During any divorce, it is critical that your Morris County divorce attorney has a complete and accurate picture of your marital finances so that they can help you to fairly decide issues such as child support, alimony, and most importantly, division of marital assets and debt.
When both spouses participated in the management of family finances, obtaining accurate and complete financial information is often fairly straightforward. However, when one spouse managed most or all of a family’s finances, the process of determining the extent and status of a marriage’s finances can become much more complex. That being said, if your spouse predominately managed your family’s finances, there are two important legal tools your divorce attorney can use to ensure that complete and accurate financial information is disclosed during the divorce process.
Chester, NJ Divorce Lawyers Discuss “Interrogatories”
The first tool your divorce lawyer can employ in order to gather financial information is that of an interrogatory. Interrogatories are written questions submitted to your spouse, which must be responded to by your spouse and their divorce attorney, under oath. These questions can include almost any type of question, including their income levels, what bank accounts they have and how much money is present in them, what investments have been made, retirement funds such as 401k plans, questions regarding business ownerships and interests, and more.
As interrogatories are responded to under oath, if your spouse lies or hides information from an interrogatory, they can face criminal charges of perjury, and also risk having the courts rule much more in your favor in your divorce settlement agreement. If you have any reason to believe your spouse is hiding assets from, or inaccurately responding to, your interrogatories, be sure to tell your Chester divorce attorney so that they can take the proper steps to compelling this information to be disclosed.
Mendham Divorce Attorney Discusses “Notices to Produce”
Another tool your Mendham divorce attorney may employ is that of a notice to produce. Notices to produce are written requests for specific financial documents to be released by your spouse. These requests can be based on any of the information you obtain from an interrogatory, information you believe your spouse is hiding, or just general requests for information.
Notices to produce can compel submission of documents such as bank account statements, real estate contracts, loan applications or statements, credit card statements, income tax statements, retirement fund statements, and any other document your attorney deems relevant to the financial status of your marriage.
Failure to comply with a notice to produce will result in your spouse facing contempt of court charges, and various other legal and financial penalties.
Why Complete Financial Information is Important to Your Morris County Divorce
Divorce settlements such as child custody, alimony, and division of assets are all based on the financial status of you and your spouse. If that financial status is incomplete or inaccurate, the divorce agreements we mentioned will be extremely unfair to you. While discovery of inaccurate or incomplete financial information after your divorce may sometimes allow you to modify the agreements you have already signed, it is not always a given that this process will be successful, and of course this process will also almost always require the added expense of hiring an attorney after you have already paid for representation during your initial divorce.
Contact Our Morris County Divorce Attorneys Today
At The Law Office of Townsend, Tomaio & Newmark, our family law attorneys have extensive experience helping clients across Chester, Mendham, Chatham, Morristown, and the greater Morris County area to successfully and fairly resolve their divorce and all of its related issues.
While we highly recommend that individuals who are considering divorce or going through a divorce to begin taking a more active role in the management of their finances, we understand that they may not always have done so. With this in mind, we are prepared to compel that a complete and accurate picture of your marital finances be disclosed by your spouse, allowing us to ensure you receive the divorce settlement agreement you need and deserve.
To speak with our firm today in a free and confidential consultation regarding your divorce, and ensuring that no asset remains hidden or inaccurately valued, please contact us online, or through our Morristown office at (973) 828-0829.
