Prepare For Divorce: Divorce Process from a Paralegal Part 1

Prepare for Divorce. Experienced Paralegal Kim Young has good advice

Many people see the “writing on the wall” long before they contact an attorney’s office seeking a divorce. Did you know you can prepare for divorce even before you contact an attorney?

If You are considering a divorce here are a few tips that will help you prepare for divorce:

1. Obtain financial documents , including your paystubs and those of your spouse, the last 2 years of tax returns,  retirement account statements, 401k statements, bank statements, credit card statements, phone bill statements, car notes, deeds to home or land and titles to vehicles. Please note, that not everyone has these assets/debts, so they may not pertain to you or your particular case.

a. All of these documents will assist your legal team in preparing documents necessary to start your divorce proceedings and assist them in getting a clearer picture of your financial situation.

b. Not everyone is able to get copies of these documents prior to filing for divorce; just know that if you are, it will save you time and money in the long run if you are able to get these before you leave or file your initial documents with the Court.

c. Your legal team can get these documents from your spouse and their attorney through a process called “Discovery.” It’s a time consuming and expensive process but we can get them through this formal request.

2. The more honest you are with your legal team the easier it will be. Thankfully we are a very understanding group and have seen or heard most things. I always tell people that if you can’t tell Mr. Leonard, you can share it with me. If you still don’t feel you can disclose it to us verbally, we give you the opportunity to write it down in our “Sensitive Topics” document. There is nothing worse than for the truth to come out in front of the Judge or on the stand in front of everyone. Mr. Leonard prefers to know the “dirt” ahead of time so he will know what to do when and if the time comes for it to be disclosed to the Court.

3. Once you have met with your legal team and retained the firm, this is where the legal team takes over. Documents are drafted and filed with the Court. Your spouse is served and we wait for a hearing date, usually within 2 weeks of the initial filing.

4. Your spouse may or may not hire an attorney to represent their interests. If they do, it’s much easier to work with another attorney than a person without the legal knowledge necessary to reach a fair and equitable agreement.

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