Advice needed regarding transcripts and hearing records.

[Sector7GJ]

Hi all, hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

So a thread I commented on recently got me going over my previous court hearings in my head again and left me with a few questions. Not sure anyone will be able to answer but I'll give it a try...

1. How long do courts keep recordings of hearings? If I wanted a transcript in say for example , 20 years, would it still exist and be available to me?

2. If I wanted confirmation of just a few statements that were made in court, but don't require an entire transcript is that likely possible? How would one go about it?

3. How would I go about getting official confirmation on if a fact finding hearing/contested hearing was ever listed or took place (or didn't)?

Many thanks.

 

[proud_dad]

Hi all, hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

So a thread I commented on recently got me going over my previous court hearings in my head again and left me with a few questions. Not sure anyone will be able to answer but I'll give it a try...

1. How long do courts keep recordings of hearings? If I wanted a transcript in say for example , 20 years, would it still exist and be available to me?

2. If I wanted confirmation of just a few statements that were made in court, but don't require an entire transcript is that likely possible? How would one go about it?

3. How would I go about getting official confirmation on if a fact finding hearing/contested hearing was ever listed or took place (or didn't)?

Many thanks.

1. I recently requested a family court transcript of a final hearing. In the blurb, they said they keep transcripts for 5 years.
2. No, that's not possible. The best you could do is try to narrow the time that you think the statements were made and request "from time x to time y"
3. This should be recorded in the family court and you should be able to simply write to the court asking for confirmation. They may request ID etc.

Good luck.

 

[Sector7GJ]

1. I recently requested a family court transcript of a final hearing. In the blurb, they said they keep transcripts for 5 years.
2. No, that's not possible. The best you could do is try to narrow the time that you think the statements were made and request "from time x to time y"
3. This should be recorded in the family court and you should be able to simply write to the court asking for confirmation. They may request ID etc.

Good luck.

Thank you sir. Have a great Xmas!

 

[Ash]

That's really useful to know they only keep court transcripts for five years! My advice would be send for a transcript now - and have it just in case you ever need it. It isn't as expensive as you might think - depending on whether you want the whole hearing or just the Judgement at the end. The first time I did it, it cost about £86. That was for a full transcript of a half day hearing plus the Judgement. A full day hearing and Judgement was about £160. It is very good evidence, if you ever need it for a further court hearing. And the transcript can be used as written evidence as well.

Point 2 - when you apply for a transcript you do have some options. Either just the hearing, or just the Judgement and post Judgement discussion (that last bit is often important - where things are finalised at the end of the hearing etc). So as PD says, no you can't have snippets but you can choose parts of the hearing. It depends on the hearing as to which parts you'd want. If the Judge made a formal "Judgement" at the end it could be very useful (particularly if, say, it criticised the ex's behaviour). But it sounds like it's more the main body of the hearing you're interested in, so you'd need a full transcript. Sometimes an actual Judgement as such isn't made and it just tails off into post Judgement discussion.

It can take a few months! But it's a good investment in my view.

As for 3. If it took place you should have been sent court papers with a hearing date. Perhaps it was just listed as a hearing and not a fact finding hearing - but became a fact finding hearing. There are occasions where they roll a couple of things into one. For example a fact finding hearing can also become a final hearing - which isn't always good as you wouldn't have had time to prepare evidence and statement for a final hearing.

If you know for a fact that no hearing took place between x date and x date then it's difficult to prove there was no fact finding hearing. But as PD says, perhaps the best option is to write to the court and request a list of all hearing dates for your particular case number.

 

[Sector7GJ]

Ah, this is great info, thanks.

I may well order some transcripts if there is a time lmit then. It's not for using as evidence in court (my case is over). More so that if my kids come and find me when they are adults I can show them the lengths I went to and the lies that were told about me. Otherwise they'll just take the ex's word for everything as the truth.

 

[Ash]

That is also a good reason to have them. Because yes these ex's tell them a different story.