Our statutes also authorize a court with appropriate jurisdiction to enter temporary orders providing for the custody and support of children.
Such orders may be entered in order to provide continuing stability in a deteriorating situation, to preserve the status quo, to prevent a child’s removal from the jurisdiction, to return the child to an appropriate custodian, and/or to protect the child from harm, neglect or abuse.
Emergency temporary orders may be entered ex parte upon a verified pleading or affidavit. An affidavit is a written or printed declaration or a statement of facts which is made voluntarily under oath.
“Ex parte” means that only one side tells the court its version of events, for the reason that the other side has not yet been given the opportunity to address the court. Such an ex parte order does not fully satisfy the due process requirements of the U.S. and state Constitutions.
Therefore, the court must review a temporary emergency custody order within ten days, at which time the other side has the opportunity to present his or her own evidence. After the court has heard the evidence from each side, the order will be continued (kept in force), modified, or terminated (dissolved).
