Family Law: Adjournment (noun)

Adjournment (noun): a ruling to postpone or defer a court date to another day due to an intervening event.

 If a matter is in court, it may be the situation where:

 a court event has been scheduled for a day that one or both parties cannot attend,

1. your lawyer may have another court hearing scheduled for the same time and day which means he or she cannot attend, or
2. an intervening event occurred which hindered one party’s attendance, such as illness or a death in the family.

In all these instances, parties may seek an adjournment. This simply means that the parties consent to moving the court date to another day which either works better for the parties logistically or which accommodates a personal tragedy or life event for one party.

 Adjournments exist for certain, exceptional circumstances but are not simply a tool to postpone court hearings.

 A judicial officer may also choose to adjourn a hearing if he or she feels that the parties have not provided adequate information and/or documents. The hearing will then be resumed once the judge’s instructions have been complied with.

 If you have a family law matter, concerns about how to get a family law property settlement or questions about family law and separation in NSW and want to find out more please do not hesitate to contact us on 9688 6023 or email us at info@franklegal.com.au.

 This article is provided to the reader for general information. It is not legal advice. It was written by Andrea Spencer & Emily Graham and edited by James Frank.

 More from the blog:

Family Law: An introduction to our jargon guide

Family Law: Court is an avenue of last resort

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