COVID 19 - WHAT CAN BE DONE IN YOUR FAMILY LAW CASE?

You might wonder if there is anything that can be done for you in a family law matter right now in the stay at home orders.  The family courts are closed until the end of May unless there is an emergency.  In an emergency the family judges will hold a hearing.  But here are issues that can be resolved.

You can finalize a divorce as long as you and your spouse have an agreement.  We can still file a divorce petition for you via the efiling system, and after 60 days we can upload your agreed final decree of divorce for the judge's signature. 

Even if you don't have an agreement, we can still file the divorce for you to start the clock running for the 60 days.  We can also mediate via zoom or some other online tool, thereby adhering to the shelter at home order while still working towards your goal of finalizing your divorce.

If you filed your divorce without an attorney and the courts are telling you that even though you have an agreed decree and the 60 days have passed, you have to wait until June or July to finalize your divorce. We can help.  As your attorney, after making sure your documents are correct, I can efile your final decree and request that the judge sign it.

If you need to modify your child support for a reason other than covid-19, get that modification filed, so that if there is a modification it will be retroactive back to when you filed the modification.

The same applies to modifying your parenting plan.  We can always file the motion and hopefully get a hearing sooner once the courts open back up.

If an emergency arises, we can help you solve the problem by requesting an emergency hearing.

My name is Anita Cutrer and I am a board-certified family lawyer. For help with your family law matter please call us at 817-285-2855 or send us an email [email protected]