Rule 47.2.Motions for Post-Decree Temporary Legal Decision-Making, Parenting Time, Placement, Visitation, or Child Support Orders

Rule 47 handles temporary orders before a decree. Rule 47.2 handles them after one, and it is deliberately shorter -- the case already has a judgment, so the motion attaches to a post-decree petition rather than opening the subject afresh.

The motion

A party requesting temporary legal decision-making, parenting time, placement, visitation or child support after entry of a decree files a verified motion stating the legal and jurisdictional bases and the specific relief requested. It must include a proposed parenting plan containing the legal decision-making and parenting time requested for both parties. If child support is requested, the party must comply with Rule 91.1, the post-judgment modification rule.

Incorporate, do not repeat

The motion must incorporate by reference the relevant allegations of the pending post-decree petition and not separately repeat them. That is an instruction about drafting, not a suggestion -- the court is reading the petition and the motion together and does not want the same allegations twice.

Timing and service

The motion may be filed after, or at the same time as, a post-decree petition authorized by statute. It cannot stand alone. Service is under Rule 40(f)(1) or Rule 41 -- original-process service, consistent with Rule 43(c)'s requirement for anything seeking to modify or enforce a final judgment.

Scheduling, and the ruling deadline

The court schedules a resolution management conference or an evidentiary hearing as appropriate. Rule 47.2 does not carry Rule 47's 30-day and 60-day settings; the choice of setting is left to the court. What it does carry is the back-end deadline: the court must rule no later than 21 days after the hearing concludes -- one of the nine deadlines Rule 30 collects.