Help in Understanding note from court

[dipper]

Hi,


My son and his girlfriend split on October 25.  She moved out during their child's birthday party.  Earlier that day, we had all went to a notary and had an agreement notarized.  The agreement was based on days she told me that my son and her agreed upon.  She was the only one that told me days to put into agreement.


I went on October 30th and filed a petition to have it entered into the court.  We were given a trial date of 12/02/14.   The maternal grandparent has requested two changes to the order and so now the mother is no longer in agreement.  She says it is between her and our son, but the only person who wants these changes is HER mother.


Today, we received a Notice of hearing (change) in the mail, delaying the hearing until February.   The note states:


The petition for custody filed and docketed for hearing on 12/02/14 by the grandparents.  Subsequently on 11/4/2014 the court was provided with a copy of an agreed upon court order addressing a number of issues.  This agreement was marked SO ORDERED as to child custody and visitation only.  The parents have subsequently contacted the court and indicated dissatisfaction with the custody agreement.  A full hearing is necessary on this matter.  The mother has requested a continuance and the continuance has been granted.




Question:  The line that says the agreement was marked SO ORDERED - does that mean the agreement we signed is in force right now? 


Can we ask for a continuance mid January to bid some time to raise money for an attorney?    We simply do not have money right now...and she doesn't either, but she has a grandfather she can get it from. 

[ocean]

I am not sure, sounds like that for right now, custody/visitation will stay the same until the next court date in Feb.

Usually, you can request a postponement one time each with no questions asked. You can go to the next hearing, see what is being said, if an agreement can be made, if not you can ask for a trial date and bring a lawyer for the trial date. You can ask in writing for a postponement but usually that is for a reason "out of state", medical issue, etc.... Go to the next hearing and ask for postponement if needed.

Since you filed the papers and not your son, it was changed from grandparents with no issues to a need for a hearing with the parents. Not sure why you filed and not your son?

(no lawyer on this site anymore) 

[dipper]

We were parties in the agreement.  An attorney had told us that we needed to petition the court as well as the parents.   So, I petitioned and turned in the notarized agreement. 


Our son later filed, but didn't file on the agreement's behalf.  She was threatening to take the child within days of moving in with her mother.  So, he filed for full custody.  I don't know if the change in our hearing changes the date of that hearing or not. 


The girlfriend has significant health issues -  physical and mental.  We (my husband and I ) have been the main caretakers of our grandchild since her birth.  With our son's work schedule, we were part of the agreement to have physical and legal custody as well.  The girlfriend could never take care of the child for an entire day by herself without calling us saying she was sick or extremely tired.  She is only able to now take care of child because she lives with her mother and mother helps in evenings/nights/mornings.


The current arrangement is 50/50, but the mother has more nights with the child.


Yes, I am aware that no lawyer is on the site anymore- he/she was really good too!!!  I got excellent advice years ago.

[ocean]

Look at your courts website, you may be able to look up the case by file number. Here we can and can see when the next court date is. See what is says for his date, make sure he goes for his date if it was not postponed with your case. If you can not see it online, have son go to court house or call and ask if his date was postponed too.

[MixedBag]

Sounds like you filed their notorized agreement.

In many states -- once both parties sign one piece of paper, that agreement is binding but not through the courts until filed and turned into an order.  SOUNDS like you were on your way to getting that done.

Sounds like both parents have filed and don't agree with what you filed and "they signed".

and so the court delayed the December hearing which was short and a full hearing for down the road.

Best bet is to pull the file -- see what's physically in there.

See if you can find something that looks physically like an order....or that the agreement that you filed is stamped and therefore for ordered -- for now.