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Preuve en main

How do I build a chronology of facts for court?

Verified 1 August 2026 · Quebec law · Free tool · nothing is sent

Réponse courte

A chronology puts the facts in date order, one fact per line, and attaches to each one the exhibit that proves it. It matters because the burden of proof is on you: article 2803 of the Civil Code of Québec provides that a person who wishes to assert a right must prove the facts on which the claim is based. Article 2857 adds that all evidence of any fact relevant to a dispute is admissible and may be made by any means, and article 2804 that evidence which renders the existence of a fact more probable than its non-existence is sufficient. A chronology is not a court document: it is a working sheet, and its main use is to show at a glance which fact has no proof behind it.

What this tool does, and what it does not do

  • It sorts and numbers. It judges nothing — not the relevance of a fact, not the admissibility of evidence, not the strength of your version. That is the court's job, and no one else's.
  • A chronology is not a court proceeding. It replaces neither the application nor any statement of facts a court requires. It is your working sheet — the one you reread the night before.
  • The tool calculates no deadline and does not say what must be sent to the other party. Those rules differ from one court to another: check with the court office.
  • Evidence obtained in breach of fundamental rights can be excluded — article 2858 of the Civil Code requires the court to do so of its own motion where using it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Recording a conversation you are not part of, for instance, is not a small thing.
  • Nothing is sent or stored anywhere else. If you close the page without exporting, everything is gone — unless you tick the local save yourself, which stays on your device.

The tool: your facts, then a sheet to print

Add a fact

One at a time. You can edit or remove it afterwards.

One sentence, in your own words. Required.
Optional.
Optional — but a line with no exhibit is exactly what you want to spot.

Your facts, in date order

Change a date and everything re-sorts.

No facts yet. Add the first one above.


Unticked, everything disappears on closing. Ticked, the chronology is saved in this browser only: it goes to no server, and the “Clear everything” button deletes it. One word before you tick it: if this device is shared — the family computer, a tablet everyone uses, a library workstation — someone else can reopen the page and read what you entered. In that case leave the box unticked and download the file instead.

What the sheet shows you immediately

Every fact with no exhibit stands out. That is not a reproach: some facts are proved by testimony, and article 2857 allows it. But a fact you advance without knowing how you will prove it is a fact to work on before the hearing, not during.

Sources

Going further

You have your sheet. What now?

This tool settles one task, once. It needs no account, it keeps nothing anywhere but on your device, and it will stay free: come back as often as you need.

What a file kept over time adds, and a sheet cannot: holding every exhibit in one place from one hearing to the next, finding a date without reopening six documents, and seeing at a glance what is still missing. That is what Preuve en main does — on your device too.

Open Preuve en main See what it does, first

Free, with no account and no email address to start. If this tool helped, the link to this page can be shared as is: it exposes nothing you entered.