Starting Your Divorce On The Right Foot (Ep.11)

[00:00:00] Nobody wants to end up in family court, but if you do, you want an honest, experienced family law attorney by your side to help minimize the stress, mental anguish, and legal costs that divorce and custody matters bring. Welcome to In Your  Best Interest. Texas divorce attorney and entrepreneur, Justin Sisemore of the Sisemore Law Firm entrepreneur, Andrea Jones, freelance writer Mary Maloney, and guests share insight on what to expect and how to handle family law matters, the changing landscape of family law and living the entrepreneur’s life now onto the show. 

The temporary hearing is one of the first and most important steps in the divorce process, and the orders that result usually set the stage for divorce and child custody terms that follow in today’s episode of In Your Best Interest, we’ll discuss the steps involved and what to expect during the temporary hearing process as well as the [00:01:00] role divorce attorneys play to help clients achieve the best outcome for their divorce and custody cases.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of In Your Best Interest. I’m Mary Maloney, and today, attorney Justin Sisemore, entrepreneur Andrea Jones and I will dive into the topic of temporary hearings involving divorce and custody cases in Texas. So Justin, can you start by explaining the general purpose of the temporary hearings, why they’re so important, and kind of touch on the timeline involved with those.

Well, first of all, I think the biggest misnomer, um, that we have is temporary. The word temporary hearings. Because, you know, some of these things can last, some of these orders can last 6, 8, 10 months a year, year and a half. Um, so the word temporary in some people’s minds, uh, might be different. If you’re thinking that, a, I can go change this really quickly, and b, it, this is only gonna be for a very [00:02:00] finite short period of time.

Um, basically the purpose of a temporary hearing with respect to child custody, um, in a visitation and access schedule is to determine a, who the child’s primary residence is. B, some of the rights and duties i e, the right to make educational medical decisions for the child. So when you’re looking at where to enroll the child in school, or any kind of invasive procedures or any type of specific medications that your child may need to be, Um, some of those are defined, um, in the temporary orders, uh, the child support, health insurance, uh, provisions, and like I said, the visitation schedule.

And obviously right now with the holidays, uh, we get a lot of calls like, what do we do here? This person won’t let me have the child. So you really need to be very forward thinking with respect to A, your work schedule, and B, the court’s schedule because there’s just not a lot you can do right around these crunch times.

And these temporary orders are very [00:03:00] important because like I said, they last a while, so if you wait, uh, to go get them, or you kind of spring it on the lawyer or yourself last minute, um, you can really find yourself, uh, in a situation that you’re having to endure something that is, is less than desirable for a longer period of time.

With respect to the divorce action or where there’s property involved, uh, you’re also dealing with use of a business, uh, control of the business assets, uh, bank accounts, vehicles use of a residence. Um, you know, personal property and payment of debts and expenses, temporary support, all those things. So, like I said, it’s, it’s kind of your roadmap.

I always give the analogy, it’s a roadmap for where you’re going in the divorce action. And the reason it’s really important to get them right is a, like I said, the longevity, uh, of the temporary orders can, can be a long period of time that, you know, you may not, uh, have it the way you want it the entire time.

But also use of property. Uh, you [00:04:00] know, I see people vacating residences and they don’t take what they want. And sometimes you get in a situation where, you know, it takes a while to get your stuff back or somebody sells it or damages it. Uh, so it’s really important to, uh, think about the temporary orders.

Kind of like a mini divorce trial or a mini child custody trial. Uh, the third point to why the temporary orders are important and the, their purpose is they really establish a good framework going into mediation. Uh, it’s a very big leverage piece. Um, going into mediation because obviously, you know, you may have six or eight more months after the mediation, before there’s a trial.

So if you’ve got good temporary orders and you’ve spent the time and resources, uh, to get those right, um, in fact, oftentimes I’ll cancel mediation or move mediation if they’re not right. Uh, remembering that it’s not easy to go back to the trough and get new orders. If you get ’em right, you go into the mediation and it’s much easier [00:05:00] to get the deal finalized because someone has already dealt with those experiences throughout the course of the case, specifically when you’re dealing with child custody or even with use of residents and things like that because you’ve moved out, you’ve got your stuff where at your new place you’ve been there for sick.

You kind of know what the next steps are for you in your per in your life. So, uh, very, very important piece of the puzzle. And, you know, in 2023, I have really started to mandate if we don’t have temporary orders, uh, entered. , we have to have a hearing set because what I see a lot of attorneys, um, do, and even in my own practice, is they, they’re, they’re trying to work out a deal and everybody wants to save money.

