Can a motion for voluntary dismissal be re-filed?

[kepp81]

Where does kepp81 say the divorce filing was dismissed?

If the divorce case was, in fact, dismissed, kepp81 needs to file for divorce herself and have a court issue another temporary order for child support, custody and the house.

I hate to say that @LdiJ is right. We were never married. This was a stand alone case about our kids. The a*****e got me and I wasted a ton of money for nothing. I can't afford to start over from scratch.

 

[Just Blue]

@kepp81 You're language violates the TOS, please edit.

 

[quincy]

Ah. So your prior history on this forum with background information was important.

Here is a link to voluntary dismissals:
https://casetext.com/rule/iowa-court-rules/chapter-1-iowa-rules-of-civil-procedure/division-ix-trial-and-judgment/trials/rule-1943-voluntary-dismissal

I guess you start over. You could find help through Iowa Legal Aid (link provided earlier).

 

[LdiJ]

I hate to say that @LdiJ is right. We were never married. This was a stand alone case about our kids. The a*****e got me and I wasted a ton of money for nothing. I can't afford to start over from scratch.

Its really unfortunate. However, you could simply file for child support through the child support enforcement agency without an attorney or additional cost to you. Now, that doesn't mean that the other parent won't turn around and file to establish custody again, but you don't have to continue to use an attorney. You can represent yourself. Its not necessarily the wisest thing to do, but you do have the evidence that the other parent filed before and dismissed their case, which would help you.

 

[quincy]

It would be smart to contact a legal aid organization.

 

[Just Blue]

It would be smart to contact a legal aid organization.

https://www.iowalegalaid.org/ila

 

[Litigator22]

[Iowa]

In September the petitioner in a custody case filed a motion for voluntary dismissal. The respondent resisted it and the court denied the voluntary dismissal. The petitioner re-filed the identical motion for voluntary dismissal in December and this time the court granted it. The order says the petitioner has an absolute right to voluntarily dismiss and the court can't deny the dismissal.

Can he do this? I mean can he re-file the same thing and the courts grant it?? I looked it up online and our case says Disposition: voluntary dismissal. So it's just over?

Among a host of other problems with your skimpy postings you haven't made it clear what it is that your attorney filed with the court on your behalf. (Not mention leaving us to guess what relief the petitioner was requesting.)

In any event, something had to have been filed on your behalf in response to "his petition" or the case would not have been set for an evidentiary trial in March.

You say that you "spent a lot of money to get some sort of custody arrangement and child support for the kids". But the only thing you mention as having been filed by your lawyer is an "an agreement about paying for daycare" which is perplexing because even if such an agreement was reached and in a condition to be submitted for approval by the court it leaves unresolved (at least for purposes here and us to also guess as to) the petitioner's legal responsibilities with respect to the children.

The mystery here lies with the fact that the case could not have been set for trial unless the pleadings or file record (meaning the father's petition and your response thereto and/or a counter petition) somehow defined substantive issues in dispute between you and the father concerning the children. And if you had file something disputing whatever the father was seeking by way of his petition and were seeking affirmative relief on your behalf (for which you spent a lot of money) his petition might have been dismissed, but your demands would remain before the court.

However, the fact that as you indicate the case itself has been dismissed can only mean that you have failed to seek any positive relief from the court respecting the "petitioner" legal responsibilities towards the children. And I will add IF ANY because you have yet to identify the "petitioner" as the father.

In sum it sadly appears that the father of the children has yet to be ordered to fulfill his legal obligations with respect to the maintenance and support of the children, Moreover that in pursuing these goals you have been poorly represented by your lawyer. I strongly urge you go seek more competent representation and inquire as to the likelihood of the father being ordered to help defray your legal expenses.

Good luck

 

[kepp81]

@Litigator22 My lawyer filed a response and we've been to court so many times. There's been a lot of back and forth. We had a short hearing where we got temporary orders a couple months ago. We then filed an agreement outside the temp orders where he'd agreed to help pay for daycare.

Then he up and got the case dismissed. My lawyer filed something saying he wants the court to reconsider letting him dismiss because we asked for stuff with our response. We also asked for attorney fees. I can't afford to keep going at this rate and I'm afraid we're trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube now that it's dismissed.I mean it's too late to change that right?

 

[quincy]

You should ask your lawyer about the temporary order. It could/should still be in effect.

 

[bcr229]

Do the temporary orders cover visitation, child support, or both? Also you do not need an attorney to open a child support case in Iowa, the state provides a web site with info if you want to file pro se.
https://www.iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/representing-yourself/child-support

 

[LdiJ]

Where does kepp81 say the divorce filing was dismissed?

If the divorce case was, in fact, dismissed, kepp81 needs to file for divorce herself and have a court issue another temporary order for child support, custody and the house.

Where does kepp81 say that there was a divorce at all? Kepp81 said it was a custody case...that indicates that they weren't married.

 

[LdiJ]

You should ask your lawyer about the temporary order. It could/should still be in effect.

Why do you continue to insist that temporary orders could/should still be in effect when the case was dismissed? A person cannot re-open a dismissed case to attempt to enforce temporary orders under that case. All a person can do is file a new case.

 

[quincy]

Why do you continue to insist that temporary orders could/should still be in effect when the case was dismissed? A person cannot re-open a dismissed case to attempt to enforce temporary orders under that case. All a person can do is file a new case.

First, the fact that it is a custody case does not indicate it is not a divorce case. Kepp81 has now said, however, that she and the father of her children were never married.

It appears a case was filed on child support and child custody and a trial is/was scheduled for March. The court issued a temporary support and custody order at a hearing “a couple of months ago.”

That temporary order could/should still be in effect. The situation for kepp81 and the children’s father has not changed.

Unless you know FAR more than has been related in the posts here, you know nothing more than the rest of us. And Kepp81 has not made her situation at all clear to the rest of us.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Why do you continue to insist that temporary orders could/should still be in effect when the case was dismissed? A person cannot re-open a dismissed case to attempt to enforce temporary orders under that case. All a person can do is file a new case.

The problem here is that we don't have all the information we need. The info we do have is a bit disjointed and in any event we do not have the benefit of reading the actual pleadings, motions, orders and other documents in the case. Without doing that it's not possible to say with certainty what the current state of the temporary orders. We can take a guess, but that guess might not be correct. The OP is best served asking her lawyer what the status of those orders is since her lawyer is the one familiar with all the details of the case.

 

[LdiJ]

The problem here is that we don't have all the information we need. The info we do have is a bit disjointed and in any event we do not have the benefit of reading the actual pleadings, motions, orders and other documents in the case. Without doing that it's not possible to say with certainty what the current state of the temporary orders. We can take a guess, but that guess might not be correct. The OP is best served asking her lawyer what the status of those orders is since her lawyer is the one familiar with all the details of the case.

The OP can certainly talk to her attorney about the temporary orders. However, I think that any suggestion that the temporary orders are still in effect does a serious disservice to the OP.