Bellenot & Boufford, LLC

COVID-19 AND FAMILY COURT CHANGES – 4/17/2020

SIMPLIFIED ACCESS TO COURTS FOR RESTRAINING ORDER APPLICATIONS:

The judicial branch, like all of us, is still working to navigate through this pandemic.  Up until recently, the courts were only addressing Priority 1 matters.  One of those types of matters is processing Temporary Restraining Orders (TRO’s).  In order to apply for a TRO,  an applicant normally has to go to the court to file and sign the paperwork.  In an effort to reduce the need for applicants to go to the courthouse, the courts recently made a procedural change.  TRO’s can now be filed remotely.  They can be faxed or emailed directly to the court.  Although the obligation to be truthful still exists, a notarized signature swearing to the validity of the allegations/claims is no longer required.  For forms emailed, a typed name takes the place of the applicant’s signature.

For those in need of immediate protection, this simplified process is a great benefit.

Go to  https://jud.ct.gov/remote_restrain.htm For the forms and further information.

ADDITIONAL FAMILY MATTERS WILL BE PROCESSED REMOTELY STARTING 4/20/2020:

The courts have also decided to address some Non-Priority 1 matters as a way to start handling some of the backlog that has been created by this health crisis.  These will be handled remotely (no court appearance) and include:

• Ordering Temporary Agreements for pending cases;
• Approval of joint petition for non-adversarial divorce (paper divorce);
• Withdrawal of action;
• QDRO’s (retirement account division); and
• CMA for uncontested matters.

While this is helpful to some, most family matters are still prevented from moving forward with Court involvement at this time.  Mediation is still an available avenue for addressing pending issues.  Further, attorneys can and should continue to work on non-court issues to resolve matters and move cases forward.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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