What if I do not have information about my assets or debts?
It is common when parties get divorced that one of the spouses does not understand fully the family’s finances. There are mechanisms for dealing with this. Both sides are required to fill out financial affidavits which list assets, liabilities, income and expenses. Beyond that there is the term referred to as mandatory financial disclosure wherein both sides are required to provide a list of 16 different items if they apply in your case to the other side. This includes such things as income tax returns, attachments to income tax returns, pay stubs, account statements for investments, credit card statements and the list goes on and on. If after the providing of these mandatory financial disclosure documents which are required in all divorces where it’s not waived, you need additional information you can make specific document or other item requests. And going through this process, which is referred to aptly as the discovery process, you are going to learn a lot about the family’s finances. You then supplement this process with the taking of depositions if necessary which is where each side sits down before a court reporter or under oath and answers verbal questions asked which is then taken down by a court reporter.