Divorce mediation and collaborative professionals should be aware of ew standing orders in Connecticut divorce cases effective December 1, 2009.
Each new divorce case in CT is assigned a Case Management Date. The parties to the case need to report the status of the case to the court by that date: ready to finalize the divorce, moving in a nonadversarial direction, or moving in an adversarial direction. This report is provided using the Case Management Form(”CMA”).
Cases fall into three categories:
- Uncontested
- Limited Contested
- Fully Contested
An uncontested case is one where the parties have completed their Parenting Education Program (if there are children), arrived at an agreement on all issues and prepared all of the necessary forms. For these cases, the parties can appear in court on the Case Management Date and get divorced. However, as procedures may vary from courthouse to courthouse, you should check with the clerk if you want to get divorced on that date to make sure that the court will hear the divorce on the Case Management Date.
If your case is uncontested but you want to get divorced on another day, then check with the court clerk’s office for days that your court will hear uncontested divorce cases. The date is filled into the CMA. If the spouse has an attorney who has appeared on his/her behalf int he court, the attorney(s) can sign the form and file it with the court. If a party is self represented, then he or she must sign the form.
Limited contested cases are those where the parties have agreed to a parenting responsibility plan but have not yet agreed on the financial terms so are not yet ready to set an uncontested hearing date. For these CMA’s, if the spouse has an attorney who has appeared on his/her behalf int he court, the attorney(s) can sign the form and file it with the court. The new rules do not require client signatures on CMA’s if the client is represented by an attorney. However, the rule allows each courthouse to require client signatures on the CMA so you need to check that local rule. If a party is self represented, then he or she must sign the form.
In limited contested cases, the parties and their attorneys must appear in court on the Case Management date. However, this court appearance can be avoided if the following documents are attached to the CMA when filed:
- Sworn Financial Affidavit
- Signed Parental Responsibility Plan
The new rules also address fully contested cases (where child custody and parental responsibility are disputed), notice regarding status conferences, and pre-trial and trial management procedures.
For a full text of the new Standing Orders go to http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/super/Standorders/Family/default.htm
