Divorce Basics
Your divorce can be inexpensive and relatively quick or it may drag on for years. Your unique family circumstances will impact the length and expense of your divorce. The divorce process starts when either spouse files and properly serves a divorce complaint on the other spouse. If the receiving spouse contests what’s in the divorce complaint, then you’ll need to litigate your case through the discovery process and eventually trial.
Early on in your divorce, you and your spouse must submit financial disclosures detailing your income and monthly expenses. Your financial disclosures should estimate your monthly expenses on items like rent/mortgage, utilities, food, transportation costs, insurance premiums, and other personal care costs. If your income or expenses change during the divorce process, you must update your disclosures and provide verifying documentation. Either spouse can ask the other to submit additional income verification, bank statements, loan information, or any other items relevant to each spouse’s claims. This information should come out naturally during the discovery process. You and your spouse can settle your case at any time. However, if you’re unable to settle, a judge will set your case for trial.
What Kind of Evidence Do I Need to Gather in My Case?
You should gather all the evidence necessary to support your claims. For example, you should have verified income information for you and your spouse if child support is at issue in your divorce. A judge may also need bank statements, tax returns, and property and asset information to make a fair division of the marital estate. Your child's school and medical records may be pertinent if you’re seeking primary physical custody based on your spouse’s failure to meet your children’s basic needs.
Some documents and records you need as evidence will be easily obtainable. You can serve requests for production of documents or interrogatories on your spouse asking for certain documents or information. If your spouse is unable or refuses to provide the requested information or documents, you can use subpoenas to obtain evidence like bank statements, salary information, tax returns, school records, and certain medical records. All evidence that supports your case should be collected and submitted during the course of your case so that you can properly introduce it at trial.
How Do I Present Evidence at Trial?
There are many ways to present evidence. Some evidence that a judge will consider at trial will be provided through your own testimony. You may also call witnesses in your case, including family, friends, and experts. It’s important that if your experts have relied on certain evidence to form their opinions, that you make that evidence available to the court. For example, you should provide your child’s school attendance records and report cards to the court and your spouse if the custody evaluator reviewed and relied on this information to form a custody recommendation.
Any evidence you submit at trial should be accurate and up-to date. A judge will rely on your income, asset, and debt information when determining property awards, child support, and alimony. You’ll introduce written evidence at trial in the form of exhibits.
How Do I Introduce Exhibits?
At some point in your divorce case—and certainly in the weeks leading up to trial—you’ll submit your exhibit and witness lists to the court. Your exhibit list should be well organized and include all the documents that you plan to use or have witnesses review at trial. Generally, before trial, each spouse will provide the judge and the other spouse/spouse's attorney with an exhibit list. At trial you or your attorney (if you’re representing yourself) will have to introduce exhibits. An exhibit must be introduced and accepted by the court.
As a first step, an exhibit must be marked. Depending on your local court’s rules, this may happen before or during trial. Once your exhibit is marked, you must show it to your spouse and/or attorney, and you’ll need to have at least a few additional copies for the judge and court reporter to review and add to the divorce record. Things can get complicated if your spouse’s attorney objects to the exhibit or disputes its authenticity. If you have additional questions about using evidence or exhibits at trial, contact a local family law attorney for advice.
Questions for Your Attorney
- Is there a limit on how many exhibits I can use at trial?
- I found last minute evidence that shows my spouse is hiding assets. Can I introduce it at trial?
- How should I organize exhibits for trial?