Child Custody and Parental Visitation During COVID-19 in Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

CHILD CUSTODY AND PARENTAL VISITATION DURING COVID-19 IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

 

Wild times.

In the past week, America has gone from 0 to 100 regarding the coronavirus.

Each day new regulations and restrictions are sprouting across Albuquerque, New Mexico, with courthouses following suit.

I most recently stepped into Second Judicial District Court, last Thursday, for a temporary restraining order hearing.  At that time, rumors were flying all over the courthouse about delays, closures and continuances.  No one was certain what would take place.  No two stories sounded the same and ranged from “business as usual” to every pending hearing being vacated and reset three months into the future.

The “official” word has not been released about family court closures, delays and continuances – note that the image above lists “information unavailable” for New Mexico.

As I write these words, there is no uniformity between judges within one courthouse, let alone uniformity from one jurisdiction to the next.

Family courts in Albuquerque, New Mexico (i.e. Second Judicial District Court, DM Division) have announced that the courthouse is not closed.  Nevertheless, virtually all of the pending DM hearings have been vacated (cancelled) and continued to a date after April 20, 2020.

Yesterday – March 18^th – a total of two total hearings were scheduled for all of Albuquerque’s Family Court. Both hearings appeared to be unavoidable emergencies.

In Albuquerque’s DM Division (i.e. Family Court), one of my cases scheduled for next week has been continued from March 24, 2020 to May 26, 2020.  Another case has been continued from March 25, 2020 to June 11, 2020.  Both cases involve different judges.

One judge in Albuquerque’s Family Court reportedly has vacated all pending hearings, continuing the hearings until July.  This means that for this judge (one of the four total judges), the already scheduled hearings will not take place until July – at the earliest.  It is unclear how many months it will take before new hearings will be set for this judge.

Rio Rancho’s Family Court is operating with a “business as usual” mentality, and is continuing to actively hold hearings.  Reportedly, hearings are still being held even when ten or more people are involved.

The Domestic Violence Division of Albuquerque’s Family Court is “sorta open.”  Victims of domestic abuse still have the ability to file a Petition for Order of Protection.  Each day, one Judge and Hearing Officer will be on rotation to review and sign temporary order of protections, in situations where probable cause has been stated in the Petition demonstrating that an act of abuse occurred.

By statute, a hearing must be held “within ten days after the granting of the temporary order of protection . . . .” See NMSA § 40-13-4.  Despite this ten day requirement, no new hearings will be held until April 20, 2020 – at the earliest.  In this respect, the court has the ability to surpass the ten day requirement for “good cause shown.” The present situations certainly constitutes “good cause.”

Rio Rancho’s DV Division is operating similar to Albuquerque’s DV Division, and no new hearings will take place until late April, or early May – at the earliest.

The practical effect of the delays and continuances is that child custody and time-sharing issues in Albuquerque will not be addressed by a DM Judge until late April – at the earliest. Parents that are experiencing custody and  time-sharing issues have the following options:

1. Reach a mutual agreement outside of court via verbal word, text message or email;
2. Reach an agreement that is then memorialized into a stipulated order that becomes a binding and enforceable agreement;
3. In situations where parents cannot agree, wait until late April, or early May – at the earliest – before a judge can hear the issue and render a court order; or
4. File an Emergency Motion for Ex Parte Order (i.e. request an Order without a hearing based on an emergency situation), and hope that the assigned judge reviews the Motion and Order, and is available and willing to enter an Ex Parte Order.

These are your options regarding custody disputes, in relation to the Albuquerque’s Family Court.

For emergency situations where an act of abuse is present and one parent poses an immediate threat of harm to either you or the children – as discussed above – parents still have the ability to file a Petition for Order of Protection.

In situations where the facts stated in the Petition provides the assigned judge with probable cause to believe that an act of abuse has occurred, an ex parte temporary order of protection (i.e. a temporary order of protection without a hearing) will be entered.

This temporary order of protection could prevent the abusive parent from having contact with the child and/or abused parent, until a hearing is held.  As stated above, a hearing will note be held until late April, or early May – at the earliest.

If your plan is to look to police for help with your custody issue, then you likely will need to look elsewhere.  Generally speaking, police do not get involved with “DM matters.”  To police “DM matters” essentially means any custody issue that lacks a valid and enforceable court order.

 

(505) SANCHEZ IS HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CUSTODY AND VISITATION DURING COVID-19 IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

 

Do you still have questions about child custody and parental visitation during COVID-19 in Albuquerque, New Mexico?  COVID-19 can impact custody arrangements and parenting plans in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Matthew Legan Sanchez is an experienced family law litigator in Albuquerque.  Sanchez can be reached by calling (505) SANCHEZ.