What kind of documents will be needed to put together what the court will need to decide all of the issues involved?
List of Documents
Address book names, addresses and telephone numbers will help your lawyer prepare subpoenas for documents, depositions and court appearances. Don't forget mystery numbers, i.e., those without names, or just initials. Identify them with the cross directory. Look for the following professionals and businesses: accountants—personal and business; bankers—personal and business, including trust officers ;bookkeepers; computer consultants—they know how and where data is hidden; computer on-line services—obtain passwords to access information; computer message center and voice mail codes; financial planners; friends—those close enough to be trusted with money; insurance agents—including life, annuity, casualty, and key man insurance; lawyers; mailing services—such as Mail Boxes Etc.; mini-storage and office record storage; physicians; stock brokers; telephone answering services; telephone long distance companies; therapists; travel agents—personal and business; Federal and State Tax Returns for past years of the marriage with supporting documentation including all filed schedules for both individual and businesses involved.
Relative to the tax returns, look for refunds and/or deficiencies. If you believe that the document produced is a forgery, have your lawyer insist that Form 4506 is signed by your spouse. The IRS will photocopy the actual return filed. Partnership tax returns (Form 1065) Look for net operating loss adjustments. Gift and estate tax returns. Has your spouse made or received any gifts? Has s/he inherited any property?
Business Records, Financial Statements and Credit Card Invoices are important.
Personal Property
Personal property includes: annuities, antiques, art work, automobiles, planes, boats, china and crystal, coins collectibles, frequent flyer miles, furniture/furnishings, furs, guns, jewelry, rugs, bills of sale (all property over $200). Also locate certificates of title for automobiles, boats, planes, trailers and heavy equipment. Homeowners Insurance scheduled property often states a value for insurance purposes and appraisals contain detailed descriptions of marital property. Note that appraised values may depend on the reason for the appraisal. For example, replacement value appraisals are often inflated while tax appraisals minimize value. Be sure you know the purpose for which the appraisal was prepared. Personal property also includes life insurance policies with information on beneficiaries, cash surrender value, loans against policies other encumbrances against policies, e.g., using the policy as collateral for a loan.
Banking information is also important including savings, checking, and credit union accounts. Note: If your spouse's name is second on a joint account with a third party, interest income will be reported by that third party. Your spouse will not receive a 1099, and the account will not show on your income tax return. Look at monthly statements (look for payment or debit memo for safe-deposit box rental), passbooks, canceled checks and drafts (front and back) Note: make sure you photocopy the backs of checks, especially those made out to cash, to your spouse or to any unknown third party. Account numbers of secret accounts may appear along with the name of the depository bank. Also, check cashing card, check register, check stubs, cashier checks (carbon or photocopy), cash transactions, certificates of deposit, Children's Uniform Gift to Minors Act bank records, Christmas club accounts, deposit slips, linked mutual fund and stock brokerage account, loan and credit applications, numbered accounts (often Swiss), passbooks (check to see if there is a loan against it), wire transfers and withdrawals. Look for any suspicious activities, such as repeated withdrawals of sums such as $505, suggesting conversion to travelers checks for $500 plus a 1 percent fee of $5.00. In addition there may be information on securities accounts; securities certificates; stocks and bonds; stock brokerage account statements; lists of securities; mutual fund statements; agreements relating to the account, such as, option trading, etc.; and applications to trade certain securities.
Note that if your spouse is a sophisticated investor, he/she may have options or commodity trading ability. Stock brokerages require customers to fill out lengthy questionnaires before opening accounts for certain risky activities, such as options. These questionnaires are a good source of information regarding investment experience and objectives. IRAs, Keogh's and SEP-IRAs Pension, Retirement and Survivor Benefits.
Small Business Ownership Records are also important and any information you obtain is helpful in appraising the value of the business, including; buy-sell agreements, key-man, life, and property insurance, casualty insurance, leases, non-compete agreements, financial statements, balance sheet, shareholder equity investments, asset list and depreciation schedules , corporate redemption agreement to purchase stock rights of first refusal, major contracts, pension and profit sharing budgets, projections, marketing literature, loan applications. Employment Benefits: look for any sign that your spouse has deferred income, commissions, bonuses, royalties or has had salary converted into a non-cash benefit which would include the following: clothing allowance, company car, credit union statements, contracts of employment, employee benefits brochures, pension benefit statement, plan booklet, and amendments actuarial report on the pension plan, expense accounts, expense reimbursements, housing/relocation programs, in-kind compensation, meals, medical insurance, life insurance, loan programs, pay stubs (show certain benefits not part of taxable income), pension, profit sharing, stock purchase plan, travel and entertainment allowance.
