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How long does it take for the Judge to make a decision?

SuperrStepMom's picture

I mean this in two ways:

1) How long does Custody Court take if you have a minimal amount of witnesses but are still being fought by the other party?

2) Does the Judge make his decision right there at the end of court? I have read elsewhere that other Judge's have said "I will make my decision and you will receive notice in the mail" with no disclosed time.

First round at Custody Court so please let me know your experiences!

StepKidto3Momto3's picture

This really depends on how your local court works. You may be ordered to mediation and that takes time; one or both sides may be granted continuances; the judge may cancel a day of court due to his illness, etc, you may be 'bumped' by another case (especially if your county's divorce judges also hear more emergent types of cases (abuse, domestic violence, etc.)

Once all of your pre-trial stuff (motions, mediation, GAL, etc) is done and you are in front of the judge for the actual hearing, it will be pretty short if there are not a lot of witnesses. And, again, it depends on your county and the case whether the judge rules immediately or not.

SuperrStepMom's picture

Did your Judge make a decision right after the hearing or did he send a notice? That is mostly what I am asking for experiences on. My lawyer does not know but I wanted to ask ST users since they probably have experience in court.

SanAntonioSoccerMom's picture

It took the judge in my husband's case nearly a year to make a decision after a two hour court hearing. A ridiculous amount of time especially seeing that NOTHING changed at all. (My husband is the CP and has been for 16+ years. Deadbeat BM motioned for custody after child support caught up to her. It is amazing she could pay for an attorney but could never pay her minimal child support.) It took the Judge a year to say that nothing would change. Effing stupid. The opposing counsel motioned TWICE to force the judge to make a decision because he was going to retire and move away and wouldn't retire til the case was closed.