How to Prepare an Affidavit for Family Court

This is not legal advice; this is not an exhaustive list of what you will need to know on how to write an affidavit. As with anything involving legal matters you are best to take the lead from your lawyer but if you can produce something close to a finalized affidavit for them you may save yourself some money and also have the satisfying feeling of having told your story.

My default is to write, so I had a field day with this exercise and I had been working on the initial affidavit that explained the entirety of our 12-year marriage in a concise and compelling way. I found it cathartic to be able to express parts of my experience (while of course keeping it relevant to a judge.) I had my closest friends and family read the affidavit before I submitted it to my lawyer to ensure that it fully and accurately told the story that they had also witnessed. My lawyer was then happy to take it and turn it into the numbered paragraph format that is recognized by the court. I don’t believe there were any edits made to this draft.

Interestingly, for as much time, effort, and meaning as I put into my affidavit, I recall reading the one that my ex had written when it was time to exchange documents. My impression of it was that it was completely devoid of human emotion. I think it might have been my solicitor that said, it sounds like an affidavit of someone who is in traffic court, not a family law matter. Again, we had much different styles in so many parts of our lives.

What Is An Affidavit?

For us laypersons an affidavit is a fancy name for the statement you’ll prepare as party to your court case. Through this statement you will get the chance to present your evidence as to the facts of the case and officially submit it to the court. When your affidavit is finalized it will be distributed to all parties including your ex, and the independent children’s lawyer if there is one appointed by the court.

Can I Write My Own Affidavit?

If you have the ability to clearly tell your story in an objective way then I think you are probably the most qualified to do this work since you will have the most invested in getting it right. With that being said, you’ll want your lawyer to do the formatting for you and you will want to listen to their advice if there are edits that need to be made. They are the ones in court all of the time and have a better feel about what is or is not acceptable. I’m sure you will have a lot to say, but remember that just enough relevant details to paint a picture of the situation is best.

If you do not feel totally comfortable writing your own affidavit then what I recall my lawyer doing, and this might be the case with someone you choose to represent you, is that we would sit down and have a recorded conversation where she would ask me questions related to what would go in an affidavit and I could explain everything verbally. It would then be up to her or an assistant to go back through that recording and piece together a cohesive writing that I could then sign-off on.

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Writing An Affidavit

Do: include all information and facts that are relevant to the case and support your position

Don’t: state your opinion about things. In mine I did mention how I felt at different times but your own feelings are in a way ‘facts.’

For example, if you were to say, “he was trying to isolate me from my friends and family” that is really more of a guess about your partner’s intentions, it’s an opinion. It won’t fly on an affidavit. On the other hand, if you were to write, “our living situation made me feel isolated” that would be a fact that you are swearing to be true in this affidavit.

Do: try to have an easy-to-follow thread of logic that allows the reader/judge to follow along and understand more easily.

Don’t: throw random ideas on a paper and call it a day. Your narrative will be much more persuasive if you take the time to develop the true story of what occurred.

How Do I Structure An Affidavit?

While there isn’t any specific way an affidavit should be written, it will probably be easier to read if you include headings for different sections that you discuss. You might have headings like, ‘parenting arrangements,’ or ‘property acquired after the marriage.’ You can include ones that are most applicable to the facts of your case and what needs to be discussed.

Particularly if your affidavit is many pages long, having the different section headings that can be seen at a glance will make it easier to place the information if it needs to be referenced. The purpose of this document is to present your story with as much clarity as possible. If you take the time to think about how the affidavit should be organized you’ll have a better chance of having your side understood.

When Does The Affidavit Get Filed?

An affidavit will be filed by both parties before the case is heard before the court. This is how the majority of the evidence is presented to the judge. You legal counsel will advise when this needs to happen and will also have you officially sign in front of them that you swear or affirm the information that is contained within the document.

The process of presenting an affidavit to the court can be a challenge since you might be wondering how you can distill all of the nuance and history of your marriage into a few pages. If you take the time to plan and organize your thoughts and aim for clarity of your story you will be on the right track to completing this important part of the family court requirement.