August, 2002

Temporary Orders

If you have already gone through a divorce, you probably remember one of your first court appearances, which was the hearing on a Motion for Temporary Orders.  Because a divorce takes months if not years to grind its way through the court system, it poses the question: "What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"  Most people need court orders in place right now which address issues such as child custody, child support, visitation, health insurance, alimony, etc.  

The answer to this dilemma is to get temporary orders put in place.  You do this by filing a motion with the court, asking that it enact orders covering these important topics right now.  Hence the name: Motion for Temporary Orders.  They are temporary because they are only in effect pending your divorce trial.  

Now the primary and obvious advantage of Temporary Orders is the speed with which they can be implemented.  In fact, you can schedule the hearing on this motion immediately after serving your spouse with the Complaint for Divorce.  Therefore, all these issues can be hammered out, albeit temporarily, in a matter of days rather than months or years.  

On the flip side of this coin is the disadvantage that "fast" does not necessarily mean "good".  You get all of five minutes to argue your case to the judge, and because of the limited time to prepare, little, if any, admissible evidence is actually presented to the court.  Rather, most of it is hearsay allegations which degenerate into a "He Said v. She Said" battle.  And that makes it difficult for even a good judge to make such important decisions on.  

Another important consideration is the "temporary" part of Temporary Orders.  Oftentimes they turn out to be permanent.  Take child custody as an example.  Let's say that Pat and Chris have two children and are in the process of getting divorced.  At the temp order hearing, the court awards Chris temporary custody of the kids.  Things go more or less smoothly over the next two years while the divorce is pending.  Now it is time for the judge to decide on permanent custody.  Well, guess what?  The kids are now used to being in Chris' custody and, even if Pat was the better custodial parent, it very unlikely that the court will change the status quo and reverse custody.  

Therefore, if it is an important issue to you, don't sit back and try to wing it.  You need to prepare for the Temp Order hearing just as you would the divorce trial.  Get as much admissible evidence together NOW and be ready to present it to the court in a clear and concise manner.   The decisions made at this point in the process set the tone for the trial and will have everlasting effects.  Don't shortchange yourself and don't let anyone convince you that "It's only a temporary hearing."