Khloe’s Divorce to be Dismissed?

It is old news that Khloe Kardashian filed for divorce from her husband Lamar Odom back in 2013. According to this article, however, there is a possibility that her divorce action could be dismissed by the Court in Los Angeles. It would appear from this article, that under California law, a party has an affirmative duty to keep a divorce action moving; otherwise, the case could be dismissed. It would appear that she started her action in December 2013 and, if nothing else is filed by the end of April, her case will be dismissed. It is not clear from the article what either Khloe or Lamar will have to file to preclude the dismissal of her divorce action.

So, what would have happened if Khloe had filed her divorce action in Pennsylvania.  In many counties in Pennsylvania, the divorce action is driven by the parties, not by the court system. If either party files the appropriate document, the case moves through the system. If neither party files anything to move a case forward, the case sits dormant if not for months, then for years.   In 2003, a Rule of Civil Procedure was implemented by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania authorized a trial court to terminate any case “in which there has been no activity of record for two years or more by serving a notice of proposed dismissal of court case.” Pa.R.C.P. 230.2.  Not long after this rule was implemented, county courts were sending our many notices and/or publishing notices regarding which cases would be terminated if there was no activity.  To avoid having one’s case dismissed, a simple “Statement of Intent to Proceed” would be filed with the Court within 30 days of the Notice being sent. If the Statement were filed, the case could sit inactive for another two years before another notice could be sent.  The filing of the Statement of Intent to Proceed was like re-setting the shot clock.

On April 23, 2014, however, the PA Supreme Court issued an order suspending this rule. According to the text of the order that was issued, Rule 230.2 was going to be under “review and revision.” Almost 1 year later, this rule is still suspended.   However, this did not preclude the courts from dismissing inactive cases.  The April 2014 Order from the PA Supreme Court specifically provided that the Court could still proceed under Rule of Judicial Administration (Pa.R.J.A.) 1901.

This administrative rule provides that the county trial courts have the discretion to develop a local rule which provides for the termination to inactive cases.  At least 30 days notice still has to be given before the termination. Instead of their being a universal procedure throughout PA, it was left up to the county.

So where would this leave Khloe if she filed in PA? It would depend upon the county where she filed. If she wants to get a divorce, she or Lamar should move the case forward to its conclusion.