"I was served with court papers. What do I do now?"
It is not uncommon for a person to be served with “court papers”, whether they already have a lawyer or not. This can happen in person, meaning that someone comes to your home or your place of work, and hands you an envelope or a document, but it can also happen by email in the case of some court documents.
In this blog post, I am going to make some suggestions about what you should and should not do if this happens to you:
1. The most important point I can make here is the following: DO NOT IGNORE being served or the documents’ contents. This service possibly signifies that a court case is commencing or that a step in an existing court case is going to take place. Service of documents on you means that something, likely important, is being brought to your attention. Ignoring this service is NOT going to stop from happening what is already happening or any next steps about which you are being notified. For example, if you are served with motion materials, and you do not respond, the motion will proceed without you AND the allegations made against you, whether they are true or not, will be accepted by the Court. Why? Because you are not responding to them and perhaps setting the record straight.
2. Review the documents that were served on you. Is there a letter attached explaining what they are, and what you are expected to do with them? Some lawyers attach such letters with the documents but they do not have to. Do the documents themselves provide you with any such information? For example, if you are served with an Application in Ontario, the document will tell you that you have 30 days to respond. Is there a date anywhere on the document(s) indicating when you are expected to attend at court or when the next step in a court case will be considered by the court? All of this is important information.
3. DO NOT leave reacting to the documents to the last minute. Doing so may prejudice your case in the same way ignoring them altogether will. By way of example, if you are served with an Application, and you read on the front page that you have 30 days to respond, do not put the document aside, and on the 28th day of the deadline think to yourself: “I better do something about that”. And then on the 29th day you call a lawyer and say: “I need help”. Responding to an Application by way of Answer is not a 5-minute task. You have now left the lawyer no time to respond in a way your case may need.
4. GET LEGAL ADVICE: - at least on what the documents are, what they say, what they mean, and what consequences for you they carry with them. If you do not want to retain a lawyer to handle your entire case, then that is up to you. At the very least, have someone with experience in this area of the law (a lawyer and not your neighbour 😊) help you understand the context, and plan the next steps, as they may be of great consequence to you.
I am going to stress, once again, that not dealing with court papers does not stop the court case. It may very well carry on without you. If it does and court orders are made, for example, which are not in your favour, you may not be able to undo them if matters were brought to your attention and you did not react.
To learn more about my family law, family mediation and parenting coordination services, call us at (905) 898-8500.
©AJJakubowska