I filed a petition for legal separation since my wife was charged with DV (long story with significant abuse involved - please refer to my post history for more).

My wife and I have caring family members that served as mediators to negotiate terms and we signed all paperwork, filed it pro se and the court gave us a date for hearing(they combined it with our existing hearing for TPO, temp. Protection order, which was scheduled anyway).

In our mutually signed parenting agreement, there are clear provisions for her to get to standard parenting plan as and when she shows that her mental issues are behind her (condition is that it needs to be validated by a neutral psychiatrist- I can’t see suffer more than what’s she been through already.. yea I’m soft in that way :().

The judge asked questions about PO first. I told him about the signed agreement that invalidates the need for the TPO (I assumed The judge would issue a decree shortly after the CPO hearing since everything is signed and mutually agreeable). The judge however gives us a couple of months to see how things go and then come back again for a status conference with him.

Is this usual? Why would he do that? We all just feel very stuck. Please share your thoughts and perspectives. I am baffled that when 2 adults can decide to get married in Vegas and it holds, why is it so twisted to get the Court to issue us the “all clear”? Why drag it on?

I (45M) am so drained!! This all hit me like a freight train after being subjected to crazy abuse for years ... every day is hard and I’m not the one to complain ever.. have tremendous grit and optimism...taking care of 2 amazing girls and fully functional at my high demanding job is one thing but This all hit me like a freight train.. just don’t understand the logic of this judge