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what does it mean when a custody case goes to trial?

sandy1234's picture

Submitted by sandy1234 on Thu, 02/21/2013 - 1:13am

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Family Court

I was just wondering and cannot find any info on the internet right now. What does it mean? I thought that everything goes to a hearing for custody. And my SOS case, there is no mediator. BM is not going to negotiate with us so we thought that going to trial means that we would be presenting it to the original judge for his case. What does it mean? Am I correct?

doll faced sm's picture

Submitted by doll faced sm on Thu, 02/21/2013 - 6:53am

In my DH state, if one of the parents does not show up, the other automatically gets everything they ask for. The judge looks at it as if the non-attending parent agrees with everything the attending parent is saying.

-BUT-

As with all legal situations, you should look at the laws and precedents in *your* state.

ETA: My dh's state of legal residence is GA.

Orange County Ca's picture

Submitted by Orange County Ca on Fri, 02/22/2013 - 6:41am

You're confused over 'Hearing' and 'Trial'. A hearing is required in all cases of divorce. If one side does not contest,, complain or doesn't even show up then the judge just approves the application for divorce unless he sees something way out of line.

A trial is held when the parties disagree and the judge is asked to hear both sides and make a decision. The trial is in effect the hearing.