I will be filing court (custody) docs in sacramento county sacramento California. I really would like a court date in the future around Aug 25, 2009 but I also need to request temporary custody orders. Can I request a court date that far away?

If so can I also request temporary orders without moving the court date of say Aug 25 up?

If so, should I request the temporary order at the same time I file the above docs?
OR should I file the custody docs first to get the date I want and then go back after after the respondent has been servered to get temporary orders.

Does the court date matter?It is possible the court to determine on a date itself without your wishes.
My advice-file all together

Yes in this case I believe the court date will matter. The non custodial parent will be trying to enroll the child in a new school in a different county during the summer months of which the child will be there for summer vacation in order to avoid child support payments that are pending. There has never been a custody order to date just a support order.

Generally, the court choose the dates according to their calendar. You can ask the court for alternative dates but that will be up to the clerk of the court.

You can ask for a temporary custody hearing. Or you can ask for a restraining order preventing the NCP from registering the child in a school pending resolution of custody status.

Yes in this case I believe the court date will matter. The non custodial parent will be trying to enroll the child in a new school in a different county during the summer months of which the child will be there for summer vacation in order to avoid child support payments that are pending. There has never been a custody order to date just a support order.

I agree with Scott that the court choose the dates according to their calendar.The non-custodial parent cannot enroll a child in a new school without permission of the custodial parent.

Thank you scott, you answer was help to me.

I will be filing court (custody) docs in sacramento county sacramento california. I really would like a court date in the future around Aug 25, 2009 but I also need to request temporary custody orders. Can I request a court date that far away?

If so can I also request temporary orders without moving the court date of say Aug 25 up?

If so, should I request the temporary order at the same time I file the above docs?
OR should I file the custody docs first to get the date I want and then go back after after the respondent has been servered to get temporary orders.

I represent people in family law court in Sacramento County and I am familiar with their way of doing things.

If you've got a support order (whether you filed a paternity case, or it's a DCSS filing, or a disso) you can (and are suppose to) file an OSC re: custody in that case (this is for temporary orders-- you could only get a trial without seeking temporary orders by serving the petition and having the entire case set for trial by filing an at issue memorandum--but you cannot do that until a response is filed). You can request a court date on your motion way out there in August if you want --no problem-- and the clerks will probably be fairly accommodating but file it in person and ask them to set the date you want. Just so you know, Sacramento sets their custody hearings really fast--like in 5 weeks typically, not like the neighboring county I primarily practice in where it takes forever to get a date--like 8 weeks sometimes. And they like to get you into Family Court Services for mediation right away (they do mediations in advance of the hearing). Don't forget your Case Demographics Form or they will reject your paperwork incidentally. This first hearing IS for temporary orders. To get a trial (or what they like to call a "long cause") on custody for "final" custody orders in Sacramento the court has to set you for that--you cannot get a trial date from the clerk (you can ask the judge set it at your hearing--one of them might go along with it but if you don't ask they are not going to do it-I'll guarantee it, and they will ask you why you want a long cause, and you better give them a good answer or they will give you a funny look). Now, if you never filed for temporary orders, the clerks could assign a trial on all issues once the petition is served, a response is on file, and you file an at issue memorandum.

As far as preventing the child's enrollment in school this summer, you probably can't stop that--at least not without an order of the court. So be sure to ask for it in your motion for custody-- call it "Prevent School Enrollment in XYZ County" on the "Other" box you check off on your OSC. You're not going to get an ex parte (emergency hearing) on something like that, because there is obviously not emergency associated with the issue.

Why would you not want to get a court date ASAP .

Thank you Cadillac59 your answer was the most useful to me. It did in deed answer the question I ask. Again Thanks

Is it allowable to underline or high lite areas in a attached declarations (Sacramento Superior Court ) or will they not except my paper work.

In general Im not sure if that is accepted form as far as paperwork goes. Your best off numbering pages and line numbers. Then calling those out in the documents to support your argument. It makes it much easier to follow. Also doublespace.

What exactly is it you are filing? Is it a supporting declaration to an OSC?

In general, I would not highlight anything, but underlining for emphasis is okay I suppose. The only reason I can think of for not highlighting anything is it makes it difficult to copy. But I don't think there is a local rule on it.

Prepaired paper as followed: FL-210/200/105-GC-120/300/305/310/311/30/ the forms have the proper supporting docs (MC-025/MC-030) The court clerk took the fL-210/200/ 105. She filed endorsed and sent me to ex-parte window with the Fl-300/305/310/311 and so on. At ex- parte window the gave me the LP-604. Declaration: Notice upon Ex-parte Applications For Orders. The instruction leave me scraching my head. I under stand the 24 hour notice to the other party but then it states I must tell the other party the date, time and place to appear. Then it tell me the moving party shall deliver his moving papers to the other party at the earliest reasonable opportunity in advance of the ex parte appearance. It states once the forms are completed put them in order as directed. Ok that's all done. Then it states submit them to the family law ex parte window for review and fees prior to the time you notifed the other party to appear. Then you'll be directed to the appropriate courtroom. The question is if there is only a 24 hour notice required when does the fl-300/305/310/311 etc get filed? Example I want a hearing for Wednesday morning at 9:00 it is now Monday night and I just got the other party notified of date and time etc. Do I then go in on Tue morning, afternoon or what if I get there Wednesday at 8:00am do I do it then?Is this when they file the FL-300/305/310/311 etc and stamp my paper work. If so again when do I server that paper work on the other party? When we go up stairs? Please just advise of the proper steps of when to give all or part of the paper to the other party and when to take it to the window and get stamped. The court was no help on this at all. Thank for any help with this.

