Section 25-50A.Case Management under Pathways

The resolution plan date. Every dissolution, legal separation and annulment case is assigned one no less than thirty and no more than sixty days from the return date; custody and visitation cases are assigned one under Sections 25-3 and 25-4. The parties meet a family relations counselor to identify what they agree on, how likely agreement is on what they do not, and what resources the case needs.

The three tracks. The counselor recommends an action plan, including a track: Track A for cases needing the lowest level of court time and resources, including those fully resolved on the day; Track B for cases expected to need a moderate level; and Track C for cases with disputes about major issues expected to need the most judicial time. Failing to appear on the resolution plan date, or to comply with the court’s orders about it, may bring sanctions or a nonsuit, default or dismissal.

The scheduling order. After considering the recommendation and the parties’ input, the court makes a scheduling order that day — assigning the track, setting future court dates including case dates, ordering a discovery schedule, and specifying what the parties must do between dates. The parties must follow it or the case may be dismissed or other sanctions imposed. The court may also enter temporary orders that day on any pending pleading, by consent or as it determines.

Financial affidavits. In all cases except those seeking only visitation, the parties file sworn financial affidavits on or before the resolution plan date.

Where the defendant never appears. In a dissolution, legal separation or annulment case, not earlier than thirty days after the return date, the plaintiff may move under the statute the section cites and, if the motion is granted, proceed to judgment without further notice, provided the financial statement requirements have been met. Where the defendant was served personally or at their usual place of abode, the court may enter judgment with or without a hearing; where service was made another way, no judgment enters until a hearing held at least sixty days after the return date.

Uncontested cases may proceed to judgment without a hearing, or at a hearing at any time, subject to the court’s schedule and compliance with the financial statement rule; otherwise the clerk assigns the matter to a date certain for disposition.

Track B and C scheduling orders may include case dates, assignment of motions to a motion docket, a pretrial date, a trial date and a discovery schedule.

Before a pretrial. Unless the court orders otherwise, the parties exchange and submit to whoever presides at the pretrial, at least five business days beforehand: a nonargumentative memorandum of the facts relevant to the statutory criteria for property division and alimony; written proposed orders under Section 25-30; current sworn financial affidavits with a detailed income statement, a list of assets and liabilities, values including retirement and employment benefits, and any proposed distribution; and, where there are minor children, a fully completed child support guidelines worksheet the parties agree to, or one from each party if they do not. The parties must bring supporting documentation, and sanctions may follow a failure to comply.