Tips for completing a Financial Statement (4) - Ontario

This is one in a series of our posts on this topic.

A Financial Statement is likely the most important document you will complete in a family law case.

We have never heard a client say "oh boy, I am looking forward to filling out this form" on receiving the blank draft but do not let the document scare you into inertia.

You will need to set aside quiet time to complete the document in draft, as best you can. If you get stuck, the trick is not to put the exercise aside and forget about it - the trick is to get motivated and get help, if necessary. This help may come from your lawyer and/or their Law Clerk (at a lower rate, we might add).

The key is to identify that you need help and to ask for it. All questions are reasonable - do not be afraid to ask. Remember that if you get stuck on an area of the form, that likely means the information is not straightforward - all the more reason your legal team should know about it and assist you in identifying it properly on the Financial Statement.

Financial Statement are fundamental to all family law cases. You and your spouse will each have to complete this document whether you are negotiating the outstanding issues, whether you are mediating them, arbitrating them or having them resolved with the assistance of the Court.

Financial Statements tell the reader a lot about you and your financial circumstances, at various points in time. This information, in turn, may be vital to your ability to pursue certain claims before the Court. What does this mean? For example, if you are asking for spousal support, you need to establish on your Financial Statement that you have need (you do that in your budget/Expenses) and also that your income is not sufficient to meet that need (this is not the only basis on which spousal support may be ordered but we are using "need" here to illustrate our point). By way of another example, if you are making a claim of equalization and you had significant assets at date of marriage for which you wish to take date-of-marriage deductions, then these assets need to be properly reflected in the assets portion of your Financial Statement.

TIP #4 re: completing a Financial Statement - the better you understand the reason you are expected to complete a particular section of the document, the more on-point and accurate your entries will be. Ask questions if answers to them will help you understand the form. You will be helping yourself and your legal team.

"I am going to a Case Conference - what can I expect?"

A Case Conference is one type of hearing in a series of hearings expected to take place in a family law case in Ontario under the Case Management system of court practice.

Case Management in family courts in Ontario is designed to keep cases "on the rails" and moving to their resolution in a prompt, organized and cost-effective way.

A Case Conference is generally the first hearing in this system - it is expected to take place soon after the court case is commenced. It is a meeting of a judge with the parties and their lawyers (if they are represented) to discuss the most pressing of issues, to organize the exchange of documents and disclosure and to schedule any necessary contested hearings and questioning. All discussions at a Case Conference take place on a "without prejudice" basis, meaning, they cannot be repeated at a contested hearing. The judge presiding over a Case Conference has the power to make some court orders. All court orders are made on a "with prejudice" basis, meaning that they affect the parties and the overall court case.

Your Case Conference may take place in open court or in the judge's office (chambers). Practice varies depending on the judge and the jurisdiction. Dress comfortably but appropriately. The judge may (but is not likely to) ask you questions.


UPDATE - January, 2018

We are pleased to let you know that our Etsy shop is now OPEN!

Visit it here: SELFREP SUPPORT

In the shop, we make available to you Manuals (E-books) on various topics, to assist you in representing yourself before Ontario's family law Courts.

So far, we have Manuals on preparing an effective:

• Financial Statement (both long-form and short-form); and
• Affidavit.

MORE MANUALS TO COME! 

Robert Roth - Landscape

Why Court is not always the solution.......

This is the age of media. An average person's view of the world is greatly affected by the media. This includes the public's perception of court.

TV teaches that legal battles are waged in the court room, with fist-pounding lawyers and finger-wagging judges. Reality is not what you see on TV. What you also do not see is the tremendous cost involved in conducting a court case, from start to finish.

A family court proceeding in Ontario can be an expensive, drawn-out process, for a variety of complex reasons over some of which you will have control and many of which you won't. Going to court is not the panaceum you may think it is. There are cases where the involvement of a judge is necessary to address differences in the legal positions of the parties. Sometimes, the intervention of a judge is required to address an emergency situation like the abduction of a child or non-payment of support.

Overall, settlement is always the preferable solution, for all concerned, assuming the parties both understand their legal rights, are making the bargain freely and without duress, understand the basis of the bargain through solid disclosure and have had an opportunity to get legal advice. Settlement polarizes the parties less than does a court case, where there is usually a clear winner and a clear loser. In a settlement, the parties are the authors of the terms of their agreement. This is the opposite of what happens in Court (other than in the context of a case which settles through Case Management) ~ a stranger to your family (the judge) makes decisions which may very well affect you and your children for the rest of your lives.

For the reasons above (and many other reasons which a family law lawyer can provide you) choose settlement if you can.

Some mediators/arbitrators in Ontario:

Stephen Grant and Gerry Sadvari
Herschel Fogelman - Basman Smith
Jennifer Shuber - Basman Smith
Melanie Kraft - Epstein Cole
Ken Maynard