Family law cases can be long and exhausting due to the parties’ request for temporary orders from the court. Temporary orders can be obtained on any family law issue, including child custody, visitation, child support and spousal support. If you want to obtain a temporary order or want to challenge a temporary order, it is important that you speak with a Wallin & Klarich family law attorney who can review your case and provide you with the right legal advice.
What is a Temporary Order?
During a family law proceeding, many temporary orders can be made. The purpose of a temporary support order is to maintain the living situations and standards of the parties while awaiting the final disposition in the case—a judgment. Moreover, a temporary support order is based on necessity and is not a final decision of any of the issues in the case.
For example, when a mother files a request for order during a divorce case and asks for child support, essentially the mother is requesting that the family law court make a temporary order for child support. The temporary order is to have the father pay the mother child support in order for her to be able to maintain the living conditions and standards for the parties’ children.
When Do Temporary Orders Expire?
“A temporary support order terminates upon entry of a permanent support order” (IRMO Hamer (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 715, 717-718; IRMO Horowitz (1984) 1059 Cal.App.3d 377, 380). A permanent support order is an order made in a judgment. When judgment orders have been made and entered by the court, it means that the orders contained in the judgment are final and can only be modified under certain circumstances.
Therefore, if you currently have a temporary order and want that order to continue, it is important that you request that the temporary order be included in your final judgment. Many parties to a family law case incorrectly believe their temporary order is a final order, such as the woman in a recent unpublished case heard by the California Court of Appeal.
In that case, a wife claimed that a temporary order requiring her husband to “pay for four years of undergraduate education at a certified university of the child’s choice at the rate of a school in the UC system in California as well as book and living expenses so long as the child is a full time student taking at least 14 units per semester and maintaining a G.P.A. of at least 2.5” was a final order.
Unfortunately for the wife, this order was made as per a stipulation and was never incorporated into the final judgment in her case. Thus, when she sought to have the temporary court order enforced against her husband, the family law court denied her request. The court stated that the college expense provision was not enforceable because it was a temporary order that had not been incorporated into the final judgment.
How Wallin & Klarich Can Help You
If you are currently seeking temporary orders or have temporary orders in place and want to finalize your family law proceeding, you need to speak with a skilled family law attorney at Wallin & Klarich. We have been practicing family law for over 30 years and our family law attorneys have the experience and knowledge to help you obtain temporary orders and ensure that your judgment is drafted correctly before being filed and entered by the court.
With offices in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, Victorville, West Covina, Torrance and Sherman Oaks, we can help you no matter where you are located. Call us at (888) 749-7428. We will be there when you call.
