Why is my case taking so long?

            Going through a dissolution of marriage, or divorce can be one of the most stressful events in a person’s life.  Having to wait for orders can make that stress worse.  Judges understand that, and do their best to get your orders out as soon as possible.  In this article, you will see some of the reasons why your case may be taking longer than you think it should.

            First, every single divorce case in the state of Colorado requires that 90 days pass from the beginning of the case until a decree is entered.  This does not mean that you will be divorced on the 90^th day after your divorce is filed, but that it cannot be any sooner than that.  The 90 day waiting period starts the day the case is filed if you file the divorce action as a Co-Petitioner with your spouse, or on the date that your spouse is served, or waives service if not.  This may add some additional time to your waiting period if you are not able to get your spouse served right away.

            Once your waiting period starts, the next step is getting the matter set for hearing.  The type of hearing you set, and the length of hearing factors into how long it takes to have the matter heard by a judge or magistrate.  If you have resolved all of your issues, you may set a non-contested hearing in front of a magistrate, which will get set sooner than a contested matter.  If there are contested matters, the longer the hearing may affect how soon your matter is heard.

            Unfortunately, the number of cases and the amount of time a judge or magistrate is in Court may make it difficult for you to get a hearing date as soon as you would like.  There are also deadlines in certain types of matters, such as criminal cases, or restraining orders that give those types of cases priority over a dissolution case.  This means that those priority cases may be set sooner than your case, or that type of case may cause your case to get continued to a later date.

            If you have filed a specific type of motion in your case, you may be wondering why the judge has not ruled on it.  One factor may be that the response time has not passed.  Most motions require that a waiting period of fifteen days (plus a few extra days for mailing time) pass before a judge or magistrate can even rule on the motion.  This waiting period is to allow the other side to respond.  If a response is filed, a reply time of ten days is also required. 

            Judges and magistrates then have to balance the amount of time they are in court with the review of the motions that are received.  While in Court, the judge or magistrate must be focused on the hearing, and must wait until they are out of court to rule on written motions, which may cause some delay.

            Errors on the motions may also cause a delay.  A common error in a motion is a failure to fill out the “Certificate of Mailing” which certifies that the person who filed the motion has mailed a copy to the other side.  If the certificate of mailing is incomplete, or if the address that the motion as mailed to is not the address the Court has in the file, the motion may not be ruled upon until the Court is satisfied the other person has gotten a copy of the motion.

            Once the hearing is held, judges and magistrates try very hard to rule on your motions that day while you are in court.  This is not always possible.  Reasons for a judge not ruling during your hearing include not having sufficient time to make the ruling before the next matter is scheduled to be heard,  the judge needing to do additional research, or perhaps the judge has not been able to make a final decision on a difficult issue without additional time. 

            Court staff keep track of motions and deadlines and along with the judicial officers work to make sure that your cases move through the system as efficiently as possible.  If your case has not been ruled upon, it may be for any of the reasons stated above.  Each case is very important, and judicial officers recognize this.  If you have questions regarding your specific case, if none of the information above describes your information, you may contact the court directly.  You should understand, however, that court clerks cannot give legal advice, and you cannot talk to the judicial office assigned to your case.  You may also consider contacting a lawyer for further assistance.