A significant part of a Sacramento County Family law case is preparing a motion before the judge and presenting evidence to the judge at your Family Law hearing. Parties in Sacramento County Family Law cases cannot reserve a court date before the judge unless one or both parties files a motion requesting court action. When one party files a motion, they must file it and personally serve it on the other party within 16 business days (court days) of the hearing date. If the filing party fails to do this, the Sacramento Family Law court could decline to hear the matter, drop the matter, or continue the matter to a future date. The party responding to the motion must file and personally serve a response within 9 business days. If the responding party fails to do this, the Sacramento Family Law court could proceed without reading or hearing their side of the case.
Parties also can be expected to give limited, informal testimony to the Sacramento County Family Law judge. Parties will need to ensure that they provide truthful and accurate testimony. Parties will generally not be allowed to present “surprise” evidence that was not included in their motion or response paperwork (for example, pictures, text messages, or other paper documents) out of fairness to the other party. The Sacramento Family Law judge is not interested in allowing one parent to be blindsided.
If you are involved in a Sacramento County Family Law action, and you need to file a motion, response, or prepare for court, please give us a call. We can help you understand the Sacramento County Family Law process and we offer free half-hour attorney consultations with experienced attorneys.