Duty of Disclosure
In all family law matters, both parties are bound by the duty of disclosure. Whilst the duty of disclosure is more often referred to in financial cases, it is equally relevant to parenting matters. In all cases, parties are compelled to provide the other party with all documents that are relevant to the proceedings on hand.
All parties to a proceeding must provide ‘full and frank disclosure’. Effectively, this means that any document that is relevant to proceedings or may affect the outcome of the case must be disclosed to the other party.
For example, in parenting cases the duty of disclosure will apply to documents that are relevant to the issues at hand such as:
School reports of a child;
Criminal reports of a party to the proceedings; or
Medical reports of a party or a child to proceedings.
In financial matters, the duty of disclosure applies to documents that are directly or indirectly related to a parties’ financial situation such as:
Bank statements both during and after the relationship;
Valuations for real property, cars or businesses owned by the parties;
Pay slips; or
Completed tax returns.
These documents must be provided at the commencement of the proceedings as part of the Court’s pre-action procedures. However, the duty of disclosure is an ongoing obligation. This means that part of providing full and frank disclosure is providing any new documents that are created throughout the course of proceedings, or any new document that is discovered whilst proceedings are on foot
It is vital that parties comply with the duty of disclosure as failure to do so may result in consequences from the Court. If parties are found to have not provided full and frank disclosure, consequences can include:
The Court staying or dismissing the proceedings entirely;
The Court not allowing a party to use particular documents as evidence in their case; or
The Court ordering a party to pay the other party’s legal costs.
For more information please contact us to chat to one of our experienced team members.