You've just decided (or found out) that you're getting a divorce. You've arranged a meeting with one or more divorce lawyers. Bringing the following four items to your first meeting with a divorce attorney will help him or her come up to speed on your situation and better evaluate your case. It will also save your lawyer some work, which may end up making your divorce less expensive.
1.Your tax return. A divorce, in one respect, is the process of separating a legal entity-a marriage-into two separate entities-former spouses. A huge portion of that deals with how to split marital assets and debts. The more assets there are, the more complicated the divorce is likely to be. That's why your lawyer will want to see the tax return.
It's not just your Contested Divorce lawyer NY who wants to see it. Many courts require both sides in a divorce to exchange the previous year's tax returns (or W-2's if the previous years taxes have not yet been filed). The court will use this information along with evidence presented to equitably divide the marital property.
2. Complete the financial declaration. This is closely related to bringing your tax returns; if you really want to impress your divorce lawyer, bring your financial declaration to your first meeting. This form is also required by many courts so the judge can adequately evaluate the division of assets during your divorce. It will require you to list such information as your assets and liabilities, bank accounts, and income. Like your tax returns, this is required to be exchanged with the other side of the divorce. You can find a blank financial declaration here.
3. A timeline of the problems leading to the divorce. This is easier to prepare if you're the spouse who wants the divorce. If you're not, you may have been surprised when you found out about the divorce. I know I was in mine. Once you get over the surprise, though, you will probably be able to look back and see particular events or troubles that were red flags your marriage was headed to divorce. Either way, this will help your divorce attorney evaluate your case to see if you have fault-based grounds for a divorce or if your only option is an irreconcilable differences divorce. The order in which events occurred is important because it may raise a defense to any grounds for the divorce.
4. The truth. People come to lawyers for help, but often fail to be totally honest with their lawyer. This can only hurt your case. Almost every divorce lawyer has a “war story” where they were blind sided by something their client admitted to during cross-examination. When later asked why they withheld the information, the client usually says they didn't think it was important. This is going to sound arrogant, but you found a divorce lawyer because he or she knows more of the law then you do. You do not know what is important or what isn't! If you beat your spouse, admit it to your lawyer. If you cheated on your spouse, admit it to your lawyer. The sooner your divorce attorney learns the facts that hurt you, the sooner he or she can deal with them. The sooner the bad facts are dealt with, the less they will probably matter when the judge hears them. You won't make your lawyer think less of you. They've seen all kinds long before they saw you.
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