New Requirements In Family Division
Effective April 1, 2011, each party will be required to provide financial disclosure documents to the other party in all new divorce, legal separation, annulment and civil union dissolution matters. Within 45 days from the date of service of the petition or 10 days before the temporary hearing, each party must provide initial financial disclosure.
This new mandatory initial self-disclosure rule includes an extensive list of documents: 3 years of business and personal tax returns, including all schedules 1099's, w-2, etc; 4 most recent pay stubs; business owners must provide all monthly, quarterly and year-end financial statements, including profit and loss, balance sheet and income statements; 6 months of credit card statements; 12 months of all financial account statements; documentation about the cost and coverage of health insurance; documentation showing death benefit and beneficiary of life insurance; copies of all credit applications filed in the previous 12 months; and any post or prenuptial agreements.
The rule does also include a provision if any of these documents are unavailable to you. Under the rule, you may file a statement of unavailability, which must include a description of your efforts to locate these documents. The court will decide if you are excused from providing any of the listed documents.
The rule also includes a provision to request a protective order under which you can request an in camera review of the documents you see to have protected, and the court will decide your request.
If you do not produce the required documents and have no order protecting or excusing you, you will have consequences. The court may prohibit you from using any evidence that you did not provide, testifying or making an offer of proof about anything contained in the documents you failed to provide, filing any discovery requests, or any motions about discovery. Further, if a failure to provide documents caused any prejudice to the other party, then the court may determine certain facts by estimate, such as income to calculate child support.
I believe this new rule creates a more cost efficient and streamlined discovery process. I have represented clients in cases in which the other party refused to provide any information at all, which lead to costly challenges by multiple motions and hearings. I hope this rule helps to bring an end to wasteful bullying tactics in discovery.
This new mandatory initial self-disclosure rule includes an extensive list of documents: 3 years of business and personal tax returns, including all schedules 1099's, w-2, etc; 4 most recent pay stubs; business owners must provide all monthly, quarterly and year-end financial statements, including profit and loss, balance sheet and income statements; 6 months of credit card statements; 12 months of all financial account statements; documentation about the cost and coverage of health insurance; documentation showing death benefit and beneficiary of life insurance; copies of all credit applications filed in the previous 12 months; and any post or prenuptial agreements.
The rule does also include a provision if any of these documents are unavailable to you. Under the rule, you may file a statement of unavailability, which must include a description of your efforts to locate these documents. The court will decide if you are excused from providing any of the listed documents.
The rule also includes a provision to request a protective order under which you can request an in camera review of the documents you see to have protected, and the court will decide your request.
If you do not produce the required documents and have no order protecting or excusing you, you will have consequences. The court may prohibit you from using any evidence that you did not provide, testifying or making an offer of proof about anything contained in the documents you failed to provide, filing any discovery requests, or any motions about discovery. Further, if a failure to provide documents caused any prejudice to the other party, then the court may determine certain facts by estimate, such as income to calculate child support.
I believe this new rule creates a more cost efficient and streamlined discovery process. I have represented clients in cases in which the other party refused to provide any information at all, which lead to costly challenges by multiple motions and hearings. I hope this rule helps to bring an end to wasteful bullying tactics in discovery.
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