One of the best court rules to be enacted in the family law area is Sec. 25-5 or the Automatic Orders upon Service of Complaint or Application. Prior to 1999, parties to a divorce, custody/visitation, legal separation or annulment action tried to transfer property or dissipate assets or move out of state with their children. A motion then had to filed to retrieve the assets or bring the children back which was not always possible.
Now a list of automatic orders is attached to a custody/visitation application or a divorce, legal separation or annulment complaint. The automatic orders apply to the plaintiff when the complaint or application is signed by the plaintiff, and they apply to the defendant when the complaint or application is served upon the defendant.
One of the automatic orders is that "neither party shall permanently remove the minor child or children from the state of Connecticut, without written consent of the other or order of a judicial authority." Another automatic order is that "neither party shall conceal any property." The entire list of the automatic orders can be found under Practice Book sec. 25-5 or the court form JD-FM-158.
The automatic orders remain in effect during the pendency of the action unless terminated, modified or amended by further court order. Failure to obey the automatic orders may be punishable by contempt of court.
