Yesterday, I discussed the changes to the required financial documents, and today, I want to deal with temporary hearings and the use of affidavits.

Under the old rules, if you requested a temporary hearing on child custody, child support or postseparation support (pss), you would have a hearing scheduled in approximately 45 days, have one hour to present evidence per issue at the hearing, and have the ability to use affidavits. If that seems tight, believe me it is.

Now, child custody hearings are handled differently than child support/pss hearings. You can no longer use affidavits in temporary custody hearings, and instead of one hour, you have two hours to present your evidence. These hearings will continue to be heard in 45 days or less. These changes may be small on the surface, but for anyone who has been through a temporary hearing, you understand the significance of these changes.

Affidavits (the bane of my existence at times)are submitted in bulk. Each affidavit goes through how that parent is the best parent, how the child loves them, blah blah. Rarely did I see affidavits that were powerful. By powerful, I mean an independent person with important specific information about the care of the child. It would seem as if some firms decided that number was more important than content when using affidavits.

It can take hours upon hours to interview and compile these affidavits, and I’ve never been confident that they have a tremendous impact on a judge as they always just want to hear testimony from the parents. Now, we have more time to let the parents talk–double the time. It’s still an impossible situation, determining custody of children based on 120 minutes of testimony and arguments, but it is a better situation than before.

For child support/pss, the rules remain the same EXCEPT these hearings have a longer time frame to be heard. Affidavits can still be used in these types of hearings.

With these changes, parties are going to see a reduction in costs to conduct these temporary hearings. That is excellent news. Our firm works hard to help clients make the best decision for themselves while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

I’ve discussed two major changes to the Wake County Family Court Rules, but we’re not done.  Tomorrow, I want to discuss our new calendering system for cases.

Remember if you are going through a divorce in Wake County, NC, our firm can guide you thorough the process.

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