You and your spouse or domestic partner worked hard for the things you have. You saved your money. You spent your money. You invested. You bought things. You have stuff. You may have various insurance policies for your health, your cars, and maybe your lives. Now one or both of you want a legal separation or dissolution of marriage, or domestic partnership. One of you files a Petition for Legal Separation and/or Dissolution. Surely a mere petition won’t affect anything, right? Wrong.
The Summons and Its Legal Impact
When a petition for legal separation, dissolution, or annulment is filed with a court in California, the clerk of the court will issue a summons. This summons provides notice to the other party that a lawsuit has been filed, who the parties are, where the court is located, and whether there is an attorney involved in the case. In filing a petition, the initiating party consents to the lawful authority of the court and the orders the court may issue. Similarly, this summons, upon being served on the other side of a case, tells that party that the court now has authority to make orders against them as well.
Why You Need to Read Page 2 of the Summons
So, look closely at the summons. In fact, check out page 2 of the summons. Better yet, read page 2 of the summons; read it well. It’s pretty important. Why? Well, that’s because in filing a petition for legal separation, dissolution, or annulment, the court automatically issues temporary restraining orders against the parties to the case. These are not domestic violence restraining orders, but they are orders that restrain what you can and cannot do with your property, whether it’s your own property or property acquired before or during your marriage or domestic partnership. In brief, the summons tells you that you cannot sell, hide, conceal, transfer, dispose, and so on separate property (your own property) and community property (property acquired during marriage) unless you have a written agreement with the other party, an order of the court, or if in the usual course of a business or for the necessities of life. You and the other party also cannot “mess with” insurance policies and/or beneficiaries for you, your spouse / domestic partner, and/or children until the court permits otherwise.
These automatic temporary restraining orders are commonly just referred to as the “ATROS.”
What About My Kids, I Can Take Them On That Trip, Right?
It depends. Similar to how a court automatically issues property and insurance related orders through the summons, the court will also issue an automatic order regarding the children you have with your spouse. That automatic order states that neither party shall remove a minor child or children from the State of California without the express written consent of the other parent or order of the court. Unless a parent seeks additional orders through a formal motion (Request for Order or Request for Domestic Violence Restraining Order, the only custody order that will be in place at the onset of your divorce, legal separation, annulment, custody, and/or parentage action is the order not to remove the child or children from the state. Therefore, unless you have an agreement with the other side, if you want to go out of state with your child or children, or if you need further custody and/or visitation (parenting time) orders, you will need to take additional steps with the court.
Well, How Long Are The ATROS Going To Last?
Generally, unless there is an express written agreement with the other party or further orders of the court, the ATROS will remain in effect until your final judgment, which is at the conclusion of your case. How long that will take depends on how your case progresses. Some cases move smoothly, the parties follow directions, and agreements are reached. However, this does not happen in many cases. Therefore, the ATROS could be in place for a very long time until the court says otherwise. If you have further questions or need assistance, contact Modesto Family Law today.
