Effective immediately, a party requesting financial disclosure under Rule 12.41 of the Alberta Rules of Court will use a desk application process to obtain a Disclosure Order if the other party fails to complete disclosure in response to the Notice to Disclose.
A revised Notice to Disclose form is now available. It does not include a date for the matter to be scheduled into Family Law Chambers but instead includes a Notice to the Respondent outlining the process below if disclosure is not provided.
Under this process, the steps to be taken are:
1. The Applicant must file and serve a Notice to Disclose (Desk Application), and a blank form of Response to Request for Disclosure on the Respondent;
2. Within 1 month of being served, the Respondent must complete, file and serve on the Applicant:
a) a Disclosure Statement (with Schedule 3). This form is on the Court’s website at https://cfr.forms.gov.ab.ca/Form/RCA11252.pdf; and
b) only in those cases where complete disclosure is not provided, the completed Response to Request for Disclosure document to explain why the Respondent is not able to provide full disclosure. (This document must not include the disclosure documents, which are to be provided with the Disclosure Statement);
3. Where the Respondent has not provided complete disclosure, and failing any agreement between the parties with respect to extensions of time or a Consent Order, the Applicant may submit a desk application to the Court by email to the locations and email addresses below, without further notice to the Respondent;
4.The desk application must include only the following documents:
a) Request for Disclosure Order;
b) Proof of service of the Notice to Disclose and blank form of Response to Request for Disclosure on the Respondent;
c) If provided by the Respondent, a copy of the completed Response to Request for Disclosure; and
d) Proposed Disclosure Order.
5. The desk application will be submitted to a Justice for consideration. If the application is granted, the signed and filed Disclosure Order will be returned to the Applicant by the Court. The Disclosure Order must then be served on the Respondent as soon as possible. If the Justice determines that the matter is not appropriate for a desk application process, the Justice may direct the parties to a scheduling process for a hearing.
Related forms (with links):
Notice to Disclose (Desk Application)
Response to Request for Disclosure
Request for Disclosure Order
Disclosure Order