SAUFLEY, C.J.
[¶ 1] Marie E. Roberts appeals from a judgment entered in the District Court (Calais, Romei, J.) granting her a divorce from Edwin F. Roberts Jr. Additionally, Marie contends that the court abused its discretion in denying, as moot, her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law. Marie filed her motion pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(b) after the court orally announced its findings from the bench, but before the court issued a written judgment. We take this opportunity to address the status of judicial findings and conclusions that have been announced orally from the bench, when no written judgment has yet issued. After clarifying that status, we remand the matter to allow Marie an opportunity to seek findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(b). We do not reach Marie’s contentions regarding the substance of the judgment because the judgment may be affected by the court’s actions on remand.
[778]*778I. BACKGROUND
[¶2] Marie E. Roberts and Edwin F. Roberts Jr. were married on June 5, 1983. Marie filed a complaint for divorce on July 18, 2005, after twenty-two years of marriage. There are no children of the marriage. Before trial, the parties agreed to a division of much of their personal property. The matters in dispute at the trial included the distribution of retirement accounts and other financial assets, the payment of spousal support, and other related matters such as health insurance and attorney fees. At trial, the parties offered testimony regarding their employment histories, their health circumstances, and the value of the marital and nonmarital property.
[¶ 3] At the end of the trial, and on the record, the court announced from the bench its findings and conclusions, and it directed that Marie’s attorney draft a divorce judgment consistent with its announced findings. See Jarvis v. Jarvis, 2003 ME 53, ¶ 14 n. 1, 832 A.2d 775, 778-79. The court articulated findings that would (1) divide the parties’ tangible personal property according to the parties’ agreement; (2) award Marie thirty percent, i.e., one-half of the marital interest, of Edwin’s retirement accounts; (3) order Edwin to pay Marie $35,000 in cash; (4) award Marie transitional spousal support in the amount of $10,000 per year for five years, to be made in monthly payments; (5) require Edwin to pay for Marie’s health insurance through COBRA for as long as COBRA allows — roughly two or three years; and (6) require Edwin to pay Marie’s attorney fees.
[¶4] Three days after the court announced its preliminary decision from the bench, but before the court entered a written judgment, Marie filed a motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(b). In her motion, Marie proposed that the court make additional findings regarding the length of the parties’ marriage; the parties’ work histories; the parties’ ages and incomes; the value of Edwin’s nonmarital real estate; Edwin’s failure to document the value of his nonmarital assets, including the value of Edwin’s beneficial interest in a family trust; each party’s health condition; Marie’s contributions as the primary homemaker during the marriage; and Marie’s limited ability to work due to health problems. Marie asked the court to award her general spousal support of $575 per week, based on the proposed additional findings.
[¶ 5] Marie’s attorney also drafted a divorce judgment as the court had requested. The court entered the written judgment, which was consistent with the findings it had stated on the record. Additionally, the court denied Marie’s motion for findings of fact and conclusions of law as moot. Marie timely appealed from the court’s judgment and the denial of her motion.
II. DISCUSSION
[¶ 6] Marie argues that the court erred in denying her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law. Although we review a ruling on the substance of a Rule 52(b) motion for an abuse of discretion, see Sewall v. Saritvanich, 1999 ME 46, ¶¶ 9-10, 726 A.2d 224, 226, the question of whether the motion was moot is a question of law, see, e.g., State v. Dhuy, 2003 ME 75, ¶¶ 6-7, 825 A.2d 336, 340. We review questions of law de novo. Viles v. Town of Embden, 2006 ME 107, ¶ 10, 905 A.2d 298, 301.
[¶ 7] Rule 52(b) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure provides a mechanism by which a party may move a trial court to make additional factual findings [779]*779and amend its judgment in accordance with those findings:
The court may, upon motion of a party made not later than 10 days after notice of findings made by the court, amend its findings or make additional findings and, if judgment has been entered, may amend the judgment accordingly. The motion may be made with a motion for a new trial pursuant to Rule 59.
(Emphasis added.) As the rule states, a party must make a motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law within ten days after notice of the court’s findings. It is possible that Rule 52(b), when read in isolation, could be interpreted to require that a motion for findings be made as soon as the court has issued oral findings from the bench. A trial court’s final findings of fact, however, are not made until the court signs a judgment or enters it in the docket:
The notation of a judgment in the civil docket in accordance with Rule 79(a)1 constitutes the entry of the judgment. Any judgment or other order of the court is effective and enforceable upon signature by the court, or if not signed by the court, then upon entry of the judgment in the civil docket.
