Appendix B Rule “DR”--Domestic relations practice
Baldwin's Kentucky Revised Statutes Annotated15th Judicial Circuit - Carroll, Grant and Owen Circuit Court
KY CGOC App. B
Appendix B Rule “DR”--Domestic relations practice
Pursuant to FCRPP 4 (1) and approval of the Chief Justice, a Domestic Relations Commissioner and a Special Domestic Relations Commissioner for the 15th Judicial Circuit have been appointed.
DR 2.00 STANDING REFERRALS AND ORDERS
A. All domestic relations matters in Carroll and Grant Circuit Court arising under KRS Chapter 403 are, except to the limited extent otherwise provided for herein and unless otherwise ordered by the Court, referred to the Domestic Relations Commissioner. In those cases over which the Domestic Relations Commissioner is unable to preside for any reason the Court may direct that the matter be heard by the Special Domestic Relations Commissioner or by the Court.
B. Those domestic relations matters in the Owen Circuit Court shall, except for uncontested cases, be referred to either the Domestic Relations Commissioner or the Special Domestic Relations Commissioner upon request. To effect a referral (upon determining that a matter will be contested) counsel for either party shall contact the Circuit Judge's office and advise the Court Administrator of the need for an Order of Referral. Counsel will need to provide the Court Administrator the style of the case and attorneys or parties names, addresses, facsimile numbers, and e-mail addresses. After referral, counsel shall then proceed with the same procedures as provided by these Local Rules, the FCRPP, and any other applicable Civil Rules.
C. The Commissioner shall hear all rules to show cause why a party should not be held in contempt of court arising from domestic relations matters. If incarceration is recommended, the party to be incarcerated shall be entitled to a hearing before the Court at the next regular Motion Day. The Court shall permit additional evidence and shall give the party an opportunity to purge him / her of such contempt.
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
UNIFIED COURT OF JUSTICE
__________ CIRCUIT COURT
CIVIL ACTION NUMBER (DRC) __________
MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON UNCONTESTED HEARING
In all contested dissolution of marriage cases, custody matters and support matters there shall be a hearing in open Court following a motion for a contested hearing. The Court will enter an order setting the date of the hearing and stating the requirements for pretrial compliance, which will, at a minimum, include compliance with FCRPP 3 (3) and (4) and the requirements of and date for filing of each party's Trial Brief.
(1) In a proceeding for the dissolution of marriage where there are minor children of the parties, if the parties are ordered to attend a parent education program, no matter shall be assigned for final hearing until the parties have attended, and participated in, a class designed to advise the parents on the impact of divorce on children.
In ail cases in which child support is requested, compliance with FCRPP 9 and DR 11.00 below shall be required.
In the 15th Judicial Circuit the initial court appearance may not occur for thirty days or more after the initial filing of an action for Dissolution of Marriage. Therefore, if a Motion for a Status Quo Order is filed with the Petition which requests entry of the AOC 237, Status Quo Order, and which states that the Respondent has ten days to file any objection to entry of the Order, the clerk will serve a copy of the Motion with the Summons and Petition on the Respondent. If no response is filed within 10 days of service of the Summons, Petition and Notice of the Motion, the Status Quo Order will be entered by the Court.
DR 6.00 HEARINGS, REPORT AND OBJECTIONS
(2) Final hearings or trials in contested cases, hearings on motions to modify orders or judgments, hearings on rules to show cause, and extended hearings shall be assigned by the Commissioner at the Motion Hour, upon application for a hearing date by motion and notice in conformance with CR 6. 04, LR 202, and DR 6.04. A copy of the motion shall be mailed to the appropriate Commissioner.
(1) FCRPP 4(4) governs the procedures with respect to serving objections to the report of the Commissioner. In all cases, the Domestic Relations Commissioner will file his/her report with a recommended order and the Circuit Clerk shall serve a copy of the Report on all parties. The Clerk shall cause the case to be docketed on a “DRC Order Calendar” bearing the same date as the Court's next regular Motion Calendar which is dated not less that fourteen (14) days following the date that the Report is mailed by the Clerk. If no objections are filed within the prescribed time period, then the recommended Order or Decree may be entered.
