DO I HAVE TIME TO FILE MY ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE?

QUESTION: My wife filed first but I got her served first. We already have a mediation date and a court date. Do I have a time limit to file my order to show cause? Would she get anything by default even though I was the first to complete the initial paperwork?

MY RESPONSE:

When you refer to a "court date", you provide insufficient information for me to determine what kind of hearing is set on that date - an Order to Show Cause, a Default hearing, a Trial, or any other kind of hearing.

I can't determine from your question which case the mediation date and "court date" are set in - your wife's divorce case or your divorce case.

Parties can't serve papers in their own cases. If you personally served your divorce papers on your wife, she wasn't properly served and her case would then be the operative case. If you got your case properly served on your wife before she got you served, your case should be the operative case, but a completed Proof of Service signed by your process server would have to be filed with the Court in your case. If that has been done, a Motion to Dismiss or Quash Proceeding should be promptly filed and served in your wife's case.

If you did not file and serve a timely Response to your wife's divorce case, she may have filed a request to enter your default. If that has occurred, you need to act quickly to file a Motion to Set Aside your Default in that case.

If there is already a mediation set and a hearing ("court date") set, it is possible that your wife already filed an Order to Show Cause, but perhaps hasn't served it on you yet. If she already had the Court enter your default in her case, you may have lost the opportunity to get notice of hearings in that case. Otherwise, the "court date" that you referred to may be a default hearing.

You should go on your Court's website and look at the case summary for your case and for her case.

If there is an Order to Show Cause on calendar (which would likely be the reason that there was a "court date" set), you should go to the Clerk's office and purchase a copy of your wife's Order to Show Cause, her Income and Expense Declaration, and any other documents that she filed that you don't already have (her Response to your Petition, and what else?). If there is an Order to Show Cause or other hearing on calendar, you should file (and have served) appropriate responsive papers as soon as possible.

You would best retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to represent you in your divorce, without delay.


This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Family Law Attorney and Divorce Lawyer serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years,owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Woodland Hills and Century City. Call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for a free confidential consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist to discuss your divorce or family law issues. | www.conviser.net | www.conviserfamilylaw.com |