subject: Discovery: Getting Information Ahead Of Time For Your Divorce [print this page] It is not hard to get the short end in divorce court if you don't know everything about your debts and assets. If you don't have the documents you need to prove your case, the judge may have no choice but to make her decision from the information, false or not, she gathers from your spouse's testimony.
If you are extremely rich, and haven't been married very long, it may be possible to squirrel away assets and have your spouse be none the wiser. Your frequent travels to the Cayman Islands or Switzerland may be so common as to not arouse suspicion when you are quietly transferring your vast fortune to dummy accounts under fake names. If you are that well off, chances are pretty good you'll never be one of my clients. Most of us have to work for a living, and don't have high class problems like where to get the Mercedes or Jag detailed, or whether the cook can find the specially cured caviar we enjoyed on the Riviera last season. However, this doesn't mean that spouses don't hide assets from each other. Here is what your lawyer or you can do to make sure you're not victimized by the fact that you once said "I do" to a sneak.
You can demand information from your spouse through a process called "discovery". Any time you sue someone in a civil matter, such as a personal injury case or a divorce, you have to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that the judge or jury have to be convinced that there is a 51% chance that your side of the story is the right one, and that you are entitled to the "relief" or things you are claiming.
spouse through the process of "discovery". You can "propound interrogatories", which means you send your spouse a list of questions you have, and he has to answer them in writing, under oath. You can force him to appear personally and answer your questions in front of a court reporter. This form of discovery is called a "deposition". Your spouse's answers to these questions can be useful if he tries to change his testimony when you are in court.
Finally, you can force people with the information you need to appear and testify at your hearing. You will have to pay them for their time if they are professional, like accountants, appraisers or counselors. You will have to reimburse them for gas and mileage no matter who they are if they aren't willing to testify for you and you have to force them to come. However, once you have issued a subpoena, they have to appear. If they don't, they are in contempt of the court, and can even go to jail for not being there when they were called.
If your divorce is complicated enough that proving the value and location of assets is necessary, you should hire an attorney. Your lawyer should be able to get your discovery for you, and ask the court for the right punishments or "sanctions" if your spouse is uncooperative. Before you put yourself to the expense of "discovery", however, you should have good reason to believe that your spouse has information or documents you need his help to obtain. Otherwise, you could spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars paying for things you already have.
