By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Updated
If your lawyer says "questioning" and everything you have read says "deposition", you are not confused — you are reading material from a different country.
| Alberta | Questioning. CPLEA: "Questioning used to be called discovery." |
|---|---|
| Ontario, family cases | Questioning, under Rule 20 of the Family Law Rules. |
| Ontario, civil cases | Examination for discovery, under Rule 31 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. |
| British Columbia | Examination for discovery. |
| United States | Deposition (FRCP 30 and state analogues). "Discovery" is the umbrella term. |
| What all of them are | Answering questions under oath, before trial, on the record, with a transcript. |
| Who is present | The parties, their lawyers and a court reporter. No judge. |
| Can you refuse? | In Alberta: "You cannot refuse to be questioned by the other party." |
Keeping track of dates like these across a stack of letters is exactly what SortMyDivorce does — start a free trial, no card needed.
There is one underlying process: before a trial, each side gets to ask the other questions under oath, on the record, so that both know what the evidence actually is. Nobody disagrees about the purpose. Everybody uses a different word for it.
That matters more than it sounds, for a practical reason. Searching for "what to expect at questioning" returns Canadian material; searching for "what to expect at a deposition" returns American material; and the two describe procedures that are similar in spirit and different in detail. People end up preparing for the wrong thing.
Strip away the vocabulary and the shape is consistent.
It happens before trial, once the written material has been exchanged. In Alberta, CPLEA describes it as taking place after the parties have exchanged affidavits and before trial or Special Chambers.
It is under oath. The evidence is sworn. CPLEA is blunt about the implication: "It is a criminal offence to lie under oath."
There is no judge. Only the parties, their lawyers and a court reporter. This surprises people, who often expect a courtroom.
It is recorded. The court reporter produces a transcript, which is filed and can be used as evidence.
Attendance is generally not optional. In Alberta, "You cannot refuse to be questioned by the other party."
It generates follow-up obligations. Where something cannot be answered on the day, counsel typically gives an undertaking to provide it afterwards — a promise that binds the lawyer personally and is enforceable through the law society. That is covered in its own guide.
Alberta — questioning. The Rules of Court use questioning. CPLEA states directly that "questioning used to be called discovery", which is why older material and some practitioners still use the older term.
Ontario — it depends which court you are in. In family cases the Family Law Rules use questioning, under Rule 20. In civil cases the Rules of Civil Procedure use examination for discovery, under Rule 31. An Ontario family client may hear either word depending on who is speaking and what they usually practise.
British Columbia — examination for discovery. Used in the Supreme Court. Note that the Provincial Court, which also hears family matters, does not have examination for discovery at all — which is a significant practical difference depending on which court your case is in.
United States — deposition. Governed federally by FRCP 30, "Depositions by Oral Examination", with state analogues. "Discovery" in US usage is the umbrella term covering depositions, interrogatories (written questions), requests for production of documents, and requests for admission. "Questioning" is not a US term of art — using it will produce blank looks.
This is broadly consistent wherever you are.
It is long. Half a day is common; a full day is not unusual in a contested financial matter.
You will be asked about documents. Much of it consists of being taken through the disclosure and asked to explain entries — a transfer, a deposit, an expense, a company account.
The questions are broader than at trial. The purpose is to find out what the evidence is, so the scope of questioning is generally wider than what would be allowed in front of a judge.
Your lawyer will intervene sparingly. They are there to protect you from improper questions, not to help you answer. Long silences are normal and are not your cue to fill them.
Answer the question asked. The most common and most costly mistake is volunteering. If the answer is yes, the answer is yes. If you do not know, say you do not know — do not guess, and do not speculate about what someone else was thinking.
"I don't recall" must be true. It is a legitimate answer when it is accurate and a serious problem when it is not.
Ask for the question to be repeated if you did not follow it. Nobody minds, and answering a question you misheard is worse than asking twice.
Take breaks. You are entitled to them. If you are tired, you will make mistakes.
Reread your own disclosure. Everything you have produced. You will be asked about it, and being unfamiliar with your own financial statement is a bad look that has nothing to do with honesty.
Know your chronology. Dates of separation, employment, major transactions, changes in the parenting arrangement. Have them straight.
Identify the difficult areas in advance with your lawyer. There is almost always something — a transfer that looks worse than it is, a period of reduced income, a decision you would make differently. Preparing for it beats being surprised by it.
Do not memorise answers. Rehearsed answers sound rehearsed and they fall apart under follow-up questions. Know the facts, not a script.
Understand what undertakings are before you go, because you will probably be giving some.
Get the list of undertakings. Both what your side has promised and what theirs has. Work through yours promptly — an unanswered undertaking on your side is a professional problem for your lawyer and a credibility problem for you.
Read the transcript if one is provided. Errors of transcription happen, and this is evidence.
Expect the negotiation to change. Questioning frequently moves settlement discussions, because both sides now know what the evidence actually is rather than what the correspondence claimed.
Verification notes. 1. The Alberta rule numbers for questioning were not verified against the Rules of Court and are therefore not stated in this guide. Alberta's rules are published only as large PDFs and both CanLII and the King's Printer block automated access. 2. Ontario Rule 20's subrule content was not read — e-Laws requires JavaScript. The rule number and title are taken from the published Family Law Rules table of contents. We have deliberately not stated whether questioning a party in an Ontario family case requires consent or a court order, because we could not verify it. 3. The statement that Alberta "renamed" discovery to questioning is CPLEA's characterisation. No rule provision saying so was located, which is why it is phrased as it is above.
They are the same broad process under different names in different jurisdictions. The detail differs — scope, procedure, how objections are handled — so preparation material written for one country should not be relied on for the other.
Your lawyer will object where a question is improper, and you should follow their guidance in the room. But the general expectation is that you answer, and in Alberta refusing to be questioned at all is not an option.
No. Only the parties, their lawyers and a court reporter.
Correct it as soon as you realise, through your lawyer. An honest correction is unremarkable; an uncorrected error that surfaces later is not.
It is one of the more expensive steps in a family matter — preparation time, attendance for a half or full day, the court reporter, and the transcript. Ask your lawyer for an estimate in advance so you can weigh it against what it is likely to achieve.
Ask your lawyer first. Who may be present is governed by rules and by agreement, and it is not automatically open.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
Upload your lawyer letters and SortMyDivorce sorts every deadline, offer and issue into one calm dashboard, automatically.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and differ by jurisdiction — confirm specifics with a local family lawyer or your court's official website. If you use SortMyDivorce, your letters stay confidential — never shared, never sold.