Common Deadlines Prior to Custody Trial

In part one I went over that six weeks before your custody trial you are checking your calendar, checking the judge's minute entries, checking the rules and checking your deadlines. You are making sure you have everything calendared and everything is disclosed.  And you are looking ahead at the deadlines that are coming up prior to trial. Two common deadlines are giving your exhibits to the clerk for marking and the pre-trial statement. 

Giving Your Exhibits to the Clerk for Marking

In Arizona, you must provide your exhibits prior to trial. However, I can only speak for Arizona.  In some states, the rules might be that the judge marks the exhibits on the day of the trial. This is why it is important for you to check your local rules. 

The Pre-Trial Statement

In Arizona, a pre-trial statement is required. The pre-trial statement is where you give the judge a preview of the things that you agree on and a...

Generally speaking, this is what I am doing 6 weeks prior to a custody trial.  It's important to remember that deadlines differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In part one, I'm going to talk about checking your local rules, reading the judge’s minute entries, calendaring deadlines, and the difference between disclosing exhibits and exchanging exhibits. 

Check Your Local, State or Country Custody Rules 

It is so important that you look at your local rules for important requirements and deadlines.  These will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  For example, in Arizona, a pre-trial statement is required by the courts but in other states, it is not a requirement. We will actually delve into pre-trial statements in Part two.  

Read Your Judge's Minute Entries

These are the minute entries for the judge setting trial. It's important for you to look at that minute entry where the judge sets trial and to calendar it. In...

At a very young age, my grandmother gave me some sage advice about lying. She told me that if I was  going to be a liar, I'd better have a good memory. Why? Well, because I would have to keep track of all the lies I'd told so as not to get caught.

OK, OK. I have to admit - I've lied before. Even to important people in my life. Please don't judge. I'm human. I'm guessing that if you're anything like me (a human), you've lied, too. I've realized that it's usually a lot easier to just tell the damn truth.

Telling the truth doesn't always happen. Believe it or not, it doesn't always happen EVEN in the courtroom. Yes. People lie ALL. THE. TIME. Even on the stand.

I see it. I hear it. I can't believe it.

It might seem like common sense advice ("don't lie"), but I just finished a custody trial where the opposing party (a law enforcement officer) was subjected to an internal affairs investigation at work - for lying. When she got on the stand, that's the first thing I...