Things to Consider If You Can’t Be Physically Present in a Court Hearing

Take this scenario: an official court hearing notice has recently arrived, but you’re not sure if you’ll be physically present for it. Perhaps there’s a major appointment to the doctor that you’ve to attend or you’re on a business trip during the day of the scheduled court hearing.

For sure, there are a lot of reasons why people can’t attend a court hearing. The question is: what are your options to avoid legal complications in such an event?

When you can’t be physically present for a court hearing, it’s crucial to know what are the legal consequences that you may incur from your actions. Also, you should know the things to consider if you’ll be absent for your scheduled court hearing.

It’s Still a Good Idea to Be Present in Court

Of course, it’s still always for your good to show up to a court hearing no matter how thin your option may be. The sanctions from the court if you’ll not be present in the hearing will differ depending on the case or charges at hand.

Some charges will indeed require your presence, and if you can’t attend the hearing, the judge could issue an arrest warrant against you. There are also warrants that could mean active searching from the authorities. Passive warrants, on the other hand, will require arrest only if the law enforcement authorities see you on their radar.

That’s why you should know what will be the consequences of you not showing up in a court hearing required by the court. As far as possible, you should see to it that it will be to your benefit to attend. Your presence at the hearing will help you avoid unfavorable sanctions, and it will provide you with the opportunity to defend yourself before the judge.

You Can Request for Rescheduling

If ever the date of the court hearing interferes with some significant events or circumstances in your life, one of the best options is to request for rescheduling. However, the court will only grant you this request if ever you have a legitimate reason for your absence on that scheduled hearing. For example, having a major medical surgery or the like.

Your lawyer or the county clerk might find a way to set a new date that will be favorable for you and the sitting judge. After the request for rescheduling is granted, you should make sure that you’ll now be present for the new date.

Your Lawyer Could Represent You in Court

There are situations when the court will allow your lawyer to represent on your behalf. That means your physical presence may no more be necessary as long as your attorney will take the legal matters to defend the charges put against you.

However, this matter will depend on the reason why the judge requires your presence in court. In this case, you can contact a special appearance attorney if it’s possible for him or her to represent you without your presence in court.

Takeaway

A notice from the court to attend a court hearing is important. However, there are times that it can interfere with other significant events in your life. Hence, you need to know what are the options if you can’t attend a court hearing.

First off, you need to understand that it’s to your best interests to not be absent in a court hearing. However, if your presence in the court won’t be possible during the scheduled hearing, you can request for rescheduling so that you can attend to it. In other cases, the judge can also grant your lawyer to represent on your behalf despite your absence.

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