They don’t wanna pay lawyers. They wanna work out a deal. And so what ends up happening is the can gets kicked around the room, as I say, and you know, no one really has this backdrop. of what the framework looks like. And so when it comes to specifics of, [00:06:00] uh, well, yeah. I have a client right now, they, they worked out a deal and as of yesterday, it’s six o’clock at night, he’s scrambling to try to get his visitation schedule because now she’s decided that he can’t take the kids to his parents in California.

So I’m scrambling. He’s scrambling and, and really there’s nothing I can tell him other than be real nice and don’t get into an argument so that you get Some kind of agreement for some type of visitation through the holidays, and that’s just not a way to, um, be in a divorce case or a custody case, period.

But that’s, that’s the way people get, right? It’s very emotional. And so I like to rip the bandaid off. I mandate getting a, setting, a follow up setting and, uh, having those temporary orders heard. And that way if you get over there and you reach an agreement or you reach an agreement on the phone, uh, beforehand, fantastic.

I highly encourage that. But if you don’t, you have the backdrop and it’s really important that you get those, those, right. So Justin, um, before we dive into what happens during temporary hearings, [00:07:00] um, can you briefly touch on what you and your clients need to do to prepare beforehand? And we have talked about this on other podcasts, but just kind of a general overview of what you’re doing leading up to those temporary hearing.

The preparation for temporary hearings really, uh, involve. Not only just the, uh, direct and cross examination preparation of the witnesses and or the client, uh, it’s also the organization piece. So, um, you’ve heard me say timelines and my clients hear me say timelines till they’re, till I’m blue in the face.

But, um, I, I really like to get people thinking in chronological order. , um, if you think in chronological order and events are less significant than what needs to be presented, but they are presented in a format, or at least the client gives you the timeline in a summary chronological timeline. Format. Uh, then what happens is you’re in a situation where you can really organize the client’s train of thoughts, and that’s really important because when you [00:08:00] do a temporary hearing and you are the petitioner asking your client questions, you can’t lead them.

You can’t say things like, isn’t it true on March 15th? You know, he shut you out of the account. Isn’t it true that, uh, they said X, Y, and z, uh, to you on Facebook or text message? Uh, those are leading questions and if you get any lawyer with half a brain, they will object and you won’t be able to ask the question in that format.

So you have to ask open-ended questions. And when I ask you things like what are your concerns with respect to, um, you know, the person’s ability to manage, uh, the business accounts well, uh, I, you know, I just don’t trust them. Well, that’s, , that’s not gonna get you where you need to be, and I can’t lead you in that regard.

So the timeline really helps them, um, or my clients be able to organize their train of thoughts so that when I get into my theme-based approach and I figure out what the overarching themes are in the case, uh, and I like to keep it real [00:09:00] simple. I don’t get more than about two or three. Uh, I like to get the questions, uh, that follow those themes that are in each one of those categories.

So it’s a very organized train of thought And that way when we get on the stand, a, the judge understands where we’re going with this in a Q and A format, and B, the client doesn’t, uh, get as nervous having the conversation in front of a third party. So the witness preparation there is, is big. Um, and sometimes we do that at the courthouse and clients are like, what should I say?

I tell them every time I don’t, I don’t need you to have this rote string that I pull out of your back, uh, where you just start speaking what I think you should say. It needs to be a very natural flow of conversations so that the, you know, the facial expressions, the body language, all of that’s there. Um, and these are the things that you’ve brought up to my attention and your timeline that I think are very relevant for the temporary hearing.

And keep in mind, you got 30 minutes or so to present your evidence. Uh, so you’re not gonna be going through everything that’s ever happened, but. [00:10:00] But it really organizes the train of thought. And then with respect to the exhibits, um, I really try to marry those in chronological order as well. So, uh, if you’ve got text messages or you’ve got pictures or bank accounts, or a house that, uh, you know, you purchased and, uh, you’re arguing some separate property claims, I really try to try to get those all in line, uh, in the inventory and with the backup documents and the timeline before the hearings if we can.

But keep in mind, You know, we’ve got two weeks oftentimes because the temporary restraining order that gets you to the party, if you will, only lasts for 14 days unless you extend it. Um, and those temporary restraining orders keep everybody playing nice while the case is pending. So, uh, really important to be way before you file if you can, getting some of this stuff ready and doing a consult well in advance of the filing.

