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Subpoena

Family Law, Divorce Lawyer, Property Settlement, Child Custody, Defacto Law

A subpoena is a legal document. It is issued by the Court at the request of a party to a case and forces a person or a company to produce documents or give evidence at a hearing or Trial. There are many persons; companies; government authorities; or organisations to whom subpoenas are often issued in family law proceedings, and some of those include doctors and other medical practitioners, such as Psychologists and Psychiatrists; schools; and also to government authorities, such as the Police and Roads and Traffic Authority and to companies and other businesses.

There are three types of subpoenas:-

• A subpoena for production of documents;
• A subpoena to give oral evidence; and
• A subpoena for production and to give evidence.

Subpoenas can be helpful when a party needs to obtain evidence or documents from another person or organisation, as it basically forces that person or organisation to produce the documents or give evidence that is relevant to your case.

Before you request a subpoena, the parties should attempt to obtain the required documents or evidence by, for example, asking the person or writing to the person and requesting that they provide it to you.

Doolan Wagner & Callaghan Family Lawyers are experienced in obtaining, either by agreement or by way of issuing subpoena, all of the relevant evidence and documents that are required for a party’s case. When a family law matter is before the Federal Magistrates Court or the Family Court, it is important that your matter is carefully assessed in terms of what further evidence or documents would help in your case. If that evidence or documents cannot be obtained by agreement or by a simple request, then in most cases a subpoena would be issued.

There are certain steps that need to be taken to ensure that a subpoena is properly filed and served and that the person being subpoenaed has to comply with the subpoena.

A person must comply with a subpoena, provided it is properly drafted; filed and served. If a person objects to giving evidence or producing a document in answer to a subpoena they have received, that objection will be heard and determined by the Court.

It is important to remember that there are some restrictions that relate to subpoena and Doolan Wagner & Callaghan Family Lawyers can assist in discussing these issues with you further.