We are working with a lawyer and she has served the kid's Mom with a Motion to Modify custody and parenting time.  Our lawyer also wrote up a request for a temporary order (kid's Mom unilaterally drastically changed the parenting plan from 50-50 to 80-20 for no reason, except presumably wanting more child support). 

We are asking for the 50-50 back (that has been in place for over 5 years). 

The lawyer said she would set a hearing date for the temporary orders.  During this hearing, would the motion to modify also be addressed or would that be a separate hearing?  And, generally, what is the legal process?  We are in Johnson County, KS.

My understanding is that there will be a hearing where both parents will be present, and lawyers and the judge will make a decision about the temp. orders.  The Mom refused mediation so I'm sure they will first be ordered to do that.  What happens after mediation if they can't come to an agreement?  Is there another hearing or is a court date set?

I'm just trying to understand the general over-all process and how many months it might take to get through this to where a judge makes a final decision.  I know there can be unexpected things along the way. 

Thank you.

I think a lot of your questions depend on the status of the case.

• is there already a custody order for 80/20 parenting time or 50/50 or something else?
• where do the parents live in relation to each other?
• how old are the kids?
• are both parents sane and considerate of each other?

Usually both motions like this would be heard at the same time to conserve the court's time.  This sounds more like a change of custody which will require a showing that a change in circumstances has occurred.  Then mediation or case management, then set a date for evidentiary hearing/trial along with prehearing conferences, then evidentiary hearing.  All this takes a while and is very costly.

Sounds to me like shared custody would work well in this case.  If the parents live that close together and can both get the kids to school, I doubt there's any good reason to make them sleep at mom's during the week.  So you think mom requires them to sleep at her house just to make sure her child support stays as high as possible?  Do the kids have any problem with sleeping at dad's house half the time?

There is also another approach to calculating parenting time which is used by attorneys in KS and in other states.  That is the hours method.  Hours that the kids spend sleeping or in school does not count.  So when you add up all that time, and you can demonstrate the time is already split, maybe that's enough.

I agree with your attorney requesting not "full" custody but "residential" custody.  This is pretty typical in court.  It's a psychological effect to cause the other parent to see how much they stand to lose if the judge does not side with them.  In some counties in KS there is something called limited case management which is like case management except a recommendation is given.  Maybe this would work for you guys.  But it really sounds like a hearing might be best.  I would imagine before the hearing even comes up an agreement will be made which will help both parties.