What is evidence?

What is evidence?

Evidence is information that the court looks at in understanding and ultimately determining a matter.

In a family law matter there a number of different pieces of evidence that the court will look to:

Affidavits: Affidavits by you and possibly supporting witnesses. Affidavits are sworn written statements of fact. Affidavits are used to support your wishes as to what Orders the court can make. Your solicitor will help you draft your and any supporting affidavits. Your affidavit must comply with court evidence rules. Anytime you submit evidence to the court there are important considerations to take into account regarding your matter from both a strategic and practical perspective. Therefore it is very important to talk to a solicitor before submitting anything to the court.

Valuations: Valuations of any property, businesses, chattels and superannuation may be required from the court. The court has special rules about who can value assets and the process involved in obtaining these valuations. Your solicitor will assist you in this process.

Financial Statement: Your financial statement is a document which sets out a person’s income, financial resources, assets and liabilities.

Expert witnesses: The court may order that an Expert Witness is called in. Expert Witness are professionals in other fields that can make an assessment and then provide evidence about a particular issue. For example, a superannuation expert may be brought in to provide evidence on a complicated superannuation issue.

Subpoenas: If you are unable to gain disclosure information, for example, because of confidentiality issues you can apply for a Subpoena. There are three types of subpoenas:

• Subpoenas to produce documents;
• Subpoenas to give evidence;
• Subpoenas for production of documents and to give evidence.