I tell clients all the time, you can hire me today. , but this is when we need this to happen. If you need this to happen sooner, we’re gonna have to [00:11:00] shortchange some of these items. And, and I think that’s really important to let the clients know front because you know, they expect when they hire our firepower for us to really get after it and, and have all of our ducks in a row.

And you know, we’ve got a support staff that have lives as well. They can’t just jump when you say jump and have everything ready at the 11th hour, I had a client that legitimately brought us the paperworkfor a one o’clock hearing at nine o’clock in the morning. We sent two or three emails, two or three phone calls, no response, and then he shows up and shows up right at the time of the hearing, even though we told him to meet at the office 30 minutes early.

And I know people are busy, but you got to take pride in these cases, and you’ve got to remember that you’re paying a lot of money for these services. Use ’em and make sure that the staff, uh, has ample time to go through these questions with you and, and really organize your train of thought. A lot of what I do in the preparation is organizing the client’s train of thought and so that there’s not 8 million emails and 8 million calls [00:12:00] that charge a bunch of money.

So that’s the preliminary preparation So when you actually get to the courthouse or Zoom meeting, wherever your General hearing is being held, how does that process play out? For example, who goes first? What evidence is typically produced and so on. Well, specifically now with respect to what happens at the courthouse, you know, a lot of the, a lot of the concerns for the client is they haven’t physically met with the attorney.

Uh, we do a lot of things via Zoom now. We do a lot of phone preparation. Um, and getting emails and all that. And so I understand how nerve-wracking it can be for a client, uh, to walk into a courthouse and, you know, they’re just, they’re just physically laying eyes on you the first time other than, you know, a Zoom meeting or whatever.

But, I tell clients the same analogy, and, and you really can’t trust this until you see, uh, myself and our attorneys in action. Right? You, you, I can tell you this, but until you see it, you don’t know. It’s [00:13:00] the same thing as the surgeon that did my wife’s surgery, you know, on her throat. He walks in. I’ve never met him.

He literally says two words. He cuts her open, she’s perfect. He walks out the door 30 minutes later and the surgery’s over, and it, it’s flawless, right? And that’s very challenging for people to, um, truly understand professionalism. , um, and that a client or an attorney can get the client’s information, uh, together in a format when they don’t have a lot of communication.

But I’m very particular on how I do my cases. I’m very specific as to what the arguments are, and I really don’t like to get too far off course. Um, unfortunately, in the world of emotion in the divorce or child custody case, you as the client have these things that you really want me to say. and you know, my response is always, well, if it’s, if it’s necessary, you know, to, to further the position for that specific hearing or whichever stage we’re at the case, then we’ll bring it up.

But oftentimes, [00:14:00] you know, you want to just kind of go out in left field and, and get a pound of flesh, talk about the adultery, talk about the, the woman that hasn’t been around the kids, or whatever the case may be. And I understand the pain point that’s there. I’m not being, uh, you know, aloof to that whatsoever, but I would say, You know, there’s not a time and a place for that at a temporary hearing.

They’re not, you know, unless the child is around, uh, and the child’s involved. That’s an example, just one of them, of when I would not be bringing those issues up. So if that is the absolute end all be all for the client and they say, Justin, you’ve got to talk about this. I, I try to lead them in a direction of what the focus of that hearing is.

Uh, when we get to the court. , we’re sitting in a room. You got two or three hours there, uh, Mary, and you know, you got, you got lawyers running around, judges listening to 18 different people’s hearings. Uh, some of the lawyers come in prepared. Some of the lawyers are scrambling, some of the lawyers have support staff, some of them don’t.

Um, and you just don’t know what you’re getting until you get over [00:15:00] there. And it seems really stressful for the client. But that’s why I take ’em aside. I put ’em in a room, I let ’em know all the facts that we know and what we’re gonna talk about. And then I go try to work a deal out with opposing counsel if they haven’t returned our phone calls or emails beforehand.

Uh, and then if we need a hearing, I go tell the judge. We’re gonna talk for about an hour or so. Uh, I’d like to get on the, on the docket, just, I mean, get on the schedule of the docket. In case we reach an impasse , uh, and we need your help and we’re gonna need X number of minutes per side. And it’s really important that you don’t go in there and say, Hey, I needed two hours.

If you need 30 minutes because you’re not gonna be in line. Uh, but if you need two hours, you may consider needing a special setting and you may try to get some deals worked out or get. Some injunctions in place and some of the band-aids put on, uh, this roadmap, if you will. Um, and, and it’s a great place to do it cuz everybody’s at the drawing board, everybody’s at the table and you’ve got all the negotiations, uh, working as a result.

