Receive Documents and File Response
You'll receive:
- A filed Notice of Hearing
- Any new affidavits from the applicant
- The Application Record Index
Notice of Hearing
The Notice of Hearing will say the date and time of the hearing. Make a note of this in your calendar. The other person must serve this on you at least 7 days before the date set for hearing. It will also say the duration of the hearing and the orders the other person is seeking.
More affidavits
After the other person receives your documents, they might send you one or more additional affidavits. These are called Reply Affidavits. They must be served on you within 5 business days after you served them your Application Response. They do not need to be filed copies when they serve you. Reply Affidavits should contain only new information not included in the earlier affidavits served with the Notice of Application (Form F31).
Application Record Index
The other person must provide the court with a binder of all the material for the hearing, including your Response and your affidavits. This is called the Application Record. The other person must provide you with the index to the Application Record, which lists the documents included in the binder, no later than 4 pm 2 business days before the hearing. If the hearing is Friday, you must be served with the index by Wednesday at 4pm.
If any documents are missing from the index
Review the index carefully to make sure all the documents you want to show to the judge are included in the Application Record. If something's missing from the index, tell the other person immediately, by fax or email if possible, and ask them to include the missing documents. (Make a copy of this letter for the judge.) Bring two extra copies of any missing documents to the hearing so that you can give one each to the judge and the other person, if necessary. Bring along the Affidavit(s) of Ordinary Service to prove that the documents were delivered to the other person and should have been in the Application Record.
You should make your own Application Record, to help you organize the information and evidence that you need in court. See Step 7.
File your Application Response and Affidavits at the Supreme Court Registry
You'll Need:
- Original plus three opies of your Application Response (Form F32)
- Every Affidavit (Form F30) not already filed
- Your Financial Statement (Form F8), if needed
- $25 fee to file Application Response
- The other person’s address for service
- An Affidavit of Ordinary Service (Form F16)
Take the original and three copies, plus the filing fees, to the Supreme Court registry.
A clerk at the registry will take your money, check your documents, stamp them with the court seal, and put the originals into the file for your case. The four copies of the forms will be returned to you.
You must file Application Response and Affidavits with the court registry after the Notice of Hearing has been served on you but before the date of your hearing.