What happens at the Pretrial Conference in your Divorce or Custody case?

When you go to court as part of your divorce or custody case, you're probably expecting the Judge to decide a disputed issue, such as the parenting plan or a support order.  That is what happens, for instance, after a Temporary Order hearing or Trial.

Pretrial and Status Conferences are different.

The Judge is usually not going to make any decisions regarding the merits of your case after a Pretrial Conference or Status Conference.  Instead, a Pretrial or Status Conference is an opportunity for the parties, and their attorneys, to appear before the Judge who will preside over the Trial in your case.

At the Pretrial or Status Conference, your attorney (or you, if you represent yourself) will explain to the Judge what the disputed issues are in your case and will provide a summary of what you expect the evidence will show at Trial regarding that issue.

For instance, suppose you and your spouse disagree on the amount of child support your spouse should pay to you, and this disagreement is based on your allegation that your spouse is not disclosing all of his/her income.  You would explain this to the Judge at the Pretrial Conference and summarize what you expect the evidence to show at Trial regarding your spouse's actual income.  Your spouse (or his/her attorney) would, of course, have a chance to make the same presentation.

Typically, the Judge then provides some feedback based on the summary that you (and your spouse) have provided to the Judge.  The Judge is not deciding the issue, but she is giving you an idea of what she might do after hearing the evidence at a trial.

This is a good thing.

The purpose of this feedback is to assist the parties in settling the case by agreement (without having a Trial.)  If the parties are able to agree that day, they can generally submit a written Agreement for Judgment and conclude the case that day.  If not, then the Judge will most likely schedule the case for Trial (and may also schedule an additional Status Conference to take place before the Trial.)

By the time you reach your first Pretrial Conference, you will have done the work necessary to understand the specific issues that are disputed in your case, as well as the facts or issues that you and the other party agree on.  Detailed preparation is key to having a productive pretrial conference and moving the ball forward in your case.