M.R. Civ. P. 58 (emphasis and footnote added). The policy contained in Rule 58, making a judgment effective only upon the signature of the court or docketing of the judgment, is a wise one. There will be many occasions when a court presents its findings and conclusions orally to the parties or to counsel at the conclusion of a proceeding. Rule 58 makes it clear that when a court states its factual findings from the bench, whether it directs a party to draft the judgment or indicates that the court itself will enter its written judgment in the future, the court’s findings of fact have not yet been finally entered. Rather, through its written judgment, the court may augment, adjust, correct, or change the findings it previously stated on the record from the bench.2
[¶ 8] Accordingly, by applying the provisions of Rule 58 and those of Rule 52(b), we conclude in this matter that the court’s announcement of findings and conclusions from the bench did not trigger the application of Rule 52(b).3 Thus, because the court’s findings had not yet been made for purposes of Rule 52(b) when Marie filed her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is understandable that the court regarded her motion as moot when it entered its written judgment and denied the motion. In these circumstances, however, the correct response would have been to dismiss the motion as premature and allow Marie to file a proper motion, if she wished to do so, after the judgment was entered. See Boynton v. Adams, 331 A.2d 370, 373 n. 2 (Me.1975) (affirming the trial court’s denial of a motion for relief from judgment as premature because it was filed before the judgment was entered); cf. Dyar Sales & Mach. Co. v. Mininni, 132 Me. 79, 81, 166 A.
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SAUFLEY, C.J.
[¶ 1] Marie E. Roberts appeals from a judgment entered in the District Court (Calais, Romei, J.) granting her a divorce from Edwin F. Roberts Jr. Additionally, Marie contends that the court abused its discretion in denying, as moot, her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law. Marie filed her motion pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(b) after the court orally announced its findings from the bench, but before the court issued a written judgment. We take this opportunity to address the status of judicial findings and conclusions that have been announced orally from the bench, when no written judgment has yet issued. After clarifying that status, we remand the matter to allow Marie an opportunity to seek findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(b). We do not reach Marie’s contentions regarding the substance of the judgment because the judgment may be affected by the court’s actions on remand.
[778]*778I. BACKGROUND
[¶2] Marie E. Roberts and Edwin F. Roberts Jr. were married on June 5, 1983. Marie filed a complaint for divorce on July 18, 2005, after twenty-two years of marriage. There are no children of the marriage. Before trial, the parties agreed to a division of much of their personal property. The matters in dispute at the trial included the distribution of retirement accounts and other financial assets, the payment of spousal support, and other related matters such as health insurance and attorney fees. At trial, the parties offered testimony regarding their employment histories, their health circumstances, and the value of the marital and nonmarital property.
[¶ 3] At the end of the trial, and on the record, the court announced from the bench its findings and conclusions, and it directed that Marie’s attorney draft a divorce judgment consistent with its announced findings. See Jarvis v. Jarvis, 2003 ME 53, ¶ 14 n. 1, 832 A.2d 775, 778-79. The court articulated findings that would (1) divide the parties’ tangible personal property according to the parties’ agreement; (2) award Marie thirty percent, i.e., one-half of the marital interest, of Edwin’s retirement accounts; (3) order Edwin to pay Marie $35,000 in cash; (4) award Marie transitional spousal support in the amount of $10,000 per year for five years, to be made in monthly payments; (5) require Edwin to pay for Marie’s health insurance through COBRA for as long as COBRA allows — roughly two or three years; and (6) require Edwin to pay Marie’s attorney fees.
[¶4] Three days after the court announced its preliminary decision from the bench, but before the court entered a written judgment, Marie filed a motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(b). In her motion, Marie proposed that the court make additional findings regarding the length of the parties’ marriage; the parties’ work histories; the parties’ ages and incomes; the value of Edwin’s nonmarital real estate; Edwin’s failure to document the value of his nonmarital assets, including the value of Edwin’s beneficial interest in a family trust; each party’s health condition; Marie’s contributions as the primary homemaker during the marriage; and Marie’s limited ability to work due to health problems. Marie asked the court to award her general spousal support of $575 per week, based on the proposed additional findings.