So, so [00:16:00] when you get your client gets to the courthouse, so I mean, you’re hopefully you can try to figure things out or negotiate things for those temporary orders without necessarily going in front of the judge. Is that what you’re saying? That you can kind of try to work out a deal? , but if you can’t, then you try to get on that judge’s docket to go in front of the judge.

Yeah, I mean, I think the big thing there to remember is that, you know, you, you can’t be too loose with these orders. You need to really think about the pain points, where the exchange is, where the, where the money’s gonna be, uh, who’s gonna, who’s gonna be able to have signatory power on these checks, all these things.

So, you know, it takes some time to do that. But I, I really have to extract that information from clients oftentimes. And, you know, if you go into. , uh, the, the, the court. The court, I always say they, you know, they, they come in with a hatchet, not a scalpel, right? So they’re not gonna fine tune the orders the way that, uh, a party may think.

And so getting there and letting [00:17:00] the other party know some of the evidence that we have and what we’re gonna show and really getting specific on some of these issues are, are very important for temporary. . Um, and then if we ha if we reach an impasse, um, I’m big on making sure there’s a tiebreaker, right?

I don’t like leaving orders, uh, you know, as, as agreed and all that other stuff because when parties get frustrated with each other, I get 50 phone calls and I try to eliminate phone calls so that I can go in there, perform the surgery, and if I do it right, then I do the surgery.

So, um, so another thing that occurs in temporary hearings are cross examinations of the parties and potential witnesses, um, to the particular case. Can you explain how the cross-examination works in the temporary hearing setting? So, cross-examination is absolutely, in my opinion, the biggest art of an attorney.

Um, , it’s, I, I think what most people would say, and I’m not boasting when I say this, but [00:18:00] when they ask about why is what is Mr. Sisemores skillset, that is my skillset. I am not as good as direct examination. Um, I really like cross-examination because I feel like you really have to listen. Um, and if you know the direction of where the client is going or trying to take,

And you know, that’s not on the script of what your client has told you. Uh, you can really expose people in ways that, uh, they should be exposed. And you know, people always tell me, well, they’re misrepresenting something in court. They’re lying. It’s perjury. I’m like, I know. Uh, but you gotta pull that out.

And you know, the jails are full and are the courts gonna throw someone in jail for perjury? So, if it’s egregious and extreme, but the little white lies that come out, you know, it, it becomes a, he said, she said. So cross-examination is where you expose, um, the, the witness. You lead them down a path by opening the door.

Uh, in very [00:19:00] limited circumstances because you just don’t ever want to ask open-ended questions. Uh, but you know, if you’ve got the, if you’ve got the person that just really. Makes sense of what they’re saying. I sometimes will set them up for an open-ended question, you know, like the, the, the counselor, for example, gets on the stand and says, well, if the child, uh, goes over to dad’s house for an expanded standard period, which is Thursday to Monday on the first, third and fifth and Thursday, overnights on the second and fourth, as opposed to his standard, uh, you know, that child is gonna be, uh, detrimentally, harmed, uh, to their emotional health, safety, and welfare.

and I’m like, okay. So if we take away that Thursday, you’re saying that Thursday overnight is going to detrimentally harm the child? Yes. Now I can say, all right, please explain. Right. Well, the child, you know, has separation anxiety on Thursdays. I mean, there’s just no way you can make that make sense unless there’s a school issue or something, which I already know.

Whether that counselor knows or doesn’t know anything. So you [00:20:00] can sometimes expose people with open-ended questions, but most of the time it is leading them down a path and really pushing them in a direction that they just don’t want to answer the question. They just don’t want to because the answer is obvious.

You’ve called someone terrible names, you’ve. , you know, sent terrible text messages, pictures, done something, and I know it. And oftentimes I’ll lead up to it and I’ll start waving stuff around and doing my little theatrics in the courtroom, because I just think that’s the fun part of the job. But, um, but cross is, cross is where the art is.

So, you know, in regard to witnesses too, you mentioned that you could, you would question counselors. Uh, what other type of witnesses would appear potentially in a temporary hearing case or. Yeah, I, I really do try to limit Mary because of the time constraints on temporary orders. I really do try to limit the number of witnesses.

Um, I’m not a big fan of bolstering witnesses, your mama and your cousin that tell everybody how great you are. I don’t think that it’s very impactful. Um, you know, it, it is helpful in a custody case with infants where you have, you [00:21:00] know, a mom or a grandma or whatever that’s seen you physically change diapers.

