At times, even seemingly stable marriages break for one reason or another. Most couples resolve to handle the issues related to their separation as amicably as possible. They assume they can trust each other to do this. Most also agree to handle their issues out of court to avoid the stereotypical wars that TV dramas on divorce proceedings depict. Both of these erroneous assumptions have led to regrets after the completion of the divorce.
Child support in Santa Fecan be a complicated discussion. Most non-custodial parents, for instance, shortchange the custodial parent in child support payments when the latter does not have an attorney. Child support, however, is not the only thing that should worry you if you don’t have a divorce attorney. If you should be receiving alimony, the lack of an attorney might motivate your spouse to hide crucial documents and give you far less than what you deserve. With an attorney, however, your spouse can be compelled to produce vital financial documents that will guarantee that you get a fair amount in alimony. Discovery is a process through which you can uncover crucial financial information on your spouse. Here are the discovery types for divorce proceedings.
Written Discovery
Two types of written discovery apply in divorce cases. The first one is known as a notice to produce documents. It calls for a response within 28 days of its receipt and can be used to source bank statements, credit card statements, tax returns, mortgage statements, and retirement account statements. The other type of written discovery is interrogatory. This is a set of questions related to parental responsibilities and finances that your spouse should answer within 28 days.
Deposition
This is a session of questions and answers attended by a court reporter, divorcing parties, and their lawyers. Depositions in divorce generally run for three hours. The questions asked are those aiming for relevant information on a divorcing party’s finances. In most cases, a deposition is done after the completion of formal written discovery.
Subpoena
This is a request for documents and other types of discovery from a divorcing party. This discovery document can be sent to banks, credit card companies, employers, and retirement account administrators, among others. A subpoena can request the production of a person or financial documents for a deposition. They are often used if a party has not complied with other forms of discovery.
Request for Admission
This closely resembles an interrogatory. Unlike the interrogatory, however, it only has yes and no questions rather than open-ended ones. The questions included in this discovery are those you believe to be true, but your spouse has not denied or confirmed. You can ask as many questions as possible in a request for admission. The respondent is, however, allowed to plead the fifth. This means he/she invokes his/her right against self-incrimination. This is common in questions related to adultery.
Make the Most of Your Time
Several regulations govern the use of the above types of discovery in divorce. Timing, for example, is essential. In most states, requests for discovery are allowed 21 days before a divorce trial begins. It is thus crucial to get a divorce attorney to handle your discovery process to make sure you have everything covered within the given timeframe.
