Marriage of Faber CA2/1

BACKGROUND

Steve Faber (Steve) and Martha Faber (Martha) married in 1994 and separated on May 29, 2013.1 They have two children, Thomas (18) and Claire (16). Martha instituted marital dissolution proceedings. On October 23, 2013, respondent court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO). The expiration date on the TRO is handwritten; on the photocopy provided as an exhibit, the expiration date appears to be “11/12/13.” Martha’s counsel, Robert K. Holmes, personally served the TRO on Steve at the Northeast District Courthouse. Approximately one month after the expiration of the order, on December 11, 2013, the parties and their counsel signed the document entitled Stipulation and Order, which was filed the next day on December 12, 2013. Paragraph 1 of the Stipulation and Order states that the Restraining Order After Hearing “shall be issued by the Court at the December 12, 2013 hearing date in the form attached hereto.” (Italics added.) Paragraph 2 states that the “personal appearance of the parties or Respondent’s counsel shall not be required,” presumably at the December 12, 2013 hearing. The remainder of the Stipulation and Order concerns Steve’s contact with the family dogs…