Judge didnt sign the Order?

[sunflower1]

Hello Im in Texas

In preparing for a modification, I realized I was missing the last Order from 2001.

I went to the Clerks Office and was told the purposed Order was never signed, we did appear in court on that day and had a hearing in front of the Judge.

Question:

1. Is the purposed Order enforceable WITHOUT the Judges signature?

2. Is that Order considered void if not signed, reverting back to the last signed Order on file?

Thank you.

[socrateaser]

>1. Is the purposed Order enforceable WITHOUT the Judges
>signature?

No.

>
>2. Is that Order considered void if not signed, reverting back
>to the last signed Order on file?

The order isn't void, however the prior order is the only enforceable order. You need to check for a "minute order" written by the judge's assistant that describes briefly what was ordered at the hearing. If there is such an order, then you need to use what it says to prepare a final order and submit it to the court for signature, along with a letter to the judge, and all copied to the other party, stating that the final order does not appear in the court file and that this is, to the best of your knowledge, what was ordered by the court.

If there is no minute order, then you can still prepare an order, but you will either need to obtain a transcript of the hearing from court recorder, assuming that the transcript has been retained, and then use that to prepare an order for the judge's signature.

You are jumping to a conclusion that the order wasn't signed. The judge may have signed it, and it was misfiled or lost by the clerk. But, either way, if it's not in the court's file, then the only order that is valid and enforceable was the prior order in the case.

You may want to try sending a letter to the judge's clerk and copy the other party, expressing your dismay over the fact that the final order is not in the case file, and ask for some guidance as to how to proceed. It's the court's responsibility to sign and file the order, not yours, so see if you can get the court to act without you doing anything other than asking about the order.

Finally, there is the possibility that the judge ordered one of the parties or their attorney to prepare the order for signature, and that no one ever did this. This is a fairly common occurance for pro se litigants that don't know that the responsibility for preparing a final order is usually left to a party and not for the court. I don't know the facts of your case or the local procedure, so I can't say if this is what actually happened.

[sunflower1]

Heres the deal,

The purposed Order was completed and submitted by the movants attorney,  We were pro se, and received only the copy of the purposed order prior to the hearing date.

According to the clerk of courts, the purposed order was returned to the attorney of record for corrections and to resubmit. This didnt happen.

In the purposed order we were to pay all attorney fees for movant, including costs within 10 days of the hearing, we did this. I kept copies and bank records to show this. previous Order held each party responsible for their own attroney fees and court costs.

In the purposed order there is an accumulative award with interest in the amount of 14,537.19 for medical bills for the child, in favor of the movant. This too was paid in full within 4 months.


Question

1 this was an " Agreed Order"  that did not get signed does that change anything;

2. can we recover the attorney fees allready paid to the movants attorney;

3.can we get credit for the interest on the accumulative award we paid for the difference between the last actaull order and this purposed one?


Thank you in advanced


 

[socrateaser]

>Question
>
>1 this was an " Agreed Order"  that did not get signed does
>that change anything;

Only to the extent that if you and the other party signed the order, then a copy of the signed agreed order could be used as evidence to show what you agreed to at the time you signed.

>2. can we recover the attorney fees allready paid to the
>movants attorney;

Probably not. If you file a motion to have the court order some of your attorney fees refunded, the attorney will most likely finish the order and submit it, at which point the job will be done and the fees will be earned.

>
>3.can we get credit for the interest on the accumulative award
>we paid for the difference between the last actaull order and
>this purposed one?

No. You owed the money. The fact that the order was never properly entered is harmless error, unless you can show how you were actually harmed. Your facts suggest that you were ordered to pay various amounts and that you paid them timely. So, the only issue is that there is no public record of your debt, or of your satisfaction of the debt.

If the above is not negatively impacting your credit record, then the question is "Where is the harm?"

If there is no harm to you, then I suggest that you write the court, and copy the attorney, and explain the facts and ask that the court order the attorney to prepare a corrected final order, and submit it to you for agreement, and then file it with the court, so as to correct the court record.

If there "is" some harm to you, then tell me what you think that is, and we can take it from there.