Notice of Examination: Involves Minor Quirk That Requires Special Attention

Question: How do I complete a Notice of Examination (Form 20H) for a Small Claims Court debtor examination in Ontario?

Answer: PKM Legal Services provides paralegal document preparation support for Ontario Small Claims Court parties, including ensuring the Notice of Examination (Form 20H) uses the same title of proceeding as the underlying case (naming all plaintiffs and defendants despite the creditor/debtor label glitch) and includes the court-provided hearing date plus the unpaid judgment amount and interest (often matching the Affidavit for Enforcement Request, Form 20P).  If the debtor will be examined, the Financial Information Form (Form 20I) must also be served for the debtor to complete, and it’s prudent to include a cover letter reminding them to bring the completed form and supporting documents to the examination.

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.