(2) If objections are filed subsequent to the ruling by the Commissioner, then the proposed orders relating thereto shall be tendered directly by the parties to the Court at the time of appearance on the objections. If objections are filed, the party filing them shall file a motion and notice it for hearing on the next Motion Day that is at least seven (7) days from the date of filing. The opposing party shall file their response thereto as early as possible before the hearing.
The objecting party shall include with the copy of the objections served on the Judge, a copy of the Commissioner's Order, Report, or Recommendation that is the subject of the objection.
The time period in which to serve objections may be waived when all parties agree in writing. The waiver should be in substantially the following form: “The parties hereby waive the right to file objections to the Commissioner's Report and the right to notice pursuant to CR 53.06(2)”.
All motions must be filed in compliance with LR 202 and a copy sent to the Commissioner's office. A fee of $15 shall be paid upon the filing of the motion and will cover the first quarter hour or any portion thereof of the hearing on the motion. Any fee due for hearings beyond a quarter of an hour will be due at the conclusion of the case and will be paid by the parties as directed by the Court. Any motion not accompanied by the $15 fee will not be docketed.
In addition to all other requirements set forth herein, a Motion for Final Decree must be accompanied by:
(2) PROPERTY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS. A worksheet for child support shall be attached to all property settlement agreements in which child support is determined. In addition, any agreed order establishing child support that is inconsistent with the guidelines shall contain a recitation to the effect that “The parties are aware of the amount of child support established by the Kentucky Child support Guidelines as reflected on the attached worksheet” and that “No public assistance is being paid on behalf of a child of the parties under the provisions of Part D of Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act”. Further, the agreement shall state with particularity why the guideline amount is unjust or inappropriate and cite the factual grounds therefore.
Nothing herein shall preclude parties who are fully informed about the child support guidelines from agreeing to child support inconsistent with the guidelines so long as they provide the information above and provided that no public assistance is being paid on behalf of a child under the provisions of Part D of Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act.
(4) REPORT AND DECREE TO BE FURNISHED. Counsel shall furnish to the Domestic Relation Commissioner for review and signature a Report of the Domestic Relations Commissioner and a Decree of Dissolution. Care should be taken to include the appropriate entry relative to the presence or absence of a waiver of the notice requirement set forth in CR 53.06(2). (See DR 6.03)
All decrees and all orders entered upon motions to modify or terminate decrees, contempt orders and temporary orders entered upon pendente lite motions shall be signed by the Judge, but shall contain the following notation along the left hand margin.
Recommended: DOMESTIC RELATIONS COMMISSIONER
All routine orders setting contested and uncontested trial dates, contested hearing dates or affecting purely administrative matters shall be signed by the Commissioner only.
DR 8.00 APPEARANCES, WAIVERS, AND AGREEMENTS
A. Appearances and Waivers may be filed by a party through an Attorney if signed by the party and/or his or her attorney. Separation Agreements must be signed by the party and the party's attorney (either indicating said attorney's preparation of the Agreement or the attorney's approval as to form.)
The Commissioner shall orally hear all contested and uncontested trials and motions unless otherwise ordered by the Court. Proceedings before the Commissioner may be recorded on audiotape or videotape or reported by stenographic reporter. If a party elects to have testimony reported by a stenographic reporter, he or she shall engage the services of a court reporter and the court reporter's fee shall be paid by the party so requesting the services and shall not be taxed as costs. No transcript prepared from an audiotape or videotape shall be taxed as costs; rather, either party may, at his or her own expense, have the transcript prepared by the reporter and pay for same. A copy of a videotape or audiotape recording may be obtained from the Circuit Court Clerk for a small fee set by AOC or by the Clerk.
The following schedules are suggested as guidelines for the parents and the Court in establishing parenting time schedules. Each case will present unique facts or circumstances (i.e. distance between parents' homes, unusual work schedules) which shall be considered by the Court in establishing a parenting time schedule and the final schedule established by the Court or agreed to by the parents may or may not be what these guidelines suggest. It is the goal of the Court to allow as equal an amount of parenting time to each parent as possible so long as that division does not unnecessarily negatively impact the life of the child.
The parent receiving the child at the beginning of any time sharing period or at the end of any parenting time herein shall be responsible for pick-up of the child. Therefore, each parent will only have to transport the child one way.