The ex parte process is governed by local county rules of court. So, what county are you in (because it varies considerable from one county to the next)? Second, most counties have a website and post their local rules on it. So, read the local rules carefully otherwise you are going to be lost.

I can tell you generally that when you set up an ex parte hearing you simply take your paperwork to the department that is hearing them that day (or the department the case is assigned to) and give the judge's clerk the papers. If you get a hearing with the judge it will go much easier and you will be able to follow what is going on. But in any event, the judge signs the ex parte if he or she decides to grant it and after that you file it with the court, pay the filing fee, and serve the other side a copy. Also, you need to attend any further court hearing that may be set as a result of the ex parte.

That's about the best I can tell you now. What's the ex parte for?

Thank you Cadillac 59 for getting back to me. It is in Sacramento County. The exparte is for temporary custody pending the out come of a hearing. The Clerk at the window is telling me that 45 days will be as soon as I can get a court date for a custody hearing. The other parent is planning on picking up the child on the child's last day of school, which is in about 28 days. She dosen't plan on returning the child to his home here as she is trying to avoid paying child support as ordered.She told the support dept that she will be relocating the child to her county and enrolling him in school there and therefor she dosen't feel she should be paying support. A order has been issued for her to pay but a review for mid July is scheduled based on the fact she is planning take the child for a visit and not return him. The dept of child support sujested to me that they believed I should file for custody in order to prevent such a selfest move on the part of the other parent. But I need to get temp orders so she will not be able to take him and not return him and enroll in another county. I just want to make sure my son is stablized and not up rooted and enrolled in to a different school just because of selfish motives. I have gotten three different answers from the clerk at the ex parte window with regards to the order in which I proceed. I can't get a hearing date on the perment custody orders until the ex parte is heard as the clerk tells me. But as I understand it I must in form other parent with in 24 hours of the time I plan on being at court for ex parte. Then I go to the court file the ex parte showing she was notified so I can get my time I gave the other parent notice I would be there, then I have to have her served with all the other paper work for the prement custodyprior to the ex parte. But wait how do I do that if I have to wait till the ex parte is heard before I get a perment custody hearing date. What if she dosen't show for the ex parte. Wouldn't I have to have her servered a second time with the paper work so she knows when to apear for the perment custody hearding. I will look up the court rules as you sugested but I still have to deal with the clerk and he has made it clear that if it is not done right he won't take it. But he hasn't been clear as to what the process is. I just don't want to make a mistake that could cost valuable time here. My sons welfare is at state. Again thank you.

Are you currently receiving child support for this child ? If so then there should already be custody orders in place. Or is this just starting ?

There is a support order for this child. But the other parent has not paid yet. The order was signed 4-22-09. But just so you know. A support order is not a custody order. It just shows the % of time each parent spends with the child. The department of child support dose not petition for custody orders for parents. So it is quite often that a parent will go through the department of child support to get a support order and never obtain a custody order. That was the case here. It was originally obtained nine years ago for the other parent. But the other parent decided that they did not want to be the custodial parent any longer told the child they would be coming to live with us from then on. Ask us to take the child off there hands because they could not control the child. Well we were happy to take the child. He is a delightful child and we love him dearly. We have no problems with him. But the other parent thought that they would be able to continue getting child support. But the department of child support modified the original order to set to zero payments and opened a new case requiring the other parent to pay support to us for the child. Only after that happen did the other parent start to waiver in their decision. They stated to the department of child support their intention to take the child during his summer vacation and enroll in school in the other county in order to regain the roll as custodial parent. That is when the department of child support suggested to us that we should seek a custody order to prevent such event. That is what we are doing, The time it will take to get a prement custody hearing is, Iam told by the court 45 days. His summer vacation starts in about 28 days. So there is a real time problem here and we hope that a ex parte will be granted until this matter can be resolved at hearing.

If I have some time a little later I'll see if I can offer some help after looking at Sac's local rules.

My general impression is that you are not going to get an ex parte custody order (it doesn't sound like there's an emergency here) but you could probably get an ex parte order shorteneing time (OST). If I were the judge, I'd give you the OST but probably not the ex parte custody order--just my personal impression of what's going on. But it's not going to hurt to give it a try. Also, be sure to ask for an OST in the alternative! That's important because if the judge won't grant the ex parte for custody he probably WILL grant the OST. That will get you into court and mediation much sooner, which is all you really need anyway.

