How To Prepare For Your First Divorce
Seeing an attorney for the first time about your divorce may be an emotionally draining and challenging experience. Nevertheless, there are some things you can do to make the experience less draining and more beneficial to you.
Seeing an attorney for the first time about your divorce may be an emotionally draining and challenging experience. Nevertheless, there are some things you can do to make the experience less draining and more beneficial to you.
Financial Documents: Divorce involves dividing marital assets and debts, therefore the more documents you can provide to your lawyer, the easier the process will become. Bring recent tax returns and W-2 statements if you have them, as well as recent paystubs for you and your spouse. It is also helpful to bring savings, checking, and/or investment account statements, retirement statements, statements for any 401(k) type plans, and mortgage statements if you own a home or investment property. It is also helpful to bring credit card statements as well as a list of any other debts that either you or your spouse have. If you have assets that were acquired prior to your marriage, it will be necessary to provide documentary evidence of this. Don’t worry if you don’t have or can’t easily locate financial documents as they can usually be obtained later, but it will allow your attorney to make a more complete assessment of your case if you have relevant financial documents at the time of your consultation.
Marital History: Be prepared to describe the educational and work history of you and your spouse as well as the type of lifestyle you and your spouse maintain. If you have children, it is helpful to know which of you is primarily responsible for their care, whether either you , your spouse, or your children have any significant health issues or special needs. The more information you can provide, the better it is — your attorney will determine what may be relevant to your case.
Marital Fault: Frequently, people come to me and expect to receive custody of children and more assets because their spouse engaged in some type of marital misconduct, causing them to suffer greatr pain. Unfortunately, despite the fact that you suffered tremendous emotional pain because your spouse cheated on you with your best friend, courts will not give you a greater share of marital assets, unless there are other factors, such as your spouse’s expenditure of significant marital funds on vacations and gifts with his or her lover.
I recognize that the end of a marriage can be emotionally draining for many reasons and use my experience to make the process more understandable and less draining, both emotionally and financially. I have over twenty years of experience in helping people successfully navigate the divorce process. Please feel free to call my office at 516-280-6806 to schedule a consultation.