What to expect in a Temporary Orders hearing in Texas

On the off chance that you have require a best reasonable Texas Divorce Law encounter, What to expect in a Temporary Orders hearing in Texas with the immense procedure!

Spring Divorce Lawyers: Temporary Orders hearings can arise in many different family law cases in Texas Courts. Whether you are going through a divorce or child custody case a temporary orders hearing occurs typically within four weeks of the lawsuit having been filed.

Temporary orders hearings can also occur in modification cases where one party to a prior Court order is seeking to change the terms based on change in circumstances of at least one of the parties.

A party can request a temporary orders hearing by filing a petition for temporary orders along with their initial pleadings to the Court. The petition must state what orders are being sought by the party as well as the date and time that the Court assigns the parties to appear to have a hearing on the subject matter.

Typically, the temporary orders hearing is the first hearing in a family law case and will therefore be the first time a judge will lay eyes on you and will begin to form an opinion about you and your case.

In a best-case scenario, a temporary orders hearing will be the only time you go before a judge. I write this because after going through the time, money and effort in preparing for and going through a temporary orders hearing most parties will conclude that working with each other rather than relying on a judge to make a decision is the best course of action to take.

Whether or not this is a possibility for your situation depends on the parties as well as the nature of the disagreements between you and your opposing party.

What is decided by a Court in a Temporary Orders hearing?

Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: Once you’ve made it to Court any active disputes between you and your opposing party will be settled by order of the Court.

Examples in regard to children include:

> temporary child support
> conservatorship
> visitation
> possession and access

A judge will listen to testimony from both you and the other party and will take the best interests of the child into consideration when making an Order.

A court can also allocate possession of any property being argued over (vehicles, recreational property, business property, etc.). In a temporary orders hearing that I had earlier this year a substantial portion of the temporary orders hearing was spent dividing up the trucks that the husband and wife used in their business.

Deciding how this would be done was a huge undertaking for the judge especially considering that in a few months she may be asked to decide how to divide up the property on a permanent basis.

Although what is decided is temporary only, it typical that whatever is decided in temporary orders tends to be how things go in final orders as well. Preparation then is key to success both in the short term and long term in your divorce or child custody case.

What is not decided in a Temporary Orders Hearing

Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: As discussed in the preceding section of this blog post, a temporary orders hearing only decides issues on a temporary basis. Meaning that ultimate decisions on who is awarded possession of the family home, who gets which vehicle or whether you will be compensated for paying a debt will be decided.

Temporary orders allow both parties to begin to live their lives in a manner that will be fairly similar to their lives after the divorce has been finalized. You can think of it as a test-run for when the parties are single again.

In a custody case the same rules apply, except that the test run will typically cover only the child of the relationship and not financial considerations other than the payment of child support and health insurance for the child.

Violations of Temporary Orders

Spring Divorce Lawyer: If either party violates a temporary order of a Court then your attorney can file something called an Enforcement against that party and can seek monetary damages and contempt against the violating party. The Court views its Orders very seriously and can assess significant penalties against a party for violating them including having to pay the attorney’s fees of the other party as well as Court costs.

The bottom line here is that if you have gone through a temporary orders hearing it is in your best interest to follow the orders of the Court. Failure to do so may have immediate consequences in the form of having to pay money to the other party.

Long term consequences include hurting your case in a significant way and also upsetting the person whose judgment is the only person in the world’s who will ultimately matter- the judge.

If you find yourself in a position where the judge’s temporary orders are not workable for you then you should contact your attorney and discuss the issue with them. There may be a compromise to be made with the opposing party so that neither one of you are injured (legally speaking) by a particular provision in the temporary orders.

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC is here to assist you in your Southeast Texas Divorce case

Houston Divorce Lawyer: If you have filed for divorce or have had a divorce filed against you then there are probably many thoughts going through your mind at all hours of the day. What does this mean for my child? What does this mean for my income? How will I pay for the divorce? How long will the divorce take? These are all relevant questions to have at the outset of a divorce.

Fortunately, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC offers free of charge consultations with one of our family law attorneys. Setting up a consultation is easy.

Contact our office at the phone number listed on this website and one of our team members will assist you with setting up a time and date to meet with an attorney. The consultation is not limited to a certain amount of time. Ask as many questions as you have and the responses are yours to consider when deciding the next steps to take in your situation. Divorce is not easy but finding effective and cost friendly representation can be ... Continue Reading