Failing to Follow all the Divorce Steps is Courting Disaster

One of the most important of all divorce steps is gathering information. It is essential to know what information your lawyer needs so you can begin gathering all of the documentation you need before the first meeting. When you are better prepared it will take less time for the lawyer to prepare your case. It will also cost less money since you will not have to spend as much time preparing the application. Your lawyer can advise you what information is necessary before you meet for the first time—this will give you enough time to begin preparing the documentation that is necessary.
If you plan to use a do-it-yourself divorce kit instead of hiring a lawyer you will need to read the instructions in order to understand what you need before you file your application. This is also something you can work with your lawyer to accomplish—if his office is willing to provide the application for you to fill at before your meeting you can be better prepared. Some of the things you are likely to need whether you do it yourself or hire a lawyer include but are not limited to the following:
• Tax returns
• Pay stubs
• Birth certificates of the children
• Marriage license
• Bank statements
• Savings books or statements
• Statements for retirement accounts, CDs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401K Plans, Money Market accounts, etc.
• Deeds to any jointly held real estate
• Record of debts
• Health and life insurance policies
• Sales receipts for any household goods that may be separate from the marital property

When you take the time to gather all the information you are likely to need in court it will make the process move forward much faster. One of the things that tend to cost people a great deal more time and money is a delay caused by the petitioner's failure to provide all of the necessary documentation in a timely fashion. Certainly there may be some things you may not have available immediately, but the quicker you can secure that information, the quicker your lawyer can get your case into court.
Another place where many people make a mistake is thinking the other spouse will provide the information to their lawyer. Your lawyer does not want to use information your spouse provides his or her lawyer; he wants the information you can provide to him yourself. There may be differences in those documents, and if you and your spouse are showing conflicts the lawyer will be able to approach the other lawyer and determine where the differences lie. Sometimes it is an error while other times it is a deliberate attempt to falsify information.
The process of divorce can take a long time, especially if both parties are attempting to undermine the other one. Instead of playing the part of the wronged spouse and trying to beat the system illegally, be honest with your lawyer and follow the proper divorce steps necessary in order to end the marriage as quickly as possible and move forward to your new life.