In many types of civil litigation, the core issue is not whether time is of the essence, but whether one will eventually recover compensation, and if so, how much. Yes, one would prefer resolution sooner than later, but the harm has already occurred, and so the focus is on quantifying and compensating loss, not preventing further injury. A longer wait is thus tolerable.
Family law is fundamentally different.
In domestic relations cases, time is often a critical factor, sometimes even the most critical factor. Children grow and change every day, and when they are placed with an unfit parent—or deprived of meaningful contact with a fit one—the damage can be immediate, ongoing, and, in many cases, irreversible. Emotional harm, alienation, abuse, and neglect can and do occur in real time while the legal system moves at its standard, methodical pace.
Unlike other areas of litigation, family law cases frequently require swift, considered, and decisive intervention. When a parent is unjustly denied access to his/her child, or when a child’s well-being is at stake, delay becomes more than an inconvenience—it becomes a form of the worst injustice. A “temporary” order issued after an hour-long proffer hearing can upend the parent-child relationship a child has known and thrived in for years. The adverse consequences of such practices affect every crucial interest: financial, reputational, relational, emotional, and developmental.
Delays in family law cases don’t just harm children—they can devastate parents in ways that are both personal and permanent. A parent who is wrongly denied access to their child for months or even years may miss irreplaceable milestones, lose the ability to maintain a meaningful bond, and suffer emotional and psychological harm that no court order can undo. Even if reunification eventually occurs, the damage to the parent-child relationship may already be deep and lasting.
Beyond the loss of time with a child, unproven accusations made in the heat of custody disputes—especially when left unresolved for extended periods—can destroy a parent’s reputation, erode their standing in the community, jeopardize their employment, and lead to exclusion from churches, schools, and civic organizations. Even when vindicated, parents often find that the stigma lingers. In family law, justice delayed is not only justice denied—it is a blow to a parent’s identity, dignity, and ability to live fully in their personal and public life.
The legal maxim “justice delayed is justice denied” takes on a cruel edge in family law—because the time lost is not just procedural, it’s personal.
Our current family court systems are neither equipped nor do they uniformly desire to meet the need for urgent, informed, and responsive action. Courts must be more actively engaged in domestic relations cases than they are in other cases—tracking developments more closely, intervening more quickly, and prioritizing the protection of parent-child relationships and the best interests of the child. Sadly, what we are witnessing is a system that is becoming less responsive, not more.
We need more and better court intervention in domestic relations matters—weekly, or even daily, in some instances. If courts are unable or unwilling to meet these needs, we must reexamine and restructure how we handle family law disputes. Unless and until the courts rise to meet the unique and pressing needs of these cases, we are wasting time, squandering resources, and, most critically, failing the children and families the system is meant to serve.
So what would a more responsive family court look like? How would it operate? I’ll address these questions in future blog posts.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
