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→A few definitions
*'''Respondent:''' The person or people against whom a court proceeding is brought are the ''respondents''.
*'''Parties:''' The claimant and the respondent are, together, called the ''parties'' to the court proceeding.
*'''Claim or Application:''' The document that is filed to start a court proceeding in the Supreme Court is a ''Notice of Family Claim'' or, less often, a ''Petition''. In the Provincial Court, court proceedings are started with an ''Application to Obtain an Order'' or an About a Family Law Matter''Application to Change or Cancel an Order.'' (In this section, "claim" refers to all of these documents.)*'''Reply and Counterclaim:''' A respondent who objects to all or some of the orders sought by a claimant in the Supreme Court will file a ''Response to Family Claim'' and sometimes a ''Counterclaim:'' A Counterclaim lets a respondent make claims of their own against a claimant. In the Provincial Court, a respondent will file a ''Replyto an Application about a Family Law Matter'', which includes a section to make a counterclaim against an applicant. (In this section, "reply" refers to all of these documents.)*'''Pleadings:''' The basic documents that are used to start and reply to a court proceeding are called the ''pleadings''. In most Supreme Court family law proceedings, the pleadings are the Notice of Family Claim, the Response to Family Claim, and, usually, a Counterclaim. In most Provincial Court proceedings, the pleadings are the Application to Obtain an Order About a Family Law Matter and the Reply.
*'''Trial:''' The formal hearing of a claim, a response to a claim and a counterclaim by a judge, following which the judge makes an order resolving all of the claims and counterclaims made in the court proceeding.