After the respondent has been served the documentation in relation to the divorce, there are a number of things which they are required to do.
To contest a divorce you will need to complete a Defence form. You will also need to complete an Affidavit of Means form. If there are dependent children you will also need to complete an Affidavit of Welfare form. The information that you need to include is set out in Circuit Court rules . You might want to get legal advice to better understand what's involved.
In completing your defence, you may want to respond to or dispute any of the claims in the civil bill. You may also wish to add additional requests for orders you want the court to make and the section(s) of the Divorce Act that allows the court to make these orders. This is called a counterclaim.
This is a statement setting out your own financial circumstances. Your spouse will set out a separate financial statement. You must sign the affidavit in person in front of a solicitor (but not your own solicitor) or Commissioner for Oaths and swear that the information you are giving is correct.
The information you will need to include in this affidavit include:
This is not an exhaustive list, so you should always refer to the Circuit Court rules.
You must take the completed affidavit, any exhibits (supporting documents) and proof of your identity to a Commissioner for Oaths or a solicitor (but not your own solicitor). There may be a charge for this service so make sure to ask in advance.
A Commissioner for Oaths or solicitor will ask you to take an oath or affirmation before signing the affidavit. You cannot make any changes to the affidavit once it has been sworn and signed.
An Affidavit of Welfare is a sworn statement about the dependent children of the marriage. If there are no dependent children, you can skip this step.
A child is considered dependent if they:
The type of information you will need to include is as follows: