Ginter Family Law

Unforuntately, as many people know, particularly those who are currently facing family law issues, the budget cuts in California have severely, and negatively, impacted the court system.  Sacramento's family court system was struck particularly hard.  What might have taken a couple of hours to file is now taking an entire day; the Family Law call center shuts down at approximately noon; and, if your "number" is not called in time to file even one (1) document, you will be asked to leave the court building, only to start the process the next day the court is open where you have the time to devote another day to the process.  There are also additional changes that have negatively effected parties and their attorneys alike in the Sacramento family court system, such as a new "local rule" that requires the filing of a written request at least five (5) COURT days in advance in order to continue a hearing, where a hearing continuance previously only required a phone call two (2) court days prior to the hearing.  This means increased hassle--and potential increased fees and costs--to simply continue a hearing.  So, people are probably asking themselves:  "How can I avoid these nightmares AND still have my family law issue resolved?"  One answer is the anticipated growth in interest in NON-ADVERSARIAL options available to folks facing family law issues, such as Mediation and Collaborative Law Process.  "Non-adversarial" essentially means minimal court involvement.  Therefore, there is an expectation that such avenues will be sought in an effort to avoid the court system.  After all, if parties do not, themselves, have to travel to the courthouse for things such as filings, then one can avoid having to take a vacation day or two from their precious-earned time through their employer, just to file a document.  Additionally, if no hearings are scheduled (since the parties attempt to negotiate their case OUT of court), then there is a potential of also avoiding having to take off future work time to appear at court for an adversarial hearing.  If you or someone you know is facing a family law issue, it would behoove you and/or the person you know to investigate non-adversarial options in order to avoid the serious issues facing the court system in these tough economic times.