Preparing a Motion
You may want to ask the court for child support or spousal support, or some other orders. If you want the court to issue and order or change an order on any particular issue, you must file a motion or Request for Order before the judge will listen to the request and make an order. Once you file your motion or Request for Order with the court, the clerk will give you a court date. At that time, you are required to serve the documents on the other party and it is important to serve them properly.
Because the court schedule is prepared months in advance, the judge does not have time to hear about any issues that have not been previously calendared. That is to say, if you have not included some issue in your paperwork, and properly served the other side, the court will not hear your request. People often make mistakes when filing their own motion or Request for Order and do not realize the problem until they have waited, often months, to attend their scheduled hearing present the problem to the court. It is extremely important that a motion or Request for Order is prepared right from the beginning. If you file the wrong motion or Request for Order, or you don’t include something that is required, you will have waited months and the judge will likely to refuse to hear the matter or simply deny your request without explanation. If you are lucky, the court might require you to start over, re-file your motion or Request for Order and get a new court date, again months away. Most people do not have the luxury of having the time to take a second bite at the apple. Do you know what a Points & Authorities is? Do you when they are required? Do you when a declaration is required? Do you know the necessary elements of a declaration and how to draft them? We can help you get it done right, the first time. Our office can help you complete the process quickly and thoroughly to ensure that you avoid making any costly mistakes.