Because  I have clients, you know, that come in and. You know, the mom sometimes and, and rightfully so, she may not have seen you do it. Uh, and she thinks that the infant’s gonna die if, if the child goes over to dad’s house because he doesn’t know how to bottle feed or, or give a diaper. I, I, I’ve just tried a case last week where the mom, luckily we had, uh, the hearing in front of the district judge who made a very good decision and gave the dad some time with his baby, which he definitely should have.

If you’ve got somebody that that can care for the baby. Um, but then she goes and files for protective order. She fires her lawyer after the judge made the rendition and all this stuff. So, um, you know, I think it’s really important, um, to focus the energy, uh, in those settings on exactly what it is that the clients need, what they can do, and basically how they’re gonna execute it.

So that kind of takes ustoward the [00:22:00] end phase of those temporary hearings. So, um, can you talk a little more about the negotiations that go into the, the, to essentially an effective temporary hearing and also explain what the closing and ancillary documents are pertaining to that particular event.

Yeah. And the closing documents on a temporary hearing are really important because the temporary orders themselves, you know, we have, Andrea helps me all the time with these timelines and procedural events of when things need to occur so that my staff and team execute things timely. What happens in temporary orders with respect to the ancillary documents, um, is that usually the petitioner is tasked with drafting.

Okay. I, at any step of the way. always try to take control of that process because I know we draft correctly, number one. It’s not to say that other attorneys don’t do it right. It’s just, you know, when I, when I’m in control of it, I know that a, I don’t leave anything out. I make [00:23:00] sure that all of the languages there benefiting for, or to the detriment of both sides.

Um, and, you know, you’re not playing this truffle shuffle of, well, the temporary orders were supposed to be prepared and ordered by the court. Uh, two. After the temporary hearing, but I haven’t heard anything from opposing counsel in a month. Well, keep in mind, you’ve got an associate judge’s report that’s one page long, right?

It doesn’t have all the 35 pages of details in there. And so, you know, making sure that you’re in control of not only what’s in the temporary orders and include all the information that the judge concluded or that you agreed to, but also when you. and what communications, uh, need to happen next. So getting those temporary orders entered, if they don’t give us the response, we can prepare a motion to enter with the court or a 10 day letter in some courts.

Uh, where the courts will just enter it absent objections, uh, in 10 days. Um, you know, that’s, that’s one of the ancillary documents. The other thing is if you’re gonna be selling a house or if you’re gonna be, [00:24:00] uh, transferring a motor vehicle or bills, um, you know, that’s the biggie. Well, all the bills are in his name.

I don’t know how to transfer these. You know, getting that who, what when where and why to each of those orders in exchange of property and or children are very important, uh, to think about. And, you know, if you leave the arena and you don’t have those things ironed out, at least to a simple degree, we’re gonna exchange all property awarded here on blank date at blank time, which is 101stuff.

One attorney told me the last week, well, you didn’t put a time in there to, uh, and, and, and that my client had to share the photos that she took of, uh, administering the medication. And I’m like, please come into court and argue that please come into court. And when the court order says you’re to take photographs because you didn’t, your client didn’t administer the medication, that you’re just gonna keep them in the vault right of your, of your office, please come and tell the court that.

But the reality is they can get away [00:25:00] with it . And so you gotta really, uh, make sure that you have the documents to transfer the property. You have the communications, the orders in place because it’s all about enforceability. And if you don’t have orders in place and you don’t get ’em signed by a court and you operate under Rule 11 agreements and all these willy-nilly things that people can revoke.

And in the civil world, it’s a very serious thing if you revoke a Rule 11 agreement or an agreement between the parties and the family courts. People do it so often that it’s kind of like, well, they just didn’t wanna do that. and that it’s ridiculous, but that’s the way it is. And so those are the closing documents you need.

So Andrea, uh, I’d love to hear from you being that you’ve been through, um, you know, an extended divorce and custody process, um, with Justin as your attorney, um, and obviously through temporary hearings. Can you share it from your perspective? Um, any lessons learned through that process? Any dos and Donts.

Sure. So I think it starts with finding the right attorney. We say this over and over, interview [00:26:00] your attorney and interview a few so that you have a good feel and, and now that you heard what the process should look like and all the other stuff. You need to get a feel that your attorney has your back and knows what he’s doing.

