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.