An Update on Family Courts During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 12, 2020, as a result of increasing concern about the coronavirus, the Connecticut Judicial Branch announced that it would hear only matters classified as “Priority 1 Business Functions,” which included temporary restraining orders and emergency ex parte orders of custody. Regular court business was suspended.

Beginning May 18, 2020, Connecticut family courts began hearing certain matters remotely. Those matters included status conferences and pre-trials. The courts continued to hear Priority 1 Business Functions in person. 

Thereafter, the family courts expanded the list of matters that they would hear remotely. Starting on June 24, 2020, the family courts began holding remote hearings. Remote hearings are conducted using Microsoft Teams. If you do not have Microsoft Teams, you will be expected to download it before the hearing. Counsel or self-represented parties will be expected to confer before the hearing in order to determine if they can agree on certain facts, exhibits or a limitation on which issues are to be decided during the remote hearing. Hard copies of all evidence intended to be introduced at the hearing shall be exchanged with the other side, as well as provided to the court in advance of the hearing. Remote hearings are not to be recorded by the parties or their attorneys.

Matters that may currently be held remotely include, but are not limited to:

• Temporary Alimony and/or Child Support

• Custody issues

• Contempt

• Discovery issues

• Counsel fees

It is important to have an experienced lawyer by your side to guide you through this new procedure. For more information on how to have a remote hearing in your case or questions about this new procedure, call Ferro, Battey & Eucalitto, LLC.