Court Hearing Notification

[ajdnm310]

My jurisdiction is: Texas

Two weeks ago I called the child support division to see if my payment had been properly credited. In doing so, they informed me of a court hearing that's scheduled for November 20th. That was news to me! (I was told that the papers were filed on October 22nd). I called legal aid, they pulled up the documents, and clarified that it was so. It's now November 14th and I have yet to receive any legal notification of this hearing. I was told it was an appeal to a hearing (held in Sepetmber) where the judge ruled in my favor. However, having received no papers, I have yet to see exactly what the charges are . . which, among other things, makes my defense difficult to prepare.

My question is: how can they have a hearing when I haven't been officially notified? Is there a time-frame in which they have to do that? I live in Idaho and the hearing is in Texas, which makes things costly and complicated. I have no money for legal representation (and legal aid said they wouldn't be able to assign anyone to my case, due to so many others' needs) so, as I see it, I'll have to be there, unless there are options I'm not aware of. Thanks for any insight.

 

[WhirledPeas]

If you go and object to not being served, they will likely continue the case to a later date.

If you can't go or appoint someone to go on your behalf, you could try calling the clerks office in Texas on Monday and see where you get. Maybe they could get a note in your file that you found out about the court date but never got served so couldn't respond in time. Then when the judge went to hear the case and you weren't there, he would know why.

Do you have any family or friends there that could go and say, "She wasn't served, she just found out about the court date recently by accident and couldn't respond to the petition because she didn't get it"?

You should call a Texas attorney to ask if any of these are good ideas. You'll likely at least get a call back in time if you call early Monday. Maybe call two or three lawyers, to ensure you hear back from at least one. Phone calls are typically not billed; you may get a better response if you take the stance that you may decide to hire an attorney to help you with the case.

 

[ajdnm310]

First of all, thank you for responding. It's actually my ex-wife who is unhappy with the September ruling and why she's appealing the case. For the September case, I was served papers, at which time I entered a general denial, and also requested that I be notified of all hearings concerning this case. I'm wondering if that still holds, considering this is still in essence, the same case, or if I am/was required to send in a response for this hearing also. (Hard to do if I haven't received any official notice). Anyway, thanks for your help. I'll try your suggestions and see what happens.