The juridicition is Cuyahoga County, Cleveland Ohio. Domestic Relations court.

The final hearing was mid December?

I've called the magistrate's office to inquire has to what is the drop dead date by which we would have a decision, but she says she cannot provide legal advice. This is not legal advice, it is simply telling me what the rules of the court are?

After a hearing or trial run by a magistrate, the magistrate must decision. Believe it or not, the magistrate has no deadline for writing this decision.

However, you may wish to file a Motion with the Judge to Determine a Date Certain for a Written Decision by the Magistrate in a Hearing in your matter held on xxxx Date. In the Motion (which must be in the same format as any other pleading in your divorce action) you should emphasize the date of the hearing and that to date, the Magistrate has failed, neglected and/or refused to render a written decision in your matter. You can also state in your motion that the Magistrate has had MORE THAN REASONABLE time to write the decision. You may also allege that it is in the best interests of the children that a decision be rendered in a timely manner (and list those reasons). In your prayer for relief, you may wish to ask the Court to determine why the magistrate has failed to render a written decision, ask the court to set a date by which a written decision must be rendered, ask for court costs for having to file the Motion and ask for any other relief that may be just and equitable.

Again, the Magistrate has NO deadline for writing a decision, but a reasonable time has passed such that a decision should have been rendered. The judge MIGHT deny your Motion, but s/he may also grant it. In any case, you will have brought the problem to the Judge's attention. You may not be the only one who has been waiting a long period of time to receive a written decision from this particular magistrate. Remember, it is the Judge who appoints the magistrate. If this is a prevalent problem, the judge may choose not to appoint this same lawyer as a magistrate again.

I hope you find this information useful.

My goal is to provide you with excellent service – if you feel you have gotten anything less, please reply back, I am happy to address follow-up questions. Thank you for your business!

***Answers given are for informational purposes only and are not meant to replace the advice or assistance of an attorney licensed to practice law in your state. If you need any more information, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you!

What about a motion for emergency visitation? In that case, the visitation can resume while we wait for the decision and the magistrate won't feel we are rushing him. We just want visitation to begin now. We are fine waiting for details on progression of the visitation.

If you and your spouse agree to a visitation schedule (so long as there is no type of DHS involvement or domestic violence), you MAY be able to agree upon a schedule and enter the agreement by stipulation. As you may be aware, "by stipulation" means that you both agree. You may wish to title the pleading as "Stipulation for Visitation Schedule." Then, you can place the terms of the visitation schedule in the Stipulation. Both parties would sign the Stipulation and ask to have it entered by the Judge. The Judge may sign the agreement, or may schedule a hearing to hear more facts as to why the Stipulation should be entered.

If you don't agree on a visitation schedule, you can file an Emergency Motion for Visitation. You can indicate in your Motion WHY the motion is an emergency, why it is important to have a visitation schedule entered by the court while you are awaiting a written decision of the magistrate, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, why it is in the BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN that a visitation Order be entered by the court pending the written decision of the Magistrate (and indicate how long it has been since your hearing).

I hope you find this information useful.

My goal is to provide you with excellent service – if you feel you have gotten anything less, please reply back, I am happy to address follow-up questions. Thank you for your business!

***Answers given are for informational purposes only and are not meant to replace the advice or assistance of an attorney licensed to practice law in your state. If you need any more information, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you!

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

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