Q: What does it mean when it says matter striken pending service to be reset by either party?
He filed for paternity and custody after I filed a protective order. He is not on the birth certificate. I moved and did not know he filed. He now has criminal charges pending for domestic violence. Is the paternity case dropped? Or will I be served for that when I receive the subpoena to testify for the criminal charges?
A:
stricken generally means that any hearing that was scheduled to occur has been cancelled for now. It appears that he was required to serve you with notice of the hearing and failed to do so; therefore, the court would not conduct the hearing. The hearing could be reset, but he will have to take steps to first get a new hearing date and then he will have to ensure you are served with a document providing notice of the hearing. The paternity/custody case is independent from any criminal charges he has pending, and the paternity/custody case is not going to necessarily be dropped because he has pending charges. Also, any subpoena you receive to testify in the criminal case will likely be done by the DA's office, and the DA's office has no interest in serving you with anything from his paternity/custody suit. With that said, you could be served anytime on the paternity/custody suit.
I recommend you contact a family law attorney to review the paternity/custody suit he has filed, and follow that attorney's advice on how best to handle it.
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