What are Standing Orders?
Standing orders go into effect the moment a family law case is filed with the court. Essentially, they are a set of rules that parties to a family lawsuit must follow while their case is pending. The standing orders are established by the local judges within the county and will remain in place until your case is finalized (unless there is a court order issued during your case that alters the terms of the Standing Orders). In the DFW area, Collin, Dallas, and Denton Counties all have standing orders that apply to family law cases.
Standing Orders are a version of a temporary restraining order, as they can prohibit certain types of conduct. The purpose of Standing Orders is to prevent, or to require, certain actions while the case is pending. Usually Standing Orders cover three main areas:
- Children that are the subject of the litigation;
- The behavior of the parties involved in the litigation; and
- Property of the parties involved in the litigation (financial accounts, records, insurance, real and personal property).
Common language you will find in Standing Orders when it comes to children is, the parties are not supposed to disparage (talk poorly about) the other party directly to the children or in the presence of the children. Similarly, Standing Orders typically will prohibit the parties from discussing the litigation with the children. Meaning, you should not tell your children all the details of what’s going on in your custody/divorce case. That’s not something the children should be involved with.
When it comes to property, Standing Orders will frequently prevent parties from wasting assets of the estate. The idea is to try to preserve as much of the marital estate as possible. For example, during a divorce, if someone goes on a lavish shopping spree or takes an expensive Mediterranean vacation, those could be violations of the Standing Orders.
Other actions, such as diverting someone’s mail, changing beneficiaries on life insurance policies, and/or cutting off utilities at someone’s residence are all things that most Standing Orders prohibit. I like to tell my clients that the Standing Orders are basically telling you to not be a jerk! If a party violates the Standing Orders, he/she could be held in contempt of court and potentially punished with jail time for the infraction.
Although many counties throughout the state of Texas have Standing Orders, not every county uses them. Counties that do have Standing Orders will generally post the orders on their website. You will want to verify if your county has Standing Orders when you file a case since you will be held responsible for complying with the orders whether you are aware they exist or not. For a copy of the Standing Orders of Collin, Dallas and Denton Counties, you can click here.
Written by Dana J. Stewart
