Legal Question in Family Law in California

If you are referring to your Response to the Prtition, yes, so long as your Default has not been taken, you may still file your Response. If your Response has already been taken, then you will have to set it aside before being able to respond. If, on the other hand, you are referring to your Response to an Order To Show Cause, O.S.C., then you may always file your Response, and set your record. The only problem is that if you file too close to the court date, the judge may not review your Response prior to the hearing.

Michael R. Schneider, Esq.

www.FamilyLawCalifornia.com

Wow, Schneider really didn't read your question, nor proof his response. The problem with answering your question is you are unclear as to what you are responding to. In family court there are many things you may have to respond to, primarily the original petition, the declarations of disclosure, and motions or orders to show cause (OSC). If you mean the Response to the Petition, that is not a responsive "declaration," hence Mr. Schneider's confusion. If that is what you mean, you can file that any time before your default is taken. If your default has been taken, you will need to file a request to set the default aside and for permission to file the Response to Petition. You would need an attorney for that, or you would likely be denied. If you mean a responsive declaration to one of the disclosure declarations, you can serve that at any time, although the sooner the better as you may face sanctions if doing it late prejudices the other side. If you mean a TRUE responsive declaration, you are talking about a response to a motion or OSC. If you already have temporary orders in place, then there must have already been a hearing on the motion or OSC for those temporary orders. In that case, you are much too late to file a responsive declaration. Responsive declarations to motions and OSCs must be filed before the hearing.

To follow up with what Mr. McCormick said, a responsive declaration to an OSC must be filed at least 9 court days prior to the scheduled hearing, unless the judge has issued an "order shortening time" that specifies a different time frame.

You can always file a responsive declaration late, but the trial judge has the discretion to refuse to consider a late filing.