(LPSA)Wait for the Reply

Wait for the Reply

The other person has 30 days after being served with the documents to file their Reply (Form 3) and Financial Statement (Form 4).

You can check at the court registry to find out if the Reply has arrived. The registry might not send the Reply to you for up to three weeks after it's filed.

In the Reply, the other person can:

  • say what parts of your application they agree to,
  • say what parts they don't agree to, and
  • ask the court to make different orders by completing the Counterclaim part of the Reply form.

Your next step depends on whether the other person files a Reply (Form 3) or makes a new application in response to yours.

If the other person files a Reply (Form 3), the Family Court clerk will send you these documents within 21 days of receiving them from the other person:

  • a copy of their Reply,
  • a copy of their Financial Statement (Form 4), if they file one, and
  • a Notice of Hearing telling you when you have to appear in court.

This court date is called the first appearance date.

If the other person doesn't file a Reply (Form 3) within 30 days of receiving your application, you must file an Affidavit of Personal Service (Form 5) with the court to proceed. (See Step 4 and Serve Provincial Court documents by personal service for where to find and how to complete the Affidavit of Personal Service.)

  • If you had a professional process server serve the documents, this person should provide you with the Affidavit.
  • If you had a friend serve the documents, your friend must take the completed Affidavit of Personal Service (Form 5) with the attached copy of all documents to a lawyer, a notary public, a government agent, or a clerk at the court registry to swear or affirm that the documents have been served.
You don't need to provide a blank Reply (Form 3) and Financial Statement (Form 4) along with the Affidavit of Personal Service (Form 5). If your friend serves the documents, write a new paragraph on the Affidavit of Personal Service stating that the blank forms were served on the other person: "In addition to serving the documents attached as exhibits to this Affidavit, I also served the other person with copies of a blank Reply (Form 3) and Financial Statement (Form 4)."

File the sworn or affirmed Affidavit of Personal Service (Form 5) at the Family Court registry. Check with the Family Court clerk if you'll be sent a Notice of Hearing or if you have to apply for a court date, and how to apply. (The procedure might differ between court locations. Family duty counsel can help you.)

If the other person has filled out the Counterclaims section of the Reply (Form 3), this means they're making a request for the court to make an order that they want.

Read the counterclaim carefully. You must complete and file your own Reply (Form 3) to the counterclaim within 30 days of the date that you receive this document. You must file the original and the same number of copies at the same Family Court registry.

It's a good idea to get legal advice before responding to a counterclaim.
Updated on 21 May 2019