For those parties who are under existing orders, whether temporary or final, regarding parenting time in which the parties are operating under “Local Rules Visitation”, the following schedule will be considered at any review or other hearing conducted after the date these rules become effective.
(1) For the purposes of these rules, weekends are determined by the first Saturday of each calendar month. Therefore, even though parenting time may start on Friday, if the first day of the month falls on Saturday, the first weekend for these calculations will actually begin on the Friday that is the last day of the previous calendar month. If there are four Saturdays in a given month, there are four weekends as used herein. If there are five Saturdays in a given month, there are five weekends as used herein.
(2) The secondary residential parent shall receive parenting time on: the first and third weekends from Friday evenings at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings following the weekend parenting time from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Friday or until whatever time the child must be at school if school is in session; Tuesday evening following a weekend of non-parenting time from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday or until whatever time the child must be at school if school is in session. Furthermore, the secondary residential parent shall receive parenting time on the fifth weekend of those months with five weekends.
(3) If transfer of the child occurs at some place other than the home of the parent, the child and/or the parent delivering the child shall have no duty to await the other parent for more than thirty minutes. A parent more than thirty minutes late shall forfeit that parenting time. Either parent has the right to refuse parenting time if the other parent is under the influence of intoxicants or drugs.
1. New Years' Day | 2. Martin Luther King Day | |
3. Easter | 4. Memorial Day | |
5. July 4th | 6. Labor Day |
In the odd numbered years (i.e., 2011) the mother shall have the children on the odd-numbered holidays (left column), and the father shall have parenting time on the even-numbered holidays (right column). In the even-numbered years (i.e. 2012) the father shall have the odd numbered holidays and the mother the even-numbered holidays. Parenting time on these holidays shall be from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., unless the child is in school the following day, in which case parenting time shall be from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
(5) Each year at Christmas the secondary residential parent shall have the children from the time the local schools dismiss for Christmas vacation (regardless of whether the child is of school age) until 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The primary residential parent shall have the children from 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve until 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Christmas Day after which the secondary residential parent shall have parenting time until 6:00 p.m. on December 26, at which time the primary residential parent shall have the child.
(7) Each summer, regardless of whether the children are of school age, the summer vacation period for the school district where the primary residential parent resides shall be equally divided between the parents. No visitation period shall be longer than two weeks. So long as it does not interfere with a scheduled vacation away from the area of the parent who has the children, the party who does not have the children shall be entitled to midweek parenting time for each week from Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Thursday.
Each party shall give the other party at least sixty (60) days notice in writing of his or her vacation schedule so that both parties have an opportunity to have the children during his or her vacation from work.
(8) On a child's birthday, the parties shall divide time with the child as best they can agree for the benefit of the child. If they cannot agree, the parent who has the child in their home on the morning of the birthday shall have the child until 6:00 p.m. and the other parent shall have the child until 9:00 p.m.
(9) In alternating years the secondary residential parent shall have the children for a week of any spring break from school which the children may have, provided the children are returned to the custodial parent not less than twenty-four (24) hours before they are to resume school. Unless otherwise agreed, the first spring break vacation with the secondary residential parent shall be the first spring break after the decree or order is signed.
(11) HALLOWEEN VISITATION: In cases where there is a child under the age of ten (10) years and the parents live in communities with different trick-or-treat nights, each parent shall have the child from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on their respective trick or treat night. Where the parents live in communities that have the same trick or treat night, then the parties shall equally divide the time permitted by local authorities for trick or treat.
While the child is in his or her physical custody, each parent is required to secure the child in a child restraint system when transporting the child, as provided in KRS 189.125(2).
A. In any action where child support is requested, the initiating party shall file with the petition a child support guidelines worksheet. Upon entry of final decree or other order in any case where child support is ordered, the child support worksheet and form AOC-152 shall be transmitted by the clerk to the Carroll, Grant, or Owen County Attorney's Office Child Support Division who shall thereafter cause same to be uploaded to the state case registry.
A motion for pendente lite child support shall be accompanied by a verified schedule for the party filing the motion setting forth separately:
The non-movant party shall not be required to complete a schedule, and the moving party shall obtain relevant information from the non-movant through normal channels (i.e., request for production of documents, subpoena duces tecum, etc.).
