30 days response to Motion to change not met

[JSR40]

Hi there,
I served a Motion to change to the Respondent (children's mother) on January 21st 2014. I am representing myself.

Within the Motion, I am seeking a change in custody, a change in child support payment (amount based on CS guidelines) and some other misc issues to resolve.

She hired a lawyer to negotiate a settlement but was only agreeing to the support amount. I sent an offer to settle to her lawyer on Feb 12th and no responses to date.

The 30 days has past since serving her the documents. My questions are:
1) can she still serve me with her response after the deadline and if so, will the Court entertain her response?
2) if she mailed the documentation and i haven't received it within the 30 days, is that considered as being ok? Any considerations for stat holidays?

I am ready to move further and file the Motion (form 14b and 25) based on non response, no consent. Is the Court lenient on the 30 days?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[Tayken]

The 30 days has past since serving her the documents. My questions are:

1) can she still serve me with her response after the deadline and if so, will the Court entertain her response?

Yes, the court will allow late service generally. The court will "entertain" her responses. You need to realize you are dealing with custody and access and the courts will bend backwards to both parties to insure the matters are heard from both parties.

2) if she mailed the documentation and i haven't received it within the 30 days, is that considered as being ok? Any considerations for stat holidays?

Mail is proper service. But, she has to prove service so you shouldn't worry about it. She will have to prove she sent it by regular post. I wish they didn't allow service by regular post as there is no record of delivery. It is general post and delivery is not guarenteed. Service should be done in person or by courier.

You won't win a custody and access decision on a technical issue such as late service ever... So, put that out of your mind now and focus on scheduling the next hearing / conference in the matter. More than likely, like 90% of these things the other party will show up with the documentation in hand and the court will permit it.

I am ready to move further and file the Motion (form 14b and 25) based on non response, no consent. Is the Court lenient on the 30 days?

Very lenient. But, filing the motion and serving the notice of motion will get them to respond for sure. Because their non-response in a timely manner may have them paying you costs.

Good Luck!
Tayken