If you’ve decided to get a divorce and have talked with an attorney about it, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and documentation that will be required of you just to end your marriage. On top of all the forms that need to be filed and financial information you have to provide, there may be some other things you should document during your divorce proceedings.
Many things in a divorce have to be decided without concrete documentation. For example, two parents can work out a parenting plan without having to produce evidence that the plan is what is best for the child. Some things you can just figure out on your own. Sometimes, conflict over custody, timesharing, spousal support or property division has to be worked out in court. This is called divorce litigation. Litigation is one reason why divorces can be so expensive. A lot of work goes in to working out a divorce in court because more forms need to be filed and more documentation may be needed.
While in court proceedings, you may be asked to produce evidence to support the requests you are making. For example, if you feel strongly that your spouse should have supervised visitation only, you may need to produce documentation that explains why you are asking for supervised visitation. This can be in the form of correspondence between you and your spouse that would suggest they should not be left alone with your child, reports or testimony from counselors or parenting evaluators, a restraining order you may have against your spouse or even declarations from character witnesses that feel supervised visitation is called for. If the conflict is over debts and assets, you will want excellent records of all expenses in your marriage in order to accurately divide property. You may have to demonstrate irresponsible spending habits or unusual purchases to support your proposed division of property.
If you end up bringing your divorce to trial, you will have to provide discovery to the other party, which is documentation that is applicable and relevant to the issues in dispute. This can include anything from financial records to evidence of parenting ability. Keeping excellent documentation from the beginning of your divorce will help you prepare for this discovery process, which can lessen the stress of trial.
Are you in the Los Angeles area and have questions about documentation and the divorce process? Certified Family Law Specialist Mark H. Karney has experience in successful divorce litigation in Los Angeles County. Attorney Mark H. Karney will advise you on how to take all the right steps to ensure you a favorable outcome. Call our Los Angeles office at 310-564-5710; email us at intake@cfli.com or contact us through our online form to schedule your free consultation with one of Los Angeles’s premier family law attorneys.