I never had to do any of that. I can't offer any advice, but I can say good luck and I hope it works out best for you.

never heard of case mangement b4 but good luck

I had to go to case management and my divorce was actually granted that same morning because all of our stuff was turned in and we were not fighting over anything.

Since we were the last couple to be seen, I was able to watch the others. No, it didnt take all day. If you and your stbx still have stuff to decide, then this is the place to see what can get resolved. At my case management, they even had mediators on hand to assist if needed.

When I was finished, I actually went to work for the rest of the day.

Best of luck to you.

We did something like that... a Preliminary before a judge to overview the situation.

My EX and his lawyer did all the talking really, the EX even cried, being a child of divorce it was hard for him to deal with this he said. Second time in 26 years I have seen him cry.

basically.. the Petitioner filing for the diviorce here in Canada swears on the Bible that the marriage is over and makes any requests from the Court.
My EX wanted a psychiatric evaluation of me.
He was petitioning for the sale of the house.
He had threatened me earlier out of court that he would be filing for sole custody.

He told the Judge that he was seeking MORE, as he had contributed to more during the 26 years of the relationship.

It went on and on.. the Judge just looked at them and in disgust said. A Mom and 3 little girls....you do the math.. she wins. Be thankful your wife is willing to give you half... cos she would be at least 60% of everything if this goes to court.

If we had nothing to fight over..as in assets, pensions, custody of the children, division of assets, burden of debt etc.. we could of filed and dissolved the marriage then and there.

The Prelim is also to set a court date and any temporary terms of the separation, like support, custody of children.

You should have your lawyer explain to you what is the agenda

Case Management Conferences are probably handled differently form state to state, county to county and judge to judge, but the main idea is exactly as you have described it -- to let the court know where the case is at, what remains unresolved, and ask the court for orders or guidance as to what can be done (e.g. what information needs to be exchanged, etc.) to promote settlemetn on all issues. It probably will take less than 10 minutes,if you don't count teh waiting around for your case to be called! Good luck and think about what you could ask the court to do that would be helpful to settling the case, in teh event that the court asks you.