modifying a divorce decree

[rj4098]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

Background: I’m trying to modify a final order of divorce that has been in place for a few years to close a couple loopholes and to account for several changes in circumstances. The current order specifies that I only have my son from Saturday morning through Sunday evening every other week and the child support amount was based on a very expensive child care location that isn’t being used anymore. I filed a Motion to re-open and modify the final order of divorce and my ex was served with this about a month ago…..she did not respond. The judges chambers claims that the earliest I can schedule the trial is almost a year away.

I had a couple questions that I’ve been having a hard time locate:
• Should her failure to respond within the 21 day limit mean anything to me? I was thinking about this question around the lines of trying to obtain a default judgment, but I wasn’t sure if that would be applicable in this type of case. Does this mean that she can only respond to my issues at the trial (vice presenting her own)?
• Is “discovery” already authorized upon filing or does this require a separate Motion to open it?
• Are there other pre-trial Motions that I should think about scheduling? E.g. do I need to present my proposed modifications
• It seems like the timeline is extremely long….is it customary to try to modify a divorce decree at a Motions day? Or is there anything else that I could do to expedite it, even if it’s only temporary since this schedule is very detrimental to having a strong parenting bond (e.g. like a PL order does during a divorce)?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

Background: I’m trying to modify a final order of divorce that has been in place for a few years to close a couple loopholes and to account for several changes in circumstances. The current order specifies that I only have my son from Saturday morning through Sunday evening every other week and the child support amount was based on a very expensive child care location that isn’t being used anymore. I filed a Motion to re-open and modify the final order of divorce and my ex was served with this about a month ago…..she did not respond. The judges chambers claims that the earliest I can schedule the trial is almost a year away.

I had a couple questions that I’ve been having a hard time locate:
• Should her failure to respond within the 21 day limit mean anything to me? I was thinking about this question around the lines of trying to obtain a default judgment, but I wasn’t sure if that would be applicable in this type of case. Does this mean that she can only respond to my issues at the trial (vice presenting her own)?
• Is “discovery” already authorized upon filing or does this require a separate Motion to open it?
• Are there other pre-trial Motions that I should think about scheduling? E.g. do I need to present my proposed modifications
• It seems like the timeline is extremely long….is it customary to try to modify a divorce decree at a Motions day? Or is there anything else that I could do to expedite it, even if it’s only temporary since this schedule is very detrimental to having a strong parenting bond (e.g. like a PL order does during a divorce)?

I think that you possibly could be going at this the hard way. Normally you don't file a motion to re-open and modify a divorce decree unless you discover that there was some sort of malfeasance regarding marital assets or other issues of that nature. You file a motion to modify the specific issue that you want to modify. (ie, parenting time, child support etc). Trying to re-open a divorce decree may be why they are telling you it will take so long to get a court date.

It sounds to me like what you need to be doing are two completely separate issues. First, a motion to modify parenting time (if I understood you to want more time with your child) and after that is decided, then a motion to modify child support (as a change in parenting time would also impact child support). Neither one of those issues should take a year to get in front of a judge, even in a very busy court system.