topic Re: Legal question..... in Among Friends

Legal question.....

Mom2Dogs — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:48:26 GMT

I am helping an acquaintance compile financial information for an upcoming divorce....her husband will not go with a simple divorce....there is going to be a trial, and the date has been set.

My question is just a curious one....there are probably a hundred questions that she has to answer, along with providing financial documents docuomenting her answers.... starting in 2013! She runs a small business....it is not a high earning business.....she does have a lawyer but does this sound 'normal'? I might understand it if there was a lot of money involved, but there is not.

Do you think her husbands lawyer is just playing games...making her run around in circles just because he can?....the paperwork is unbelievable!

Re: Legal question.....

BalletBabe — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:58:19 GMT

It is normal, but make sure to tell her to show anything she is providing to his lawyer to her lawyer first.

Re: Legal question.....

151949 — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:57:37 GMT

I think if you are paying a lawyer you ought to do as he advises and not listen to a bunch of women who don't know anything on a internet chat room.

Re: Legal question.....

libbyannE — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:57:39 GMT

What does her lawyer say? I assume she is well represented. If not, she must hire a lawyer. NOW.

Re: Legal question.....

GSPgirl — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:59:05 GMT

The only piece of advice you should be giving her is to get a good lawyer.

Re: Legal question.....

Mom2Dogs — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:00:12 GMT

@BalletBabe....sorry if I did not make it clear, she does have her own lawyer, her husband has a different lawyer.....his lawyer is the one that has made all these document requests.

To me her lawyer should have told him NO! but I am guessing you can't do that...I don't know, that is why I was asking

She has to answer all the questions and then she will be going over them with her lawyer next week....it just seems over kill to me....

Re: Legal question.....

BalletBabe — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:06:03 GMT

@Mom2Dogs I am sorry I changed my response after I read it again. I have been through divorce and here is my take on it. Lawyers will keep divorce going as long as they can. The longer it goes on , the more money they make. Also a lot depends on why they are divorcing. (not asking for information) So many factors go into it. Is this the first divorce, if not then that also changes things. If she makes more money then he does, she will have to pay him alimony. I agree with OP that a board like this, isn't really a good place for answers. You almost have to know all the facts to say. MO

Re: Legal question.....

KentuckyWoman — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:07:12 GMT

The best person to ask would be her lawyer. I would assume her lawyer knows of the information her attorney is requesting so my guess is it is normal. Emphasis on guess.

Re: Legal question.....

nomless — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:09:05 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:

Do you think her husbands lawyer is just playing games...making her run around in circles just because he can?....the paperwork is unbelievable!

IMO, there is no way any of us could know the motivation behind your acquaintance's husband's lawyer's request for information.

Re: Legal question.....

Mom2Dogs — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:11:46 GMT

...I am NOT giving her advice...just a helping hand. We are not close friends....she needed help in getting information around and she asked me to help her and I was happy to help her, she is very overwhelmed.

As I mentioned my question is only curious....I just thought the HUGE amount of paperwork and documentation seemed really over kill to me.

She does not make much money, he earns considerable more......I only asked because I am curious if this is normal procedure.

Re: Legal question.....

Big Sister — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:21:14 GMT

Perhaps her lawyer is requesting the same info from the husband.

Re: Legal question.....

sunshine45 — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:24:18 GMT

yes, disclosing your assets and income is normal procedure. she probably has to disclose if she has any credit cards or owes anything also. he will have to answer all of the same questions.

since they both have lawyers, then all of the information will go to them and through them.

this is all part of the interrogatories.

Re: Legal question.....

Imadickens — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:41:05 GMT

Sounds normal to me, from what I've heard! One thing women (men, too, I guess) should know is NOT to change their work status prior to the divorce being final! The judge should decide the outcome based on what has been normal in the marriage all along. If one suddenly begins working full time when all along has only worked a few hours, or not at all, the final decree will not be fair. This happened to a bff who got a job after her husband left her for a young thing ! As a result, he paid no alimony! She had been a stay at home mom for their three kids while he "traveled for work" and had to "work long hours" leaving him "too tired" to go out with her!!!

Re: Legal question.....

151949 — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:33:37 GMT

One question or 1000 questions - no difference - you just answer them one at a time.

Re: Legal question.....

Ibby114 — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:41:47 GMT

All the questions about one party in a divorce having a small business sounds normal- in this case it represents a segment of your friends income & marital property.

Re: Legal question.....

NYC Susan — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:40:45 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
...I am NOT giving her advice...just a helping hand. We are not close friends....she needed help in getting information around and she asked me to help her and I was happy to help her, she is very overwhelmed.

As I mentioned my question is only curious....I just thought the HUGE amount of paperwork and documentation seemed really over kill to me.
She does not make much money, he earns considerable more......I only asked because I am curious if this is normal procedure.

It's not overkill. It's done in order to be thorough, and it's not unusual. It's easy to say that she doesn't make much money, but it makes perfect sense that actual numbers and information would be needed. I'm sure her attorney will tell her that if he/she hasn't done so already.

Re: Legal question.....

minkbunny — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:52:39 GMT

I would imagine each jurisdiction has their own regulations, but I do this type of work all day long - at a certain point in the divorce process each side must provide Local Rule Discovery which includes a multi page Statement of Marital and Non-Marital Assets and Debts along with Statement of Income and Expenses along with last six pay stubs, last three years income tax returns, any pension plans, IRAs, etc. etc. etc. etc.

oh yea, etc.

And just wait until the Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents and Things rear their ugly heads.

Re: Legal question.....

Mom2Dogs — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:59:51 GMT

@minkbunny...wow. I really had no idea that this much info would be needed for a divorce. Just helping her I felt a little stressed!

.....from what I understand the big disagreement is the kids..he wants full custody....and he is doing his best to overwhelm her. From what I know about them both....he should not get full custody of the kids. It's just sad for the children, they are all caught in the middle of a bad situation. She would love to just walk away but she can't....her kids come first.

Re: Legal question.....

3suwm5 — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 02:06:19 GMT

I don't know anything about this type of law. It just sounds to me like the 'soon to be ex' wants every cent of hers reported, as that will lower what he will be obligated to pay out?MO

Re: Legal question.....

drizzellla — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 02:19:28 GMT

Seems to make sense to me. How are they going to divide their assets? They have to know what expenses and income she has. So they can determine alimony and child support.

Now as for custody of kids, I wonder if he doesn't want to pay her child support.