As we conclude with this series, let’s recap what we’ve been through already. In part one, we went over the difference between divorce and parentage cases. We also went through getting a case started and being served notice. In part two, we went over answering a pleading and the information needed for discovery in the case. Now let’s begin part three.

Is it Possible to Get Temporary Relief Before the Trial Begins?

The court can be asked for temporary relief on several issues while the divorce or parentage case is pending. Some of them include:

Child support
Alimony
Parenting time
Possession of the marital home
Injunctions

While the courts will decide on the temporary relief utilizing the same laws that the court uses to decide final matters, any temporary relief granted by the court becomes null and void once a final resolution and judgment is issued after the case concludes.

Temporary injunctions are temporary orders requiring that one party must take or not take action to avoid the possibility of irreparable harm to a party of the case or the case itself. Temporary injunctions can range from spending marital money to destroying evidence to non-contact orders in the case of domestic/sexual abuse.

All temporary orders have an ending point, but in the case of domestic, physical, or sexual abuse, temporary injunctions may be renewed by the court indefinitely.

Children in the Divorce Process

Children may also be subject to investigation to determine parenting time and custody issues.

Child evaluators are often psychologists appointed by the court to interview the children and report on their conclusions of what will in the best interests of the children. Guardian ad litem may also be appointed, which is acting guardian on behalf of the child/children in a case. They are put in place to represent the children independently.

The Role of a Magistrate in Your Case

Judges are the ones who decide on and issue final divorce decrees. Temporary issues, however, are usually decided on by court magistrates. A magistrate basically works in concert with the judge and follows the same laws and principles that a judge would follow. This includes rules of evidence and discovery.

Court systems don’t have the bandwidth to accommodate many of the “minor” issues like temporary decisions on parenting time or child support. To alleviate the strain on judges having to handle temporary issues such as these, magistrates step in.

If you’re unhappy with a magistrate’s recommendation, you can reject it and go to the judge. You can also reject having a magistrate all together and go straight to the judge if you would like. Be prepared, though, as judges don’t take well to this. Judges consider magistrates as a part of their team and may see you as uncooperative, which could color their decision later in the process.

If the matter is an emergency, such as a domestic abuse issue, a judge will be the one who hears it.

Mediation

Contested family matters in Florida are referred to mediation nearly 100% of the time. If you haven’t already completely agreed on everything then you’re likely headed to mediation. The more seamless the process can be made for a final judgment decree, the better for all involved. Judges don’t prefer to have to make decisions on family matters and would prefer the parties to come to an agreement on their own first. When judges are forced to make decisions on family matters, generally neither of the parties is happy.

In the case of using a mediator, you can ask the court to appoint a mediator at court-mandated rates or just a private mediator. Court-mandated mediation costs in Pinellas County are $60 per party/per session.

Being mandated to go to mediation doesn’t guarantee that you will come to an agreement with the other party, nor does it mean that the other party will even participate in the discussion. It will be in everyone’s best interest though that all parties participate and come to some form of an agreement. Once or if an agreement is reached during mediation, your lawyer and the other party’s lawyer will write it up to submit it to the court. Once you have signed the mediation agreement, everyone will still have 10 days change their minds. Once the 10 days has elapsed, all parties will be locked into the agreement.

Seeking More Information Than Discovery Process Provides

Sometimes, things are still unsettled, and you need more information than the traditional discovery process is setup for. Not to worry, there are tools available to you and your St. Petersburg divorce lawyer.

The Florida Supreme Court has approved a standard list of family law questions that can be used for gathering more information for your divorce case. You can also request a list of documents that you believe your spouse may have under their purview that will shed more light on important aspects of your case. You may also subpoena third parties that have control of the documents you need for your case.

You may also gain access to more information through a deposition. Depositions are scheduled meetings where your lawyer can question a person under oath and have the questions recorded. Depositions allow for verification, back-and-forth conversation, and lots of follow up in less intimidating atmosphere.

Seeking More Information Than Discovery Process Provides

The Case Management Conference

As discovery and temporary motions (if applicable) are close to being resolved, the court will usually order a case management conference. This conference is a meeting between the attorneys organize everything in the case. During this conference, the court will set time limits to get various things done, like depositions, subpoenas, etc. If you miss the time limit for something, you’ll no longer be able to do that item.

Pretrial

Before your divorce trial gets underway, the court will first set a pretrial. Before an actual trial starts, all the facts are already agreed upon like the date you were married, how many children you have, how much the spouses earn per year, how many properties are owned, etc. What a pretrial does is narrows down the issues of the case and establishes exactly what the agreed facts are heading into trial. This is the last chance to make amendments to any pleadings based on the new facts that have been discovered since the initial pleadings.

During a pretrial, the judge will typically make a recommendation to the divorcing couple encouraging a final settlement versus going to trial.

The Trial

It’s very rare for a divorce proceeding to actually make it all the way to trial. Oftentimes, mediation can handle hang ups that are keeping the parties from coming to a settlement.

At trial, it’s common for the parties to each have proposed final documents to the court if the judge requests them. The parties will have agreed to and signed off on a list of the facts that they both agree on. The application of these facts along with presented evidence, forms the basis of what will be contested and what will be decided upon like alimony, custody and time-sharing arrangements, division of property, and so on.

Once the trial has commenced, there will be no surprises, just one side making their case for the judge’s decision versus the other party. The judge will use all the evidence presented to make their decision, but only the evidence that has been admitted to court for the trial is allowable.

Disagreeing With the Judge’s Decision

If a divorce has made it all the way to and through a trial, it’s likely been a hotly contested one and emotions will be high once the judge has rendered a decision. If you believe there’s been a mistake or fraud, or if new evidence has been discovered, you may file a motion to bring these issues back before the judge within a reasonable time frame. If all the facts and evidence were present and you feel as if the judge didn’t apply the law correctly, you may file an appeal asking an appeals court to review the decision.

After what may have taken a year or more to finally come to a resolution, a judge’s decision may not be what you wanted or expected. It’s understandable that you would be upset if things didn’t go your way, but that is the risk of taking a divorce all the way through trial.

Going through a divorce is never easy. After reading and reviewing our series on getting a divorce in Florida, we hope that you’ve not only been informed, but will give our experienced divorce lawyers a call if you decide that a divorce is right for you.

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