What are temporary orders in a Louisville divorce? Once your divorce case is filed and all parties are “before the Court” one of the first orders of business is usually a request to establish temporary or interim child custody and parenting time, as well as child support and maintenance payments. The primary purpose behind temporary orders is often the desire to maintain what is legally known as the “status quo” between the parties until every matter within the divorce has been resolved.
What was the standard of living enjoyed by the parties during the term of the marriage? Is the financial playing field between the former spouses in balance or does the Court need to provide orders to make sure each party has sufficient resources to manage the process of divorce?
It is important to understand, from the outset of your divorce, that the time it will take to complete your divorce and the associated cost are directly related to (a) the amount of disagreement between you and your former spouse and (b) your ability to resolve these areas of disagreement and reach a settlement.
Temporary orders in a Louisville divorce can be roughly translated to “while the divorce is in process,” or “until the Court issues final orders on the matter.” Temporary orders are significant due to the fact that, in most cases, the process of resolving every aspect of the average divorce in our area will require at least six months and can often last longer than a year in the Louisville region.
Your divorce cannot be completed until every issue associated with the divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, as well as the division of marital property including the division of retirement accounts and the equity of any business or professional practice has been completely resolved. This is why it makes such a difference to contact the experienced Louisville family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd as early in the process as possible, or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with a divorce attorney with decades of experience.
Kentucky’s child support guidelines are designed to make sure the children are provided with the resources to maintain a standard of living as close as possible to what they are used to. Kentucky family law clearly establishes this is in the best interest of the child(ren). While the child support guideline can involve multiple factors, the initial and long-term calculation of guideline child support is straight forward.
Maintenance, often called spousal support or alimony, is much less of a clearly defined calculation under Kentucky family law. Temporary maintenance is frequently higher than final or “permanent” orders. The Judge must consider multiple issues including, but not limited to, the length of the marriage (was it more than 10 years?), the income of each former spouse and the economic standard of living before the filing of the divorce. The Court will consider the health of each party as well as the likelihood of self-sustainable and viable employment.
Temporary orders in a Louisville divorce are one of the first areas for potential disagreement in a Louisville divorce and it is important to be prepared for this process. These decisions are not necessarily formulaic, and each side has the opportunity to present evidence to support or rebut the “best interests of the child(ren)” as well as actual realistic need. This is why the selection of your divorce attorney really matters. There are factors that go into the decision of whether or not it is important to file first. It is also important to note the importance of filing a timely and comprehensive response to any service of divorce papers in the Louisville area. The failure to respond will often result in the Court agreeing to the temporary orders requested by the petitioner.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
