Step 1A: Claimant

To start a claim in Supreme Court, your will need to file a Notice of Family Claim (F3). If your claim involves child support (unless you are only applying for basic support and the child lives with you more than 40% of the time), spousal support or the division of property and debt, you must also complete a Financial Statement (F8). The Financial Statement must be filed within 30 days of the filing the Notice of Family Claim.

 Step 1B: Respondent

If you are served with a Notice of Family Claim, you should reply by filing a Response to Family Claim (F4) within 30 days. If you don't file a Response, you will not receive notice of any steps and orders can be made in your absense. You may also file your own claim against your former spouse, (the applicant), called a Counterclaim. To file a Counterclaim, use Form F5. You have 30 days to file a Counterclaim from the day you received the Notice of Family Claim.

Serve

The court has very specific rules on how to give (serve) documents to your former spouse Judges are very concerned about service being properly done. If you fail to serve according to the rules, the judge will not hear your application until you have done so. Refer back to Chapter 8 for more on Serving Documents.