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Excerpts from Family Law Listserv Responses Original posting The current and proposed judicial budgets severely impact the ability of our courts to provide timely service to the public and our clients. The 8-10 week delay in getting orders typed and mailed out in Hillsborough North is but one example. I request that you share with me instances in which a client of yours has been the victim of the lack of resources and delays in the courts. Please make the client anonymous but share the court, limited facts, and what happened so we might have a group of stories to share. We need the Legislature to understand that filing judgeships alone is not enough. As one person quipped: "You can't sail a ship if you have all admirals and no seamen!" Jon Ross, Wiggin & Nourie, P.A. Responses My client living on zero income, zero support for more than a year. Filed divorce petition in Hillsborough North 1st week of September 2008 -- orders of notice issued, no children, long term marriage and alimony/retirement at issue. Problems with service on other party, notified court in Nov 2008 and requested new orders of notice. Just received new orders of notice this week - 90 days later, nearly 6 months after original petition filed. My client has been living on $0 income and $0 support from spouse for over a year. 104 days have passed and I have yet to receive a decision on final divorce decree. On November 12 and 13, 2008 I represented a client in a fault based divorce case in the Brentwood Family Division. As of today, Feb. 25, 2009, I have yet to receive the Court's final divorce decree. This has caused my client significant financial hardship, as the Court has not yet determined the property division. I am appalled that 104 days have passed and I have yet to receive a decision. No response on assented-to motion to continue…client has to take day off go to court unnecessarily. …filed long in advance of the actual hearing because I had a conflict. In the weeks following I called the court to see if there had been any action on my Motion to Continue, which was assented to. The clerk kept telling me it had not been ruled on yet; I kept calling until the day before the hearing with no response, and was forced to go to the Superior Court along with my client on the day of the hearing. Delays result in harm to children... I understand that there is a very bad backlog at this court, but not being available to the public is not the answer. I have had many examples of cases which were delayed and which resulted in financial hardship and frustration and expense to my clients. I have also experienced delays which resulted in harm to children I represent as Guardian ad Litem. Cutbacks in the District Court... I have just confirmed that Judge DeVries at the Portsmouth Family Division is being reduced to 2 days per week, as a result of budget cuts! Two days! This is going to impact all sorts of cases. |
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