Connecticut Divorce 101

After the return date, your attorney can advocate for your best interests by filing requests with the court. These requests may be resolved by agreement or may require a hearing in front of the Judge. Such requests can be for alimony, bill payments, child custody, visitation, or other matters that should be addressed right away. Such Orders last for the period of the divorce proceedings until final judgment.  There are a number of  “standard” pendite lite motions which every divorce attorney files.  Many attorneys will customize these motions to fit your case.  If you have been served with a divorce, you may also have been served with these motions.  When you come for your free initial appointment, we will go over those motions with you and explain them all.

A Case Management Date, is not a date upon which the parties must appear in court unless they are disputing custody of their children. Instead, it is a date by which they must file a Case Management Agreement with the court, which is a form notifying the court about the status of the case and scheduling plans.   It is usually set by the clerk at 90 days after the return date.  It is often also the earliest date by which spouses can proceed with an uncontested final hearing and obtain their divorce. Frequently, mediated and collaborative divorces are settled and ready for an uncontested final hearing by the Case Management Date.

Collaborative divorce is a legal process enabling couples who have decided to separate or end their marriage to work with their lawyers and, on occasion, other family professionals (like guardians for the minor children of the family) in order to avoid the uncertain outcome of court and to achieve a settlement that best meets the specific needs of both parties and their children without the underlying threat of litigation. The voluntary process is initiated when the couple signs a contract (called the “participation agreement”), binding each other to the process and disqualifying their respective lawyer’s right to represent either one in any future family related litigation. This means that the lawyer you retain to work with you on a collaborative divorce cannot handle your case if it falls apart and a lawsuit for divorce is initiated. No matter what, in Connecticut, the law regarding a divorce still requires a judge to preside over the divorce and issue a judgment. A collaborative divorce, however, can resolve all the issues prior to the court proceedings and make the court process smoother and less expensive.

If you would like to discuss a divorce, whether it be agreed or a battle, we can help. Please contact us for a free initial consultation.

This Guide, authored by Lady Divorce, Attorney Marissa Bigelli, breaks down the parts of a divorce complaint, so the non-lawyer can understand what each portion means.  The divorce process starts with a complaint like this, and often the defendant in a divorce doesn’t know how to interpret the words and doesn’t already have a lawyers they can call.  Feel free to review this informative packet, and contact either LadyDivorce or Attorney Reiland for help.  Click here to download in pdf format:  Understanding a Connecticut Divorce Complaint – What it all means.

It’s a nice, sunny summer afternoon.  You are sitting at home and your spouse is out running errands.  The doorbell rings.  Some stranger hands you a bunch of paperwork and it all comes crashing down.  If you are served with paperwork for a divorce DO NOT PANIC. Although most people are aware that they may be served, it is still somewhat of a shock to receive this type of paperwork.   Being handled divorce paperwork is stressful, but you can take certain steps to get yourself ready for the next few months – which don’t have to be torture.  First, you must take an inventory of your assets and liabilities immediately because your spouse may have been taking inventory well in advance of serving you with your divorce paperwork.  Next, contact us – by online chat or a call, so we can sit down with you and talk about what the next steps are.  Seeing your name as “defendant” can be scary and disappointing, but its not a judgment on who you are as a person – it is just necessary because that is how the courts work.

Thinking about relocating out of the state with your child or children? Will such a move impact the other parent’s visitation schedule?

Relocating with children after or during a divorce carries a very high burden of proof. In most situations parents share joint legal custody of the minor child, meaning they both have the right to make decisions that affect the child’s life. If the other parent to the child currently lives in the same state as the minor child and is accustomed to seeing the child on a frequent and/or regular basis, the court will require the relocating parent to show several elements as to why relocating is in both you and your child’s best interest. Expect your ex-spouse to object to your request to move. Typically a hearing as to why you are considering moving with the child will be held if the parties cannot reach an agreement. The relocating parent must demonstrate that the move will somehow benefit you and the child, whether that be financial, family, schooling, or some other valid reason. Such benefit must outweigh the idea of staying where you currently live.

