Practical tips for preparing your family law affidavit
If your family law matter ends up before the Federal Circuit & Family Court of Australia, you will need to provide the Court with your evidence. In family law matters evidence is given in the form of an affidavit which is a written statement that sets out the facts a party relies on in support of the orders they are seeking.
An affidavit is not simply a person’s life story. It should contain information that is relevant to the issues that the Court are being asked to decide. It is important to carefully consider what information is relevant and what does not need to be included. While there are some exceptions, generally an affidavit needs to adhere to the rules of evidence, and it must adhere to specific formatting set out in the Court’s rules.
An affidavit can be filed at the start of a case, during the proceedings or before the final hearing. A party’s lawyer will help them ensure the information contained in their affidavit supports the orders they seek, accurately puts forward their evidence and adheres to the relevant Court rules and rules of evidence.
We work closely with our clients to prepare their affidavits. In this week’s blog we offer some practical tips on how clients can best help us prepare their affidavits.
Consider why you are making the affidavit and what you are asking the Court to do – your affidavit must give evidence that is relevant to the orders you are asking the Court to make. There is no need to give evidence on an unrelated issue. In fact, evidence that is not related to a fact or issue in dispute or not related to factors in the Family Law Act may be inadmissible and/or struck out.
Give information in the easiest way for you – if you are not great at preparing notes, our team can sit down with you to obtain the information for your affidavit.
Read your affidavit - It may seem obvious, but it is essential that clients take the time to properly read their affidavit to ensure the evidence is correct. Once an affidavit is filed it cannot be amended or replaced. If you do have to change your evidence later without good reason, the Court may form the view you are careless or untruthful.
Make sure you set aside time to prepare the affidavit - when an affidavit is required the Court will normally provide a filing deadline. Make sure you take time off work to prepare your affidavit and time off work to sign the affidavit. Affidavits need to be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, or Lawyer. Don’t leave it until 3:30pm the day your affidavit is due to start thinking about how you are going to sign the affidavit.
Please note: the information in this article is general in nature. For specific advice about your circumstances or if you have any questions regarding the Rules or family law, contact our experienced team.