During divorce litigation, documents are very essential and they are needed to establish fault grounds. We will be able to define factors needed to ensure that you retain or get your fair share of marital assets, marital debts and regular income. Without enough documents, you won’t be able to prove your case and there could be imbalance in liabilities, assets and income. Adequate documents should also allow us to cooperate properly with lawyers and we will have higher chances of success. Regulations may tell us about standard documents that are needed to improve our situations. If we are properly organized, then we will have higher chance of success. There are documents that are necessary during early or later phases of the litigation process. Documents that we provide should offer complete picture of our liabilities, income and assets. This is important if we want to make sure that the court will be able to make equitable and fair distribution.
By preparing enough documents, we will be able to save money and time. We will be able to assist the lawyer in the pleading process. The use of proper document should also help to prevent ex-spouse from hiding or downplaying any asset. We will be able to obtain more assets and everything can be shared in a proper manner. This can be achieved because everyone has a clearer picture of the financial condition of the couple. As an example, we should get tax returns documents for personal, partnership, corporate and joint venture incomes. We also need to include all the necessary attachments to make proper comparison of the assets structure of each party before and after the wedding day, then the divorce day. It means that assets that are controlled by a party long before the marriage may not be included in the wealth distribution. This can be easier to do if we have evidences of salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, promotions, raises, and other kinds of benefits.
Documents should allow us to identify any kind of marital assets, so we should gather any leases and deeds of property that the couple had a common interest. There should be evidences of contributions and cash towards the available cash. Lawyers and other legal professionals should also be provided with copies of all sales agreements related to real estate and other assets. If there are mutual funds, bonds and stocks; we should gather all certificates. All documents related to stock options, should be valid and applicable. There could be profit sharing plans, pensions, retirement plans 401(k) plans, deferred compensation plans and retirement plans. You need to gather enough documents for the lawyer and we may need to request the proper packages. Lawyers should be given ledgers of assets that are in our possession and we need to have control on all business related aspects. Expensive antiques, equipment, furnishing, fixture, furniture, artworks and jewelleries can also be included in the asset distribution. In order to make things easier to calculate, we may also need to work with appraisers.