Step One: Download the Subpoena Form
How to Prepare A Subpoena
A subpoena is a court document that can be issued to require a person to appear in court and give verbal evidence or provide a document or recording to the court to assist the court in making a decision.
In child custody matters, the court often subpoena records from the Police and Child Safety to get their notes to see how the parties might have been involved with them. In property proceedings, you might want to subpoena a banking institution to get the other party's bank statements to use in financial matters. In domestic violence court, you might want to subpoena the local service station for their CCTV footage to show evidence of something that happened while you were there.
Read our guide below to learn how to issue your own subpoena.
Got more questions? Read our FAQs here.
The document that you need to fill out to issue a subpoena can be found online in both Family Law and domestic violence proceedings.
To file a subpoena in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, you need to either have already obtained permission to file a subpoena or you need ask permission at the time of filing. The form you need to complete can be found here.
To file a subpoena in the Magistrates Court in a DV matter, you also need to seek permission from the Magistrate. This can be done by filling out the subpoena request form (Form DV22A) AND the subpoena form (Form DV22). These forms are found here.
Step Two: Check the Details
Subpoenas need to be filled out very, very specifically. If you address the subpoena to the wrong person or the wrong address then it will not be complied with. You also need to make sure that you are specific with the details you put in a subpoena. For example, if you are seeking the criminal history for someone else, you need put in their full name and date of birth exactly as it appears on the police records and write specifically what document you want the police to produce.
If you look online, most big companies will have a section on their website about how to subpoena them properly. If you are not sure, you should contact whoever you are subpoenaing and ask them how to address the subpoena properly.
Step Three: File the Document with the Court
Once you have filled out the details, you need to file them with the court to receive a stamp on them before you can serve the subpoena on the person or company you are seeking information from.
In the Family Courts, you file the subpoena online through the Commonwealth Courts portal.
In the DV courts, you file the subpoena to the registry of the court that you are appearing in. You can contact the courthouse to find out how they like to receive those subpoenas.
Step Four: Serve the Subpoena on Everyone
Once you receive the stamped subpoena back from the court, you need to give a copy of that subpoena to everyone.
For serving the person or company that needs to produce information, you need to contact them to find out how to serve the subpoena and whether you need to pay a fee for them to appear in court or give the court what you are asking them to provide - this is called conduct money.
You also need to serve all other parties in the proceeding including any Independent Children's Lawyer if that are part of your case.
Once the subpoena is served, the material will be given to the court and you need to contact the court to view or copy that material. You do not get the information personally. It will be sent to the court.
We are Family Court solicitors who are experienced in providing divorce and separation legal advice in parenting and financial disputes and representing clients in domestic violence proceedings. We have many years experience in court advocacy and dealing with matters involving complicated parenting and property disputes including matters that require subpoenas.
Contact us for more information or to book a free legal advice session to find out your options.
This information does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with a lawyer to obtain independent legal advice relevant to your situation.
