On October 1, 1997, new rules pertaining to domestic relations matters (divorce) went into effect. One of the most important new rules is found in Practice Book section 1204. This rule sets forth automatic orders that will be applicable to every divorce proceeding. These automatic orders are binding upon the plaintiff--the person who starts the dissolution of marriage action--at the time that the complaint is signed and they are effective upon the defendant at the time the defendant is served. The purpose of these automatic orders is to preserve the status quo to the greatest extent possible during the pendency of the dissolution of marriage action. The automatic orders that will impact every party to a dissolution of marriage case are as follows:
- Neither party shall sell, transfer, encumber, conceal, assign, remove, or in any way dispose of, without the consent of the other party in writing, or an order of the court, any property, individually or jointly held by the parties, except in the usual course of business or for customary and usual household expenses or for reasonable attorney fees in connection with this action.
- Neither party shall incur unreasonable debts, including but not limited to, further borrowing against any credit line secured by the family residence, further encumbering any assets, or unreasonably using credit cards or cash advances against credit cards.
- Neither party shall permanently remove the minor child or children from the state of Connecticut, without written consent of the other or order of the court.
- Neither party shall cause the other party or the children of the marriage to be removed from any medical, hospital, and dental insurance coverage, and each party shall maintain the existing medical, hospital, and dental insurance coverage in full force and effect.
- Neither party shall change the beneficiaries of any existing life insurance policies, and each party shall maintain the existing life insurance, automobile insurance, homeowner's or renter's insurance policies in full force and effect.
- If the parties are living together on the date of service of these orders, neither party may deny the other party use of the current primary residence of the parties, whether it be owned or rented property, without court order. (This provision does not apply if there is a prior, contradictory order in effect.)
- If the parties share a child or children, a party vacating the family residence shall notify the other party or the other party's attorney, in writing, within 48 hours of such move, of an address where the relocated party can receive communication. (This does not apply if there is a prior, contradictory order of the court.)
- If the parents of minor children live apart during the dissolution proceeding, they shall assist their children in having contact with both parties, which is consistent with the habits of the family, personally, by telephone, and in writing unless there is a prior court order.
What does all of this mean and what impact will it have on divorce cases? As previously stated, these new rules are intended to preserve the status quo during the pendency of the divorce action. Parties will no longer be required to file motions to restrain the disposition of assets and motions to maintain the insurance programs. In the past, there was nothing preventing a party from taking all of the money out of bank accounts and disposing of the funds. Nor was there anything preventing a party from canceling his or her spouse's insurance coverage. Thus, most attorneys were required to file motions enjoining the parties from disposing of assets. Unfortunately, in many instances, the asset or assets sought to be preserved was disposed of prior to the time that the motion was ruled upon by the court. As of October 1, 1997, however, the party who wishes to dispose of an asset is the one that will need to file a motion seeking permission of the court to dispose of that asset. Even if the court permits the sale, at least the other spouse will know about the sale and chances are a request that any proceeds from the sale will be ordered escrowed or subject to the automatic restraining order will be granted.
Since the automatic orders apply to all assets, whether owned jointly by the couple or individually by one spouse, a nonowner spouse will no longer find out after it is too late that an asset of the other has been sold or otherwise disposed of. Certainly there will be abuse of these orders and people will violate them. But now an unauthorized disposal of an asset is a violation of an order and could result in contempt of court. Hopefully the implementation of the new automatic orders will do just what they were intended to do: preserve the status quo pending the dissolution of marriage.