Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
No Final Orders
I have been in a custody battle for almost 2 years now. Every time we get to the final orders my ex refuses to sign the final orders. Because we do not have final orders the court will not do the pay garnishment for the child support. So, he never pays the child support. We are 2 weeks away from having our case dismissed. We have tried mediation. We have had 3 sets of temporary orders. I am tired of going to court. What happens if our case is dismissed? Does he have no legal right to her (we were never married but a paternity test is on file), and will not have to pay child support? Or will we have to abide by the last set of temporary orders?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: No Final Orders
I assume that you do not have an attorney by the comments that you made. An attorney would have likely been able to wrap this up long ago.
If the case is dismissed, then it completely goes away, including any temporary orders. If the orders were never signed by a judge, then they are not effective anyway; I can't tell by your post whether you really have temporary orders or not, but it sounds as if you do not.
If the case is dismissed, it can be filed again, but that is a lot of trouble and unecessary expense. You should contact an attorney immediately to help you wrap this up. You MAY be able to collect child support going back to the date of separation if there are no current final orders.
Re: No Final Orders
If your case is dismissed for want of prosecution, the temporary orders will terminate once the order of dismissal becomes final.
The status will become as if the case had not been filed.
The cure for this problem is a trial. Have the case set for trial and it will not be dismissed for want of prosecution, and following a trial a final judgment can be entered without consent from the other side.
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