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706 - How Can I Get Information from my Spouse?The way many lawyers are set up to gather information for a divorce is formal discovery. That means interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, and depositions. You can find out all about discovery by checking out Divorceinfo.com. There are three big problems with discovery. First, it takes a long time to get the information you need. Second the information is totally under the control of the lawyers, and lawyers have a natural instinct to withhold disclosure, so you often end up with information that is incomplete. Third, discovery costs money. A lot of money. If you and your spouse have relatively simple affairs and a modest amount of trust, there's no reason why you can't just exchange the information you need. That's the way most divorcing couples do it. They don't have to pay lawyers thousands of dollars, they can ask questions freely of each other and get straight answers, and they can usually get it done in an evening, or at least over a weekend. If you and your spouse don't have that level of trust, though, or if you have complex financial affairs, you can still avoid discovery. You may want to consider one of the divorce preparation kits that help you gather the information you need thoroughly and accurately without formal discovery. There's a thorough description on Divorceinfo.com about one of those kits, DivorceSavvySavesMoney. If you and your spouse just cannot cooperate, though, you still need accurate, complete information, and you'll probably need your lawyer to conduct formal discovery. You should insist that your lawyer not send out any interrogatories, requests for production of documents, or requests for admission without letting you review them first. You're the one with the best grasp of the facts, so you are the best one to spot questions that need to be asked, or perhaps issues that aren't addressed. You may also know that a particular series of questions won't produce anything useful, and maybe don't have to be asked at all. The big expense of discovery usually doesn't come from composing the questions. It comes from having to think through how to respond to each question, and it comes from digesting and following up on the answers once they're received. So anything you can do to save your lawyer time in either deciding how to answer or respond, or in digesting and following up on responses, is money in your pocket. When you're served with interrogatories or requests for the production of documents, spend a few minutes with your lawyer and think through how your lawyer likes to answer questions. You may even ask your lawyer to send you some model examples of the way to answer questions. Then you can save money by organizing the responses by question number, and by drafting each response for your lawyer's review. Alabama Family Law Center serves clients who need to get through divorce and who are able to be reasonably cooperative. The goal is for both spouses to survive divorce and move on with their lives with some money in their pockets and their dignity intact. No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. If you'd like to make an appointment with me, call 205-979-6960. Or you can click here to return to the Divorce Line. |
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