Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Rejecting my proof of service

I just got a notice from the local family court, rejecting my status memo for the next scheduled court appearance. The deputy clerk said, "Reason for return: parties can't do any type of service to one another."

The rules require filing a status memo before a family court status conference in court. It is just a brief page reminding the judge of what is going on in the case. In practice, the rule is only enforced on lawyers.

In court, I often hear the judge lecturing some lawyer for not filing a status memo. Occasionally, some lawyer will complain that he didn't file it because the previous judges did not enforce that rule, and he thought that it was unnecessary. The judge then threatens him with a $500 fine, and that is the end of that discussion.

I mailed the status memo to the court and to my ex-wife. I included a "proof of service" swearing that I mailed it to my ex-wife. She acknowledged receiving it. But that is not good enough, because the clerk wants a piece of paper saying that some stranger dropped the status memo in the mailbox.

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