Temporary Relief Motions in Divorce

When a couple divorces, one of the spouses may experience some temporary difficulties. For example, a husband who has been a stay-at-home husband and homemaker for several years might need financial support to keep paying rent and feed the kids. Or a wife who has just lost her job and is served with divorce papers might need financial support until she finds her next job. Temporary relief motions in divorce in Colorado may result in the necessary support. You may ask the court to issue a temporary order regarding spousal support, living expenses, the use of the family car, child support, the possession of a family home, child custody arrangements, or visitation. These temporary orders remain valid while the case is pending and until the court has another hearing or your spouse and you negotiate a different arrangement. The Denver divorce lawyers at Plog & Stein, P.C. can help you pursue temporary orders as needed in your case. We understand that divorce is a process and the importance of establishing or maintaining an appropriate status quo while your case unfolds.

Temporary Orders Motions in Divorce

In Colorado, each divorce goes through an initial status conference, about 42 days from the date that the divorce petition is filed. This first conference allows the couple an opportunity to let the court know about the issues in the divorce and to talk about experts and time frames for resolving the issues. For example, some couples may have significant differences of opinion related to how the property should be divided or what would be fair. The couple may disagree about the best interests of the child, and each spouse may want to have primary residential custody and receive child support from the other parent. During this initial conference, either party may bring temporary or emergency issues to the court’s attention. It is then up to the individual judge as to whether he or she will help resolve temporary issues at that time, or will require a formal temporary order hearing to be set. Each Denver area divorce court is different and some will be more inclined procedurally to enter temporary orders at the initial conference than others.

Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 14-10-108, you may ask the court to make temporary orders related to support, visitation, custody, or the use of assets like the marital home. These orders are supposed to be independent of the permanent orders, but in practice, they may have some bearing on the permanent orders that are made at a later stage. For example, if a child lives with one parent in the marital home throughout the divorce, a judge may be more hesitant to award primary residential custody to the other parent when making a permanent order. Sometimes the court will not want to disrupt a child who has been happily living and thriving with one parent by making an entirely different permanent order. Essentially, the temporary orders will be in place throughout the course of the divorce proceedings until the final permanent orders are put in place.

Usually, the temporary orders hearing is conducted by a judge or a magistrate, depending on which county your case is docketed in. Temporary orders hearings are for issues which need legal resolution in the interim but are not for final issues, such as the division of marital property and debt. In cases of extreme financial concern, some courts may be willing to deal with the disposition of a particular asset, though such is not the norm. It is important to seek legal counsel when trying to obtain temporary relief, especially since it may take up to a year for final orders to be put in place. At Plog & Stein, P.C. we have over 50 years of combined legal experience handling temporary and permanent order issues for our clients. Let us put our skills and experience to work for you.

Discuss Your Concerns with Our Attorneys

Some couples and parents underestimate the authority of the court to grant temporary relief during the divorce. In some instances, people believe they can just walk away from the marriage, leaving their spouse destitute or without granting any visitation to the other parent. While temporary orders are not permanent, establishing a workable status quo while the case proceeds is a building block to obtaining a good final resolution when the time comes.

At Plog & Stein, our attorneys are ready to fight for our clients’ rights, both at the temporary orders phase of the case and throughout the process. Your goals are our goals. Call Plog & Stein at (303) 781-0322 or contact us online to schedule an appointment. We represent clients throughout the Metro area who need a Denver child custody lawyers, including Aurora, Parker, Highlands Ranch, and Castle Rock, as well as Adams, Jefferson, Douglas, and Arapahoe Counties.