How many hearings should I expect?

FUMoney · 2023-08-24T22:16:01+00:00

It's not going to be just one hearing, or just show up to trial, boom, done. If that were the case, you and the ex could have filed for a joint marital dissolution, submitted your agreed-to dissolution order, and the Court could quickly resolve your case if you had agreement on all necessary matters.

Plainly, you don't have that. So before you get to an actual trial date, there's things to do. The court may set a status conference, which is very typical, where the judge asks what is the actual status of this case. Are there discovery disputes? Property disputes? Has mediation been attempted? Can the case settle? When will the parties be available for trial? And if you have lawyers, when is counsel available as well?

Could also be a scheduling/calendar conferences too, so that the court can get the parties and the lawyers together, and the court can start blocking off time on its docket to hear and/or try your matter.

Finally, I know you say it's cut and dry. Perhaps it is. But what if the ex has other ideas? What if she demands alimony, child support, fights you on custody, or who the hell knows what. And from the judge's perspective, she or he doesn't know whether this is a simple case, or one that's going to be warring spouses.

You've already got one issue, your house, and that alone will take a bit of time, including splitting the home equity, how to split it, who can fund it and how, etc., and the probability of you retaining ownership. Even that will take a bit of time, and the court wants to get that right. Add in important decisions over child custody, child support, location of the children, schooling, asset split, spousal support -- even in a "simple" case, there's a lot to get right, and a lot that can go wrong.

AudreyTooTwo · 2023-08-24T23:19:03+00:00

A lot depends on the court. On the day of my first hearing, it was set for 3:30 PM. After an hour, we barely made it through the formalities and preliminaries, and boom, it's 4:30, and court is over. We barely covered any ground.

When the judge asked the clerk for the next opening, it was three months down the road. THREE MONTHS! I was shocked. But that was just the start.

I can't remember how many hearings we had. But one was scheduled to start at noon. I paid my lawyer for the day. I had all my evidence and exhibits and I was anxious as Hell. No kidding, at 11:50, the clerk called to say their morning case was running over, so our hearing was cancelled. And again, the next opening was three months down the road.

I asked for a continuance once. It was legitimate; I wasn't trying to stall. But, again, add three months.

Finally, at our last hearing, the court set aside an entire day, from 9:00 to 4:30 and we got it done. But by then, 18 months had gone by.

But, your mileage could vary. Also depends on the opposing lawyer. They can file endless motions. Oh, the irony of calling them "motions" because it means nothing moves.

EDIT: this was pre-COVID. If there's another virus lockdown, multiply all timeframes by 2 or 3 or 4.

Ptsdveterannavy · 2023-08-25T00:18:27+00:00

Yeah after 2 yrs post divorce, my Modification court appt went from 9am until 330pm. Well worth it

Title	How many hearings should I expect?
Author	Acrobatic_Access_905
Upvotes	4
Comments	4
Date	August 24, 2023 4:17 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1606fcs/how_many_hearings_should_i_expect/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/how-many-hearings-should-i-expect.1229614 https://theredarchive.com/post/1229614

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