In our previous two series, we’ve gone over how to file for divorce, and how to file for temporary orders. Now for the Case Schedule.

If you’ve filed for divorce (or just about any lawsuit) in King County, one of the documents the clerk handed you was your Case Schedule.  The Case Schedule sets out a number of important and not-so-important events and deadlines that you need to be familiar with throughout the course of your case, from the day the Summons and Petition for Dissolution are filed, until the day your trial is scheduled.

Think of your Case Schedule as not only a schedule, but also a to-do list, as your Case Schedule tells you not only what’s going to happen over the course of your divorce but also what you need to do to keep your case on track.

If you want to learn more about the events found on your schedule, consult the King County Local court rules (especially KCLR 4).  Helpfully, your own Case Schedule will even tell you what rules are applicable to each deadline or event in your case.   However, even after reading your case schedule and the rules the apply to it, you may end up with more questions than answers.  The rules are dense and difficult.

Worst of all, some deadlines (such as the discovery cutoff) are critically important and others (such as the confirmation of issues) just require you to go to a hearing to get you back on track if you miss the deadline. The Case Schedule, however, doesn’t always tell you the consequences for missing various deadlines.

But we will.

In this series we’ll go over a typical Case Schedule for divorces with children, including:

1.  Case Filed and Schedule Issued

2.  Affidavit (Return) of Service or Confirmation of Service

3.  Confirmation of Issues

4.  Hearing Motions to Change Case Assignment Area

5.  Status Conference

6.  Other Important Deadlines (such as the discovery cutoff date)

7.   Trial Date

Like our previous articles on filing for divorce and temporary orders, we’re going to provide information on each individual component of a temporary orders motion in bite sized chunks, one post at a time, about once a week.

To start with, click here to see a sample case schedule.