INDUSTRY INSIGHT
FAMILY LAW
SPONSORED CONTENT
DIVORCE :
PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article , I wrote about the initial efforts you need to make in determining whether you should have a divorce attorney , how to choose the best attorney for you , and the importance of the initial consultation . Now that you have selected your advocate , you must communicate important details of your case . Since you , with your attorney ’ s recommendations , are going to start making decisions that shall affect your post-divorce life , open , honest and complete communication is vital . There are many pieces of information and documents you must give to your attorney . This information and the exchange of documents will occur early on , perhaps at your initial meeting once you have retained / hired your attorney . This information will enable him or her to be better situated to help you make important preliminary decisions .
We recommend that you talk to a lawyer before speaking with your spouse about divorce . Since you are becoming an individual , versus a couple , you must protect yourself . Don ’ t be naïve enough to believe that your spouse and his or her lawyer will look out for your best interests when it comes time to discuss division of property , money , and child custody .
Despite all your best efforts and assurances from your spouse , divorce can easily become an adversarial process . If you choose to begin preparing or copying documents before you approach your spouse about getting a divorce , we recommend you keep these documents in a safe place to which your spouse does not have access . Perhaps somewhere other than your home . We recommend electronic copies wherever possible . Additionally , get a new , safe , private email account with a password and “ secret questions ” that your spouse would not easily guess .
The first document filed is the Divorce Complaint . The paragraphs in the divorce complaint are standardized wording required by the court . So if your spouse has been the first to file , do not get hung up on the wording . There are certain requests called “ Counts ” that must go in the initial document without having the expectation that all of the Counts will be granted by the court . The next document generally filed by your spouse ’ s attorney is called a Petition Raising Claims or sometimes it is called an Answer and Counterclaim . This document additionally contains Counts to protect all possible interests your spouse may have . Again many of the Counts are included because if not , they might not be permitted to be added at a later date .
Once the Divorce Complaint is filed , you and your spouse enter the pretrial stage of your divorce . For the next few months you and your attorney will be involved in the “ discovery process .” This is a period of time where you must provide the opposing party all relevant tangible documents , such as tax returns , bank statements , and credit card statements . These documents are provided in response to a formal discovery process called a Request for Production of Documents . You , via your lawyer , will also serve these on your spouse . Your attorney will advise you what discovery requests should be answered and which are burdensome , unreasonable and may safely be objected to .
Another discovery method that attorneys use is called “ Interrogatories .” Interrogatories are written questions that one party asks the other party to answer under oath . Interrogatories will be used to flush out details that may be relevant to a party ’ s case or defense .
As information becomes available to both parties , your attorney may try to mediate and negotiate a settlement , hoping to avoid the final trial . If both attorneys are amenable to settling and can support the spouses to agree , the time involved , the costs , and perhaps more importantly the emotional strain , can be reduced and the matters resolved to mutual agreement .
Hopefully you selected an attorney who wants to help you reach a fair settlement . Many attorneys are hungry to try cases ; however , that does not describe us . Most cases , unless highly unusual for some reason , can and should be settled without going to trial . Strive for this goal knowing you have a highly competent person representing you .
For a free consultation call my office at 412.848.9181 .
This Industry Insight was written by Deborah Luteran Iwanyshyn of Iwanyshyn & Associates . She has been focusing her practice on the family law area for more than 30 years and was a practicing CPA for several years prior to attending law school . Deborah is also an accredited business appraiser through the American Society of Appraisers . Her goal is the “ No Drama ” divorce . She strives to obtain the correct values and budgets for each of the parties and then negotiates fair settlements protecting both spouses . She is also a trained mediator and collaborative lawyer and an adjunct professor at Carlow University teaching master ’ s degree students in the Fraud and Forensics program . Fellow of the American Bar Foundation .
Fox Chapel Area | Summer 2016 | icmags . com 35