Here's what I think you do: First you take your ex parte paperwork (that's the OSC with supporting declaration) to the Legal Process Clerk in the Family Law Filing Unit between 8:30 and 11:00 or 1:30 to 3:00pm. The clerk then assigns you to a department. I think the clerk will also tell you when to appear for the ex parte (the time) and where to notice the other party to appear. The local rules say, "Reasonable notice is presumed not less than 24 hours. Ex partes are to be noticed in Room 100, Window 5, where both parties should report at their noticed time."[Local Rule 14.15(F)(1)]

Then you call or fax the other side the notice of when to appear (time/date: xyz , Room 100, Window 5, address: 3341 Power Inn Road, Sac), all within 24 hours of the time to appear and you tell them, "I'm going in on an ex parte for custody or for an order shortening time". You then deliver a copy of your OSC and supporting declaration at the time you go back to court for the actual hearing (or if you can fax it within the 24 hour notice period, do that). Then fill out the Dec. re Notice on Ex Parte Orders, appear at the noticed time (room 100,window 5) and the clerk's will direct you (or the two of you if the other side shows up) to a courtroom on the
2nd floor. After you see the judge, you then file the ex parte and the dec. re notice on ex parte orders and pay the fee. If the OST is granted (say instead of a temporary custody order), you will have a hearing date and time to return for your motion on custody. And you will be scheduled for FCS mediation before that date.

I think Sacramento's rules are kind of screwy on ex parte's but that's how you are suppose to do it, from what I can tell.

As I said before, I doubt you are going to get an ex parte custody order on your facts, but you can give it a try. You'll probably get at least the OST (the judge is going to need you to go to mediation anyway, sooner or later so you are going to have to do that).

I don't think you've got enough of an emergency for the ex parte but give it a shot, you know, it can't hurt.

Thanks for the info you gave me. I'll give it a shot and thanks for the ost information.

I filed a FL-105/GC-120 form with Sacramento County Court. I later found I had left out a address that is important. The papers have not been servered. What is the process to change the form in the court file.

It's easier to follow if you just say what the form is (I can never remember the numbers).

That form is the UCCJEA declaration. All you do is prepare and file an Amended form. Just type "Amended" above the new form and file it. Then serve the amended form with everything else.

Hi everyone, Wanted to let all know that I was able to get the exparte on the prevented orders requested. We went to mediation on July 7, 2009. I was not happy with the mediator. There seem to be a real bonding between her and my sons mother due to the fact the mediator was also a single mother. They kept getting off track talking about the mediators child and I had to keep bringing them back and getting them refocused on the fact that the mediation was for our child and his best interest. There was no agreement reached. Since mediation I have discovered that both the mediator and myself was lied too during mediation. I now would like to introduce some additional paper to the judge prior to the hearing of July 20, 2009. I am not sure how to go about this. Paper such as letter from his step sister, papers from his school cume. File on his history of grades and study habits, pitures. I don't know if I must put the paper with a a special form or a declaration and which form to use with it. Or do I just take them to the court with lables of the court case #on them and file them and server the other party. Must I server the other party and what is the time frame I have to do this. Thanks to all that can help me and a real big thanks to Cadillac 59 would gave me great information about the exparte process. It was a big help and the Judge signed the order without even speaking with any of the parties. So thanks so much. Waiting to here from any one who can help with this information
Shonyevone

>Multiple Threads Merged<

Hi everyone, Wanted to let all know that I was able to get the exparte on the prevented orders requested. We went to mediation on July 7, 2009. I was not happy with the mediator. There seem to be a real bonding between her and my sons mother due to the fact the mediator was also a single mother. They kept getting off track talking about the mediators child and I had to keep bringing them back and getting them refocused on the fact that the mediation was for our child and his best interest. There was no agreement reached. Since mediation I have discovered that both the mediator and my self was lied too during mediation. I now would like to introduce some additional paper to the judge prior to the hearing of July 20, 2009. I am not sure how to go about this. Paper such as letter from his step sister, papers from his school cume. file on his history of grades and study habits, pitures. I don't know if I must put the paper with a a special form or a declaration and which form to use with it. Or do I just take them to the court with lables of the court case #on them and file them and server the other party. Must I server the other party and what is the time frame I have to do this. Thanks to all that can help me and a real big thanks to Cadillac 59 would gave me great information about the exparte process. It was a big help and the Judge signed the order without even speaking with any of the parties. So thanks so much. Waiting to here from any one who can help with this information
Shonyevone

If you want to file something for the judge to read you need to attach it as an exhibit to a declaration, serve a copy on the other side, and file it with a proof of service with it. You don't want to file it alone because no one is going to know what it is suppose to mean or why you are filing it. The declaration you file should explain what it is you think the document means and why it is relevant to your case.

This can vary a bit by local rule, but in my county declarations must be based upon personal knowledge and be under penalty of perjury to be admissible at a hearing. In other words, no hearsay in a declaration (the declaration itself is hearsay but the court makes a special exception for that under local rule). The point is, a letter from someone that you attach to your declaration, for instance, is hearsay and could be excluded and not considered if the other side objects. A photo, if relevant to something, is okay if you authenticate it in a declaration.

Some family courts are fairly loose about accepting otherwise inadmissible documents so it probably wouldn't hurt to file whatever it is you want as an exhibit to your declaration and see what happens.