We Didn't File Form 14C - Court Date Tomorrow!

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#1StepMom

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Does anyone know what happens if you don't file Form 14C: Confirmation of Attendance? I just read in the "Guide to Procedures in Family Court" that Form 14C must be filed by moving party (us) no later than 2pm two days prior to the court date.

Our court date is tomorrow.

We were at the courthouse on Friday morning filing some updated forms, and asked the court clerk if there was anything else we needed for file prior to tomorrow's court date. She told us there wasn't.

Can anyone tell me exactly how important it is to file this form?

Is there anything that can/should be done?
 
From what I've read, most lawyers don't even bother to file it. I did simply because I wanted to keep all my ducks in a row to begin with. I don't think it's a huge issue when even lawyers ignore it as well.
 
I just checked to see how your court date went, and noticed my reply to you has been removed(or it didn't post properly).

Anywho, I mentioned that it is indeed a very important document. You have to file 14C so the judge knows what tabs of your file to read for the motion day. It is very important as he will only take the volume home with the tabs that you list on the 14C form. If you don't list the tabs, the judge won't read them. I think lots of times the judge does not read ahead of time-too lazy, think they already know what the file is about etc.

It is the court staff that pull the volumes after 2pm two days prior to your date for the judge to take home.

I hope that the judge went easy on you, knowing you are self-represented. Although I spent three days out of 7 in the last week at court for my case with my ex and I did not receive a fair day. I finally used the "judical bias argument" with him as I knew he could not have read my affidavit material. What do you know, he did read it after I said that!
 
Hey Independent Gal. How kind of you to remember that we had a court date today. It wasn't very exciting. It was a first appearance. My stepson's mom didn't show, and sent her lawyer instead. (Because it makes so much more sense to pay thousands in lawyer fees to fight for a couple of hundreds in child support. But, we expected no less from her.) We requested a temp order for a reduction in child support due to my fiance's unemployment, but her lawyer refused to grant it and so a date was set for a case conference... almost three months away! As usual, her lawyer did the typical stall tactics to delay the proceedings as much as possible, let alone all the intimidation tactics asking for even more money... plus costs!

We were lucky to have a very helpful and informative duty counsel. Although she couldn't officially represent my fiance, she gave us a lot of good advice, even told us to imply stop paying FRO until a new child support amount can be recalculated. After all, my fiance doesn't have any income coming in... and as the saying goes, you can't draw blood from stone. If he has no money, and we've done EVERYTHING in our power to get the order changed but the bio-mom is delaying the proceedings and dragging the process, then he shouldn't have to get loans to pay child support on an income he does not have. She simply told us to be kind and inform FRO of the situation. My fiance and I debated this advice for some time, and then realized that if FRO were garnishing straight from his income source, as they usually tend to do, then the payments would have stopped when he lost his job. So why do we feel obligated to continue paying... with MY money and money he's borrowed... when he has zero income? Makes sense, right?

While we were out there, to not waste another day, we filled out an affidavit in response to the bio-mom's response (which her lawyer served on my fiance in court) and served her lawyer before filing the paperwork.

It was a very long, frustrating, cold and wet day... and we couldn't have done it without the help of two wonderful Country Style owners who allowed us to use their back-room computer to download court forms as well as their printer to print the documents we needed to file. I really don't thank the Lord often enough for the kind-hearted and helpful people out there. Not being from that city, and being 1.5 hours from home, it's nice to know that there are people out there who will help a stranger in need. :-)
 
Wow, I am glad your court date went well.

The part about the Country Style people letting you use their computer is absolutely awesome! How incredibly nice of them.

I have a similar story from two weeks ago. I went to a lawyer for a one hour consult so she could go over my affidavit and motion form. I emailed a copy prior to my appt. to her so she could get a head start.

Anyway, she helped so much, she cancelled all her appts that day and helped me get it in on time! She lent us her laptop, her laser printer, her copier, her commissioner of oaths in office, her paper, etc. etc.:D

I was blown away.... then I went the next day to pay and my bill was 1600.00. For the day. Uh, ya ok. GRRR :mad:

Re: the child support, make sure you tell FRO, about the job, don't wait til money is even more tight before you do!
It is not a crime to lose a job. Child support is income based. Don't sweat it!
 
Wow... sounds like we have some similar experiences! I don't think I'd be able to do it without the help of strangers. Oh, and my fiance just typed up a fax to FRO which I'll be faxing first thing in the morning. ;-)
 
When my husband lost his job (plant closure) we continued to pay FRO through online banking. When his annual increase was due FRO sent notification to the employer, and of course figured out the company was gone and he was no longer working.

He promptly received a form letter from FRO stating that he was still expected to make his regular payments. This letter came 9 months after he'd lost his job, and he never missed a payment.

He was pissed to say the least. It's been 16 months now. His severance and EI have run out. He picks up odd jobs on the side when he can, and we continue to make the payments.

His ex works, but earns much less than I do. She and his daughter (14 years old) would be lost without the CS.

I've done the calculations, and considering the time and money it would cost for a reduction, I think I'd rather just make the payments than give the money to a lawyer.

I'm impressed with the people here that take on the task of representing themselves.
 
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