A child support worksheet specified in DR 11.00.A and, unless already made a part of the Court's file, a schedule signed by each party verifying those matter set forth in DR 11.01.A above (without supporting attachments) shall be attached to all agreed orders in which child support is established. In addition, any agreed order establishing child support that is inconsistent with the guidelines shall contain the recitation set out in DR 7.02(2).
A. CONTESTED HEARINGS. Hearings before the Domestic Relations Commissioner are not and shall not be used as discovery proceedings. Discovery should be commenced prior to the filing of a motion to modify, and hearings upon such motions shall be scheduled at least 14 days prior to the date of the hearing to provide a reasonable opportunity for discovery by the responding party and the responding party shall make timely efforts to conduct discovery prior to the hearing.
All ex parte motions for child support pursuant to KRS 403.160 shall follow the statutory requirements. The affidavit must indicate that the moving party has physical possession of the children for whom child support is requested. The verified schedule provided for in DR 11.01.A shall also be filed with the motion. All motions must be accompanied by a complete child support worksheet (DR 11.00.A) for monthly child support obligation that is incorporated in the affidavit. All motions must indicate the nature in which they are served on the responding party unless they are to be served by the sheriff, in which case the sheriff's return shall serve as the verification of notice.
Upon proper Motion for contested hearing, the Commissioner shall issue a Trial Order which sets forth all information required of the parties prior to hearing and the form for filing same. No hearing shall be conducted unless both parties strictly comply with this Trial Order.
No trial date shall be assigned if the Motion therefore is not accompanied by the required schedules, and in the event the opposing party fails to file schedules within the required period, or either party files an incomplete schedule, the Commissioner, on his own initiative or on the motion of either party, may make such recommendations to the Court in regard to the failure as are just, and among others the following;
Each party shall furnish the Commissioner at the time of filing the Trial Brief, a completed child support worksheet conforming to the proof the party intends to introduce,
Each party may submit to the Commissioner at the time of trial a brief or statement of proposed Findings, Conclusions and Judgment. Following the trial, the Commissioner may require the parties to submit briefs or desired Findings etc. and may set reasonable time limits for the filing of these documents.
(3) All actions involving indigents shall be heard by the Commissioner without prepayment of fees. However, as indigency is established at the time of filing without the taking of proof, the Commissioner shall inquire into the issue of indigency at any hearing, to include the ability of the respondent to pay costs, and shall make findings and orders related thereto, including the ability of a party to make installment payments on costs if warranted by the facts.
DR 13.02 DEPOSIT OF FEES
The moving party shall pay to the Circuit Clerk, along with a copy of any motion being filed, the minimum fee for the motion in the amount of fifteen dollars ($15.00)
Where the Master Commissioner has also acted as a Domestic Relations Commissioner in a particular case, any judicial sale in the domestic relations actions shall be referred to a special Master Commissioner. Any objection to a recommended judicial sale may be raised by filing an objection to the Commissioner's report as provided for in DR 6.02.
Counsel for the Petitioner and Respondent shall, as soon as practicable and not later than five (5) days following the entry of the Court's Order of Sale, and not later than five (5) days following the filing of the Commissioner's Report, if one is filed, serve a copy of the Report and the Order upon all known holders of liens against property ordered to be sold in a domestic relations action. Counsel for the Petitioner shall file with the Court (and shall serve upon the Master Commissioner) counsel's written certification that copies of the Report and Order have been so served, specifying the date and manner of service.
Unless otherwise provided for by agreement of the parties, a parent who pays health related expense of a child that is not covered by insurance shall submit same to the non-paying parent in writing with documentation of the expense within thirty (30) days of receiving notice that there is a balance due that is not covered by insurance. The non-paying parent shall then have thirty (30) days to reimburse the paying parent his/her proportionate share of those health related expenses.
Credits
HISTORY: Amended effective July 8, 2013. Prior amendments effective February 1, 2008; April 13, 2012.
Carroll, Grant and Owen Circuit Court App. B, KY R CARROLL GRANT OWEN CIR CT App. B
Current with amendments received through November 15, 2023. Some rules may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document |