How Can Temporary Orders Help During A Divorce?

Choosing to start the process of getting divorced in Texas can be complex and emotional.

What can also be difficult is knowing how to move ahead with things like your living situation, dividing up marital property, and even child custody questions when the divorce procedure has been initiated.

Depending on your ability to cohabitate and negotiate with your spouse, your divorce attorney might suggest filing for temporary orders.

When suggested by divorce lawyers, temporary orders can provide an important set of rules for both spouses to follow while the negotiating is taking place and until the final divorce is granted.

What Is A Temporary Order?

A temporary order is a document that outlines a set of rules that spouses must follow while they each work with their respective divorce lawyers to negotiate a final divorce agreement.

These orders outlining each spouse’s expected behavior during the process can be written and agreed upon by the spouses and their divorce attorneys or requested by a spouse and issued by a judge.

What Can Temporary Orders Cover?

Temporary orders provide instructions to both spouses and their lawyers regarding many factors that must be dealt with while the divorce process that will last at least 60 days and many times longer is underway:

Separation and the Living Situation - Since there is no legal separation in Texas, spouses often argue over who will stay in the family home and who must leave. According to divorce lawyers, temporary orders identify living situations based on what is best for the involved spouses and children until the process is complete.
Financial Orders - A divorce lawyer may recommend that spouses get temporary orders to determine how the family’s bills are to be paid until the divorce is final or to establish spending limits to prevent spouses from taking on more debt.
Child Custody and Visitation - When tensions are flaring and parents cannot agree on which parent the kids will live with and how visitation and parental rights will be conducted, temporary custody orders can be issued to cover all of this until permanent orders are discussed and agreed upon.
Protection of Property and Evidence - Another critical detail that temporary orders cover is protecting the evidence and marital property that must be legally dispersed through negotiation with divorce attorneys. Spouses may not destroy, sell, or otherwise disperse property out of spite or simply to try to gain financially on their own or destroy any evidence that may be used in court to determine property distribution and other points of the divorce agreement.

When Should A Temporary Order Be Used?

Temporary orders are not required when getting divorced; however, a divorce lawyer may recommend filing for orders during a contested divorce if the two spouses cannot agree on matters until the divorce has been finalized and there is a decree for them to follow.

Lawyers sometimes also recommend filing for temporary orders if there is a question about how the finances should be handled until the divorce is final, when childcare is an issue, if spouses believe there is the risk that credit card debt might be intentionally run up, or if the divorce is an at-fault filing and it is essential that important evidence be protected for the hearing.

Talk To A Divorce Lawyer About Temporary Orders

While many spouses can get through their divorces without too much difficulty, there are times when divorce lawyers see spouses who are so at odds that some direction from the court is necessary so the process can continue.

Whether that involves who has to move out of the family home before it is sold, who pays which bills, or which parent will be designated as the custodial parent of children until a more permanent agreement can be made, temporary orders can help.

Anyone dealing with this kind of disagreement early on in the divorce process should talk to their divorce attorney about filing temporary orders in an effort to keep the divorce process on track by setting some helpful rules early in the proceeding.