[¶ 5] Marie’s attorney also drafted a divorce judgment as the court had requested. The court entered the written judgment, which was consistent with the findings it had stated on the record. Additionally, the court denied Marie’s motion for findings of fact and conclusions of law as moot. Marie timely appealed from the court’s judgment and the denial of her motion.
II. DISCUSSION
[¶ 6] Marie argues that the court erred in denying her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law. Although we review a ruling on the substance of a Rule 52(b) motion for an abuse of discretion, see Sewall v. Saritvanich, 1999 ME 46, ¶¶ 9-10, 726 A.2d 224, 226, the question of whether the motion was moot is a question of law, see, e.g., State v. Dhuy, 2003 ME 75, ¶¶ 6-7, 825 A.2d 336, 340. We review questions of law de novo. Viles v. Town of Embden, 2006 ME 107, ¶ 10, 905 A.2d 298, 301.
[¶ 7] Rule 52(b) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure provides a mechanism by which a party may move a trial court to make additional factual findings [779]*779and amend its judgment in accordance with those findings:
The court may, upon motion of a party made not later than 10 days after notice of findings made by the court, amend its findings or make additional findings and, if judgment has been entered, may amend the judgment accordingly. The motion may be made with a motion for a new trial pursuant to Rule 59.
(Emphasis added.) As the rule states, a party must make a motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law within ten days after notice of the court’s findings. It is possible that Rule 52(b), when read in isolation, could be interpreted to require that a motion for findings be made as soon as the court has issued oral findings from the bench. A trial court’s final findings of fact, however, are not made until the court signs a judgment or enters it in the docket:
The notation of a judgment in the civil docket in accordance with Rule 79(a)1 constitutes the entry of the judgment. Any judgment or other order of the court is effective and enforceable upon signature by the court, or if not signed by the court, then upon entry of the judgment in the civil docket.
M.R. Civ. P. 58 (emphasis and footnote added). The policy contained in Rule 58, making a judgment effective only upon the signature of the court or docketing of the judgment, is a wise one. There will be many occasions when a court presents its findings and conclusions orally to the parties or to counsel at the conclusion of a proceeding. Rule 58 makes it clear that when a court states its factual findings from the bench, whether it directs a party to draft the judgment or indicates that the court itself will enter its written judgment in the future, the court’s findings of fact have not yet been finally entered. Rather, through its written judgment, the court may augment, adjust, correct, or change the findings it previously stated on the record from the bench.2
[¶ 8] Accordingly, by applying the provisions of Rule 58 and those of Rule 52(b), we conclude in this matter that the court’s announcement of findings and conclusions from the bench did not trigger the application of Rule 52(b).3 Thus, because the court’s findings had not yet been made for purposes of Rule 52(b) when Marie filed her motion for further findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is understandable that the court regarded her motion as moot when it entered its written judgment and denied the motion. In these circumstances, however, the correct response would have been to dismiss the motion as premature and allow Marie to file a proper motion, if she wished to do so, after the judgment was entered. See Boynton v. Adams, 331 A.2d 370, 373 n. 2 (Me.1975) (affirming the trial court’s denial of a motion for relief from judgment as premature because it was filed before the judgment was entered); cf. Dyar Sales & Mach. Co. v. Mininni, 132 Me. 79, 81, 166 A. 620, 621 (1933) (affirming the denial of a motion for a directed verdict that was prematurely [780]*780raised before the close of all the trial evidence).
[¶ 9] Because the motion was deemed moot without further comment, and because we have not previously been called upon to clarify the application of Rule 52(b) when a trial judge announces oral findings from the bench, Marie may have been unaware that the problem with her motion lay in its timing. In these circumstances, she elected to appeal from the judgment rather than renew her motion for findings within ten days after the entry of the judgment. In the interest of fairness, and to ensure that the court has an opportunity to address Marie’s motion, we remand for the court to enter a dismissal of the prematurely filed motion and to provide Marie an opportunity to file a post-judgment motion for additional findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52(b). For the purposes of applying Rule 52(b), the ten days available for filing the motion shall run from the date of the docketed return of the file to the District Court.
[¶ 10] Upon Marie’s motion, the trial court shall review Marie’s proposed additional findings and determine, in its discretion, whether to enter further findings or amend its judgment.4
The entry is:
The determination that Marie’s motion pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(b) was moot is vacated, and the matter is remanded for dismissal of the motion as premature and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.