The Case Information Affidavit, explained.

What a Case Information Affidavit broadly is

An affidavit is a written statement of facts that you swear or affirm to be true. A Case Information Affidavit is, broadly, an affidavit used in the Family Court of Western Australia that sets out the background facts of a family-law matter: the kind of context the court needs to understand your situation before it can deal with it. Think of it as a structured account of the facts, rather than argument about them.

The precise contents, the format, and whether this document applies to your particular matter are set by the court, and they can change over time and differ from one type of matter to another. This page keeps to the general idea on purpose. For what is actually required in your case, check the official Family Court of Western Australia website or get legal advice.

Why the facts and their dates matter

An affidavit that asks for background facts is really asking you to lay out what happened, and when, in a clear order. When the dates are muddled or missing, the account is harder to follow and easier to challenge. When they are clear, the reader can follow your matter at a glance. That is exactly the work a chronology does before you begin writing.

Depending on your matter, the kinds of dated facts a background affidavit tends to draw on include:

• Relationship dates: when you began living together, the date of marriage if there was one, and the date of separation.
• Key events: significant events in the relationship or since separation, including anything relevant to safety.
• Arrangements for children: births, who has been caring for the children, and any changes to those arrangements.
• Financial events: significant financial dates, such as buying property or major changes in circumstances, where they are relevant.
• Procedural steps: applications, orders, and attempts at dispute resolution, and their dates.

What belongs in your case, and how much detail to give, depends on your matter. Treat this as a starting point, not a checklist, and confirm the specifics against the official source.

Western Australia has its own family court

Western Australia is different from the rest of the country here. It has its own family court, the Family Court of Western Australia, with its own procedures and its own documents. Elsewhere in Australia, family-law matters are dealt with under federal law in the federal family law courts, which use different forms and rules. So a document that applies in Western Australia will not necessarily apply, or apply in the same way, somewhere else. Always check the requirements for the court that is actually hearing your matter.

How a chronology helps you complete it

A chronology is simply your story in date order: a neutral, dated list of what happened and when. Building one first means that, when you sit down to complete an affidavit, you are not trying to reconstruct years of events from memory in one go. You are working from an ordered list you have already thought through, which makes the facts much easier to set out accurately and in sequence.

It also helps you keep the affidavit to the facts. A chronology records what happened and when; your interpretation, how events felt, and any argument are a separate thing. Separating the two while you draft makes for a clearer, calmer document.

Build your chronology first

The Case Timeline builder gives you a neutral, dated list to work from. You add each event with its date and a short note, and it keeps everything in order and grouped by year, so you can see the shape of your matter before you start on any court document. It runs in your browser, so nothing you type is uploaded. If you would rather work on paper, the chronology template gives you the same structure to fill in by hand.

Where this comes from

The primary sources behind the above, so you can check any of it yourself rather than take our word for it:

• Wikipedia: Affidavit, a general explanation of what an affidavit is and what sworn or affirmed evidence means.
• Wikipedia: Chronology, a general explanation of what a chronology is and how events are arranged in order.
• Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, the court that deals with family law matters in the states and territories other than Western Australia.