Legal Question in Family Law in Rhode Island

If I understand you correctly, you are telling me that you submitted both the Decision Pending Entry of the Final Judgement (i.e. the Temporary Order) and the Final Judgement of Divorce on June 22, 2010 and you are now in your 90 day waiting period.

First, if you submitted the Final Judgement of Divorce as far back as June 22, 2010 so it could be approved by the Clerk, signed by the Judge and then entered by the Clerk's Office, then you should not expect the clerk's office to pull the document out of the file and bring it through that process without you calling it to their attention.

There is a good chance your Final Judgement would sit in the file and you would never become divorced because it your responsibility to call it to the court's attention, sign it and submit it during the 30 day period after the 3 month waiting period expires. Also, please note that it is no always 90 days. It is 3 months for the waiting period. Make sure you note the difference and that you exclude the date of your hearing when calculating the 3 month period.

You are not automatically divorced after the 3 month waiting period. You are not divorced until a family court judge signs your Final Judgement of Divorce. If the Final Judgment never gets presented to the Judge for his or her signature, AND the Clerk's Office never enters the Final Judgement after a family court judge has signed it, then you won't be divorced until these things happen and it is your responsibility to make sure they occur.

Regarding your pregnancy, as long as an issue is not raised by your husband and you make sure that the Final Judgement gets entered as soon as possible after the 3 month waiting period, then you should not have a problem regarding your divorce.

Perhaps the most important thing to do is to make sure that as soon as your 3 month waiting period has expired, that you make sure the Final Judgment of Divorce gets checked by the Clerk, signed by the Judge and then entered with the Family Court Clerk's Office.

If the baby is born and you are not divorced from your husband, then legally your husband is presumed to be the father of the baby absent proof to the contrary. This is called a rebuttable presumption.

Ultimately, it is best to make sure you get that Final Judgement for your divorce to the court and get it entered by the process I described above as soon as possible after your 30 day waiting period has passed.

I hope you found this helpful. If you need additional help I provide affordable assistance through my law practice at (401) 632-6976.

I wish you the very best in finalizing your divorce and moving on with your life.