Swanson O'Dell

Our office will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to allow our hard working staff a well-earned break. We will re-open on Monday the 28th. We wish you a Merry Christmas and appreciate your understanding.

The holidays are not easy in joint custody situations. Here are some tips to get you through.

KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT UPDATE There are changes coming to family law and probate as of tomorrow (Wednesday, December 16th). All hearings will be conducted via Zoom. There will be exceptions for those who are in pro per (acting as their own attorney) and cannot afford the necessary technology to appear remotely. There is a new link on the court website which you will need to use to be routed to the correct department. This order does not have an end date, currently, and it... will probably be in place until the San Joaquin section of the state frees up 15% ICU space and is no longer under the current restrictions. If you have an attorney, you should speak to them about what this means for your upcoming hearings. There are some matters that can be done over Zoom, and others that will be extremely difficult. You should anticipate delays. In addition, because there will no longer be an opportunity to negotiate and work out agreements at the courthouse, it is very important to engage in settlement discussions in advance. The more issues you can resolve before your hearing, the more likely it will be that the judge will have the time and ability to address the unresolved ones. Preparation and discussions in advance are going to be key in the next coming months. If you're frustrated by these events, please know that EVERYONE is frustrated; clients, attorneys, judges, court staff, bailiffs. This is hard on everyone, and it is difficult to make decisions that balance the safety of everyone involved in the court system and the need to have cases decided and rulings made. The trial system was not meant to be used remotely, and current technology only goes so far. We will try to update here as things change, but this is likely to be the system for the next month or so.

Court update: The Kern County Superior Court remains open for Family Law matters. However, if you have a long-cause matter set in the afternoon, there is a good chance it will not be going forward right now. Family law cases have been scheduled throughout the day, instead o only at 8:30 and 1:30 as in the past, in order to reduce the number of people in the courthouse at the same time.... This policy has resulted in visibly less foot traffic and crowding in the hallways and courtrooms, and less exposure risk for litigants, attorneys, and judges. The courthouse is simply not large enough to allow for social distancing with full case loads. Parties are urged to continue to work out resolutions to cases with their attorneys to avoid delays and keep from overloading the system. If you're headed to court, make sure to bring your mask, as they are required for entry into the courthouse and must be worn once inside.

Headed to a court appearance? Bring a mask.

The courts continue to open. However, cases are being staggered, so make sure to check what time your hearing is scheduled to start.

CHANGES TO COURT OPERATIONS Beginning May 4th, the Kern County Superior Court will begin hearing many kinds of cases that have been on hold, including family law hearings and trials. Social distancing will be in effect as much as possible, and the court is issuing staggered start times to calendars to reduce the amount of people in the courthouse at one time. Access to the courthouse will remain restricted to parties, attorneys, and witnesses for contested hearings. Some depa...rtments will not be fully open due to temporary reassignment of some judicial officers, and the Department of Child Support Services will remain closed through May 15th. You should check to make sure your hearing is going forward and has not been rescheduled before going to court. Our office is now accepting and filing new family law matters. If you would like to meet with an attorney, you may schedule and appointment with our office for urgent matters. Non-urgent matters will remain phone appointments only. We will continue to use technology as much as possible to draft and file your paperwork. The clerk's office will not be fully staffed at this time, so there will be delays in getting documents back from the court as well as getting court dates, but things will be moving forward again and the backlog will be worked through as quickly as the courts and clerks are able to.

MODIFICATION OF CHILD AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT DURING COVID-19 What do you do if you've lost work or income but can't get into court to modify your support because the court is closed? Well, up until now, the answer has been "you're basically out of luck, but you can file a motion and hope the court will put it on calendar months out instead of rejecting it." Now we have an answer! Emergency Rule 13 regarding support has been approved, which states, in summary, that you can now se...rve or mail an unfiled request to modify support and have the order made retroactively to the date of the service or mailing. You then have to re-serve the the motion when it is actually filed, but the retroactive jurisdiction goes back to the original date. There are, of course, technical rules to be followed. You can view the entire rule here: https://jcc.legistar.com/View.ashx

The most recent press release from the Kern County Superior Court: nothing unexpected. The real question is whether or not the courts will remain mostly closed into May. We believe that will happen, although it is not guaranteed, but that the announcement will be delayed until the statistics from next week are available. If you have jury duty in the next two months, make sure to check the court's website. There are instructions for each report date.

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE FOR EX PARTE ORDERS Since ex parte emergency custody/visitation hearings are some of the very few hearings which are proceeding in family law courts, some specific questions have come up regarding what can be filed and what orders the courts are considering. Some of the questions are beginning to have answers. 1. True emergency hearings are proceeding as normal. Some additional guidance has been issued by the presiding judge of Los Angeles County, who rece...ntly stated that while ex parte hearings have always been for emergency issues only, attorneys and parties should evaluate very carefully to make sure it is an actual emergency before filing an ex parte. They are not to be used as a substitute for other hearings. 2. Ex parte hearings regarding safety of minors based only on COVID-19 have been almost universally denied without additional factors. What this means is that you cannot refused to send children for visitation based on not wanting them to be exposed to COVID. Some parents have felt that the other parent does not do a good job isolating or keeping away from exposure. Courts have found this NOT to be good grounds for changing custody or visitation orders. 3. Courts ARE granting orders if needed when long-distance travel is involved, meaning travel between states or travel involving flying. In all cases, you need to look at all the factors involved, whether or not there is a true emergency. An offer to move visitation to a different time should ALWAYS be made before coming to court to ask for a change in orders based on COVID and travel related issues.