The key to relocating with children during or after a final divorce is receiving the Court’s approval. Courts generally do not want to remove a parent from a child’s life or make it more difficult for the other parent to see the child. You should consult an attorney prior to preparing to file for a relocation as there are many steps to overcoming such a burden. If you are serious about relocating, the relocation process should be handled thoroughly from the beginning.

In DeMaria v. DeMaria, 247 Conn. 715 (Feb. 16, 1999), the Supreme Court (Katz, J.) ruled that a provision to terminate alimony in the event of a recipient’s cohabitation must be interpreted in conjunction with the requirements of Conn. Gen. Stats. Section 46b-86(b). The statute allows the court to modify an alimony order on grounds that the recipient is “living with another person” only if the new living arrangement causes a change of circumstances so as to alter the financial needs of that party. The Supreme Court ruled that a trial court must evaluate the financial impact of the living arrangement regardless of the terms of the separation agreement and decree. A party seeking modification upon the ground of cohabitation must therefore plead and prove “altered financial needs.”

Basically, if your ex is now living with someone and you suspect they are getting financial support from them, your alimony can be reduced.  Please contact us for more information about getting a post-judgement alimony modification

Thanks to television, movies and the Internet, the picture of a Police Officer or Private Investigator sitting for monotonous hours on surveillance is one with which we’re all familiar. In marriage dissolutions, those hours can pay dividends in terms of finding out the truth about a cheating spouse.

I have twenty-three years of Police experience – including seventeen as a Detective – and eleven more years as a licensed Private Investigator in CT. During those years, I’ve spent a great deal of time doing surveillances, particularly in divorce cases. It’s been my experience that intuition and instinct play a huge role when it’s time for you to decide whether or not you might want the services of a P.I. to ‘catch’ your significant other: if your ‘gut’ tells you that something is amiss, it usually is.

I have a number of associates who work with me on surveillances; I only employ former FBI Agents and Police Officers. There is no substitute for old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground, grind-it-out surveillances, but there are a few key points to consider.

1. Trying to accomplish a successful surveillance with ONE investigator poses a risk to squander the client’s money. It’s much more effective with two or more operatives, since the chances of “losing” the subject of the surveillance is very high when one person alone tries to do it.
2. The use of GPS-type tracking devices is a myth many P.I.’s proffer to clients as a viable tool: in most cases, it’s illegal or unethical, with certain exceptions.
3. I provide either video or photographic evidence, and a picture IS worth a thousand words.
4. Unless you’re engaging the services of a P.I. simply to satisfy your own “need to know, for myself,” another myth about surveillance is that “catching” your significant other in a tryst after a legal separation has taken place has a significant impact on your court case: in most cases, it doesn’t once the couple has separated and are living apart.

In addition to surveillance, Barrett Investigations, LLC provides detailed ‘research’ via complex databases, access to computer forensics experts (when it’s legal to do so: there are certain rules), and clear, timely, and thorough written reports. More over, when the time arrives for court testimony, I and my associates have vast experience testifying.

If you think that the services of a licensed Private Investigator are what you need, please feel free to contact me through the Attorney Reiland. I will sit down with you and tailor an investigative plan for you, that takes into account your budget, and the initial consultation is at no charge.

Michael Barrett

Most people are law abiding citizens and follow court orders. If your spouse disobeys the court order (for example, the orders about custody, visitation, child support payments, health insurance, or selling property), you may ask the court to help enforce the order. You may first want to try to talk to your spouse and work out the problem. You may also ask a family relations counselor at your local court to help you try to mediate or solve the problem.

If you cannot work out the problem, you may ask a judge to enforce a court order by filing a written motion for contempt. A motion is a request in writing. Contempt is a court decision that someone disobeyed a court order on purpose. There is a Motion for Contempt ( JD-FM-173), which can be obtained from any Judicial District clerk’s office.