Notice of Examination:

Question: How should a creditor complete Form 20H Notice of Examination for a debtor examination in Ontario Small Claims Court?

Answer: You can use Defend-it Legal Services to help you complete Form 20H by ensuring the “Creditor” and “Debtor” sections are correctly labelled and that the proceeding title matches what was used in your Small Claims litigation, then fill in key details readily available from the court clerk such as the proposed debtor examination date and the outstanding judgment amount (plus interest, usually reflected in the Affidavit for Enforcement Request Form 20P)  If the person being examined is the debtor, the debtor must also complete Form 20I Financial Information Form and bring it with supporting documents to the hearing, and while the creditor typically has no preparation for Form 20I, adding a short covering letter can encourage full completion and bring-along of the documents  For paralegal assistance with document prep, plus supportive background searches and related investigative work in Ontario, contact Defend-it Legal Services at (289) 275-3513.

Preparation of Documents

Completing the Notice of Examination (Form 20H) document is straightforward; however, there document does have a typographical glitch that creates a nuance whereas the words, “Creditor” and “Debtor” appear.  These fields should be labelled in a manner that indicates the requirement to name all of the parties that were Plaintiffs or Defendants within the litigation from which the Judgment arose; and accordingly, the title of proceeding upon the Notice of Examination (Form 20H) document should read the same as the title of proceeding was shown within any other document during the litigation.  Aside from this apparent glitch, the Notice of Examination (Form 20H) merely requires information that is readily available from the Court Clerk, such as the proposed date of the debtor examination hearing as well as the amount of the Judgment, plus interest, that remains due.  This amount will be known whereas such is contained within the Affidavit for Enforcement Request (Form 20P) as discussed elsewhere.

Where the person that will be examined is the Debtor, in addition to the Notice of Examination (Form 20H), a Financial Information Form (Form 20I) is also required.  The Debtor is to complete the Financial Information Form (Form 20I); and accordingly, the document is without any preparation required by the Creditor, or representative of the Creditor; however, it is wise to include a covering letter that emphasizes the need to fully complete and bring the completed Financial Information Form (Form 20I) with all supporting documents to the debtor examination hearing.