Temporary Orders in divorce are used to resolve some of the issues on a temporary basis. Some of these issues are child support, visitation, use of primary residence, spousal maintenance, issuing temporary injunctions (or items that a party is refrained from doing) necessary or any other matters that need a temporary resolution until the divorce is finalized.
Some counties have Standing Orders which are similar to Temporary Orders. In these counties, the standing orders become the Order of the court after a set period of time until the divorce is finalized unless one or both parties contests the standing orders or need additional relief. In these counties, the opposing party to the divorce is served with the Original Petition, Citation and the Standing Orders.
In counties that do not have standing orders, if your case requires temporary orders, your Petition for Divorce will typically include a Temporary Restraining Order which sets out the way the parties should act with regard to each other and their children as well as how to handle their finances until the Temporary Orders hearing occurs.
Some Court will require you to attend mediation before having a temporary orders hearing in a divorce. In those cases you will either work out a resolution prior to mediation or you will have to attend mediation and try to resolve the issues before the hearing occurs. If you cannot resolve the issues in mediation then you will proceed to a Temporary Orders hearing.
Often times at the Temporary Orders hearing a resolution will be reached outside the courtroom and a hearing will not be necessary. If a hearing is required, then you should have the following information ready to present to the Judge:
You should discuss with your attorney how you should dress for your hearing.