Key Delays Impacting Family Law Case Progression
What are the main roadblocks in family law cases that take up a lot of time and delay the case? My name is Aaron Grubb. I’m a Tahlequah divorce attorney at Wirth Law Office, and in this video, we’re just going to talk about some obstacles that delay family law cases.
Common Obstacles in Family Law Cases
The first obstacle is noncompliance with court-ordered provisions. We’ve got a case right now where there are some issues with assets and items that the opposing party needs to get, and they have yet to get them. It’s really delaying the case because the judge doesn’t want to do anything else.
For good faith reasons, we don’t want to initiate any kind of sanction or anything like that. So, we’re really just waiting on the opposing party to get funds and be able to obtain some of these assets that the judge has required them to get, such as a car.
Delays Due to Discovery and Agreements
Another roadblock is discovery. Discovery just takes a while. You’re given 30 days to receive and respond to discovery requests. A lot of the time, it’s ongoing. You might have one set of discovery, you answer that, and then there’s another set that the opposing party asks of you.
You have to go through, and you get another 30 days to respond to that. All of this can delay the case, especially if deadlines aren’t being met or continuances are requested, or if there’s some agreement between the parties to waive the 30-day requirement.
That kind of brings me to the last point, which is that anything agreed upon by the parties can delay your case for as long as you want, essentially. Family law cases can be delayed quite a bit. Criminal cases are obviously a little different.
Working with the Judge on Deadlines
But for a family law case, if you want to delay several months because you’re out of state or working out of state, or your children are transitioning schools and you want to wait for that to happen before a temporary order is set, and that’s agreed upon by the parties, then that’s something the judge will allow.
They’ll allow the date to be pushed back as far out as you want, within reason, of course. It can’t be six years down the road or anything like that, but the judge and the opposing party will often work with you on certain deadlines.
Contact Us for Assistance
So, if you have questions regarding your own family law case or even a criminal case, please contact us here at Wirth Law Office, where we make law easy.
For a low-cost consultation, call Tahlequah family law attorney Aaron Grubb at (918) 458-2677!
