What happens if I don't show up for Court?
First of all, don't miss your Court date if you can help it. In most courts in Alabama, if you are properly served and fail to show up for Court, the Judge will enter a default judgment against you and in favor of your spouse (or in the case of a modification or contempt case, your ex-spouse). This essentially means that the judge will grant your spouse the relief they request without getting any input from you.
If you have a trial date that is approaching get to a lawyer immediately. Under certain circumstances, the lawyer may be able to get a continuance for you.
If you unavoidably missed a trial or hearing, talk to a lawyer to see if you can have the default judgment set aside. In the jurisdictions in which I practice, my experience has been that the judges would prefer not to enter deaults. So, they will often consider giving a litigant a second chance to present evidence, if there was a legitimate reason for missing the court date and/or the issues that were decided in the default judgment were critical (such as child custody, alimony, etc.) But, time is essential here. A motion to set aside a default needs to be filed as soon as possible, and in many instances, it must be filed prior to the expiration of 30 days from the date of the entry of default.
This is such a great post. It's something that is incredibly obvious to lawyers yet clients don't always get it. You might want to add that showing up for court means showing up at the time that's indicated on the scheduling order or notice - and not at the time you think the judge is going to arrive.