Right? Not just in general, are we gonna go to court, but what are the steps? So I think that’s the first thing. Interview your attorney and then you have to trust the process. And like Justin said, we are trying to make it easy at the firm  now to. to show clients what the process looks like cuz it is overwhelming if you never went through divorce, you don’t understand all those things and sometimes don’t even understand all those words when, what is the rendition like, terms like that.

If you, unless you went to law school, you have no idea what that means. So trust the process, find the attorney that you like, that you feel good with. Trust to process. So I think the most important thing Justin mentioned, Be clear on what you want, because temporary orders, as he said, can last for a long time.

In our case, they lasted, I think, two years, right? Because the, the process dragged on and, and [00:27:00] we, it, it’s easier said than done, but focus on the big things and take the emotions out. Like, I was the same way. Or Can you bring this up in court and can you bring that up in court? No. Focus on who has the kids, who has a visitation and what is important to you.

All those things are the most important things. And then cause again, it takes, it takes a while. And then another thing that’s super, super important for your attorney to be prepared, you gotta get all that stuff to the attorney. And I was totally overwhelmed. I mean like all the stuff that they wanted from me.

And when you go through divorce and you already are emotionally in a bad space, then somebody giving you this long list and timeline and all this stuff. . I mean, you just wanna put your head in a sand and just don’t wanna hear about it. But as painful as it is, and as frustrated, frustrating as it is, and as much time as it takes, it is so, so important to get that stuff to your attorney and then organized because the only person that knows your life is you.

I mean, an attorney comes [00:28:00] from outside in. If you give them a shoebox of documents, first of all, it’s gonna cost you a lot of money for them to organize it. And second, They don’t understand all the stuff that’s in there, so just make sure you, you help them organize, um, what you want, even if it’s overwhelming.

Again, I said this before, try to keep the emotions out. Keep trying to focus on the most important things, and then, and then, uh, if, if your attorney doesn’t give you a. Information after the hearing. Ask for a summary. Because again, unless you’ve been through it, there’s a lot of stuff in there. You might not understand what that all means.

Visitation can be, um, overwhelming. What does that mean on Thursday and what does it mean on vacations, on holidays and stuff. If you don’t understand, just ask the question. What does that mean? What happens in this situation? What happens if school is out early? All those things that you don’t get yourself in trouble.

Um, not handing the kids over when you should or not getting the kids when you want. So, Just be in communication to understand what they’re giving you. I think that’s the biggest takeaways I had. [00:29:00] So, in closing, for, you know, for both of you, any other closing thoughts on the temporary hearings and the process?

You know, um, any Justin, maybe any common questions that clients have for you when they’re approaching it or just anything that you wanna say as we wrap up today? Yeah. One of the, one of the other things that I, I forgot to mention too is, you know, some of the courts have these records of support and wage withholding orders.

You talked about closing documents. Uh, make sure that you get those done at the time, uh, you’re at court because, uh, you know, the child support office is, um, They’re all humans too, right? And they get a bunch of documents thrown on their desk, and different courts have different procedures. Uh, so it’s very important to know, all right, when am I gonna get paid child support or spousal support?

Or how is the insurance card gonna get transferred over? Uh, make sure that those questions are sealed up and buttoned up at the end. Uh, and you may still have some follow up questions. We do a follow up interview in our firm, um, you know, [00:30:00] nine times outta 10, uh, and, and with a bullet pointed list of, Hey, this is in summation.

What’s gonna happen next? Like, setting up our family wizard. How do you do that? Uh, drug test. Where do you go? Child support. Well, uh, social study, who do I talk to? So it’s a bullet point list because the orders are 35 pages. I don’t wanna sit there with you for two hours and go through all 35 pages of every sentence.

Some clients want that, and, and I, I tell ’em, look. . I can assure you when I draft this stuff, I want you to understand it all, but I want you to understand it in this format because just like Andrea talked about, it can be very overwhelming. And my job in our firm’s job is to eliminate some of the confusion, and we do that with bullet pointed short lists.

That’s why I cut down timelines. That’s why I cut down inventories and I get everything down into a concise manner to present to a court. Sounds great. Andrea, any closing words on your part? Trust, trust the process. It’s overwhelming and it’s, and ask the questions if you don’t understand. All right. Well, great.

Well, [00:31:00] if you’d like to get in touch with the Sisemore Law Firm, you can call 8 1 7 3 3 6 4 4 4 4 or visit lawyerdfw.com. We also invite you to follow the podcast and share it with friends who might find it helpful. Thanks again for listening and have a great day. Thank you for listening to In Your Best Interest with Texas Divorce Attorney and entrepreneur, Justin Sisemore.

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