Litigation: If your spouse is suing, what's the value of his or her lawsuit? If your spouse is being sued, do you have any exposure? Are there any prior divorce proceedings—will a first spouse's right supersede yours? Court papers relating to pending matter(s) including statement of damages (to ascertain the value of the case. Look for Court records of final adjudication and Liens placed on assets. Loan Documents and Applications, Financial statements tend to show inflated asset values, income and net worth. Collection agency letters, home equity loans/lines of credit, mortgages/ home and business notes, passbook loans, and payment schedules. Look for recent payment of loans to family members, business associates, and friends. Also, look for accelerated payments; your spouse wants to show he has no money for you. Also, promissory notes/ payable and receivable.
Miscellaneous Income and Assets: royalties, severance pay, workers' compensation, annuities, rental income, prizes and awards, trust and estate income, capital gains, gift certificates, unemployment compensation, pension, veteran's benefits, social security, lottery or gaming winnings, life insurance income or proceeds, notes payable to your spouse, partnership agreements etc.
Basically, any document or information that can track money or property and its character should be obtained, preserved and turned over to your attorney.
Does one have to go to court to obtain a divorce?
A court of law is the only way in which one can obtain a divorce decree, dissolution, legal separation , nullity, or other form of terminating a marriage. Each jurisdiction has established its own body of law by which this procedure is accomplished to give it full legal effect. The various states have enacted statutes which govern the procedures by which this is done. Other than the termination of the marital estate the court also has jurisdiction to resolve the other issues which are intertwined in the existing marriage which include but are not limited to, custody and visitation rights, division of property of the marital estate, spousal support, child support, restraining orders, etc.
What is involved in starting the process for a divorce or dissolution?
The first step would be the filing of a properly executed petition with the appropriate court. The court must have what is called subject-matter jurisdiction which would entail satisfying the requirements of residency or domicile within the state and county dictated by the statute. This can be as little as six weeks or as long as three to six months. Without this threshold requirement being met the court would not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter and execute an order or decree of divorce, or dissolution, or like orders terminating the marital state.
How long does the process take to obtain a divorce or dissolution?
The time period involved is dependent upon the law of the state and could be as short as six weeks and can extend to six months depending upon the jurisdiction involved. If there are contested issues involved, it can be several years before all of the issues involved may be resolved by the court. The decree of divorce has full effect as soon as it is signed by the judge.
What is a divorce?
A divorce is the legal termination of marriage. All states require a spouse to identify a legal reason for requesting a divorce when filing the divorce papers with the court. These reasons given are referred to as the grounds for divorce.
What is a legal separation?
Legal separation is a legal status conferred by a court, where the parties remain married, but the court sets the rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to child custody, support, visitation, alimony, property and debts. The process of legal separation is sometimes called separate maintenance. A decree of separate maintenance cannot later be converted to a divorce decree. If parties in a legal separation later desire a divorce, they must file a new divorce action.
What is a dissolution?
The act of terminating a marriage, but the term does not apply to an annulment. Dissolutions are subject to the laws of the states that provide for them. State law governs the procedures for the termination of the marriage and the distribution of marital assets, custody, visitation and support issues.
What about the divorce kits and preprinted forms that are available?
Family law is a complex area of the law which is not well served by simplistic forms that do not address all of the issues and areas concerned if the individual is not well versed or has not consulted with appropriate legal counsel to review the facts and problems of each individual case. The lasting effects of decisions made in haste without proper advice would militate against the use of such forms.
What is an annulment?
An annulment is a method of voiding the contract of marriage. If an annulment is granted, the result is that the parties are treated as if the marriage never occurred. An annulment can only be granted if the initial marriage contract suffers from a defect in the contract formation. Such defects include an underage party without parental consent, a party lacking the mental capacity to understand the marriage contract or fraud in the inducement of the marriage contract. An annulment can only be granted to the innocent party, or the party that suffers from the defect.
How are Custody and Visitation issues decided?
No area of family law brings to the courtroom the tension, anxiety, hostility, volatility and raw emotion as child custody and visitation litigation. Rare is the divorce, dissolution or custody determination in which the parties have been able to set aside personal differences to reach the goal of what is best for the children involved. Most parents pay lip service to this ideal, but often cannot reach it in actuality.
Most often a judge will take great pains to get parents themselves to come to a mutually acceptable custody agreement if that is possible. A decision made by a stranger is rarely completely acceptable to all if the attempt has not been made in earnest. The family court systems of the states usually have several layers of counseling, mediation and conciliation to attempt to bring warring parents together for the purpose of resolving the issue of what it is in the best interests of their children.
Download and read Summary of New Jersey Divorce Law for an overview of New Jersey's state-specific laws. This file is available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you don't have the freely-available Adobe Acrobat Reader Utility, download it from the Adobe Systems Web site. Then, double-click the executable icon and follow the on-screen prompts to install it to your computer's hard drive.
