Seven Sets of Documents
You Need For Your Divorce
by: Scott Morgan
This article is designed to give someone who is considering or planning
for the possibility of divorce an idea of what documents are needed. Even
if you believe your case is ultimately agreed to and settled without a
trial, you will be in a much better position if you already have the
relevant documents in your possession. Better safe than sorry.
You should locate the relevant documents, make copies, and keep them
somewhere secure, like your office or with a friend. You will then have
access when it is needed.
Here are the most important seven categories of documents you should
focus on.
1. Income Documents
Your spouse's income is relevant to a number of issues in a divorce
case. At a minimum, get your spouse's last paycheck statement and your
most recent tax return. Ideally, you would have access to all tax returns
filed during the marriage, along with all supporting documents and
schedules.
2. Bank Records
The monthly bank statements are very important and can lead you to
other documents (cancelled checks, deposit slips, registers, etc.) that
you also may need to obtain. Get at least the most recent statement for
each account that is either held in your name, your spouse's name, or
jointly. If possible, get copies of all statements going back to the date
of marriage. In most cases this volume of records is not required, but in
some cases these records can be very helpful and even necessary to analyze
the case.
3. Retirement and Other Investment Records
Often the biggest asset a couple will own will be a 401k or pension
account. So you will definitely want the most recent account statement and
ideally all statements dating back to the time of marriage. Also, the last
statement prior to marriage can be very significant (especially in
community property states) to show the pre-marriage balance.
4. Credit Card statements
Again the most recent statements are a necessity, but a lot of
important evidence can be garnered from the historical statements. In some
cases, the credit card statements will show questionable transactions that
can be of real evidentiary value. For example, they might show evidence of
gifts or dinners purchased for paramours, questionable hotel rentals, or
other dubious purchases.
5. Real estate documents
The most important real estate documents are the Deed of Trust and
Warranty Deed for any property you currently own. If you have the entire
file from (the giant stack of paper you got after the closing) for each
real estate purchase or refinance transaction during the marriage it can
be helpful. Additionally, documents evidencing real estate owned by either
spouse prior to marriage can be significant, especially in community
property states.
6. Mortgage statements & any Other Debts
You should get the most recent statements showing the current payoff
balance for any other debts. For those debts that have only a coupon book
with no regularly generated statements showing the current balance, you
will probably need to contact the creditor by phone for the current payoff
information.
7. Relevant emails or other correspondence
Correspondence or emails can be extremely helpful (or damaging,
depending on your viewpoint) pieces of evidence in the case. Whether the
communication is between spouses or between a spouse and some third-party,
the communication is potentially relevant. Two common examples would be
where your spouse makes a damaging admission about some issue in the case,
or communications with paramours.
Conclusion
Determining which documents you need to obtain for your divorce case
can be a very time-consuming and daunting task. Use this list as a
starting point and discuss your situation with a quality divorce attorney.
This person should be able to advise you specifically on the documents you
need to obtain in order to protect your interests. |
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