- On the stipulated day; parties will attend mediation unless exempted by the Court. If settlement is reached, a consent order will be recorded before a Judge in Chambers. If there is no settlement, parties will attend before the Judge in Family Court 1 for a Court mention where the Judge will give directions to prepare parties for the eventual trial.
- At the Court mention, you may be asked by the Judge to confirm again the following:
- How much maintenance you are claiming; and
- For whom it is needed.
- If the Respondent agrees to your claim, the Judge will make a Consent Order that the Respondent pays as agreed. If Respondent disagrees, the Judge will direct parties to prepare three sets of the required documents for which one set is given to the Judge and the other to the other party at the next Court mention. At the next mention, the Judge will fix a hearing date if the case is ready for hearing.
- Please bring your set of required documents and your witness, if any, for the hearing Maintenance cases are heard before a Judge in open Court with only the parties present unless permission is given by the Judge for other persons to be present.
- At the trial, parties will be required to present their own cases if they have no lawyers to represent them. You, the Complainant, will present your case to the Judge first and can be questioned by the Respondent on what you had presented. Thereafter your witness, if any, will do the same. After your last witness had given evidence, the Respondent will present his case after which you will be allowed to question the Respondent. Thereafter the Respondent's witness, if any, will do the same.
- After all the evidence had been presented by both parties, the parties may be allowed to address the Judge on their case. The Judge will give his decision at the end of the hearing by either making an order for maintenance to be paid or dismissing the application.
You may choose to represent yourself or engage a lawyer to represent you at the hearing. You should do so as early as possible.
If you are unable to afford a lawyer, you can seek assistance from the Legal Aid Bureau. However, before deciding on whether you need a lawyer, you can approach the Community Justice Centre (CJC) located at Level 3 of the Family Justice Courts building for more information. Alternatively, if you wish to seek free legal advice, you may apply for CJC's legal clinic at Level 1 of the State Courts building.