possible
we're here to help self represented
litigants society send us an email on
our website i rep myself comm is the
website if you have questions about
anything you heard in this video feel
free to comment below and we may be able
to help keep it as general as possible
we can't be or we can't be telling you
what you should or shouldn't be doing
just as a reminder of what we do we
don't give legal advice we can give
legal information and that's general
questions general answers stuff that you
can be researching on your own but again
take a look at the forms familiarize
yourself with the rule
and good luck in court
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