New Jersey divorce law recognizes that divorces need to be decided without one party being disadvantaged or advantaged due to control of family finances. Both parties are entitled to be on equal financial ground when deciding their divorce and the key issues of child custody, child support, alimony, and division of assets without feeling pressured financially to settle for unfair terms just to begin receiving the support they need.
With this in mind, there are a number of different options available to parties who traditionally played no role in the management of family finances, in order to “level the playing field” during their divorce, and ensure a fair and equitable outcome.
Interrogatories and Notice to Produce During a Morris County Divorce
Two of the most important tools available to parties who traditionally have not been involved in the family finances are that of interrogatories and notice to produce, often termed “discovery requests.” Both of these documents seek to clarify the overall state of your family’s finances, and your Morris County divorce attorney will advise you when, how, and why these requests for financial discovery may be necessary, and beneficial to you.
Interrogatories are essentially written questions which your spouse, and their attorney, must respond to, under oath. Interrogatories often contain questions regarding the health, employment history, and education of your spouse, as well as questions regarding their income, and exactly what assets your family possesses such as investments and retirement funds. Failure to accurately and truthfully answer an interrogatory is considered perjury, so unless your spouse is willing to risk consequences from the judge and a potentially much more unfavorable divorce settlement by hiding or lying about your family’s assets, interrogatories are a great way of producing the financial information you need in order to ensure a fair and equitable divorce settlement.
Beyond these written interrogatories, your divorce attorney may also wish to serve a notice to produce on your spouse. This is a request for your spouse to produce specific financial documents such as bank statements, real estate contracts, loan applications, W-2’s, 401(k) statements, credit card statements, or any other document your attorney deems relevant to your family’s finances. Failure to comply with a notice to produce can also result in consequences being imposed by the judge, which may include a variety of legal and financial sanctions and being held in contempt of court depending upon the extent of the non-compliance.
Securing Temporary Support, Madison Temporary Alimony Lawyers
Beyond the methods for ensuring that your family’s finances are fully and accurately disclosed, parties who have been traditionally dependent on their spouse for financial support do not always have to wait for their divorce to be finalized in order to continue receiving the support they did during their marriage.
With the help of an experienced Madison temporary alimony lawyer, you can petition the courts to grant you temporary support during the divorce process, before the final terms of your divorce have been decided or agreed-upon. This temporary support can include support for living expenses, support to help you maintain the lifestyle you enjoyed during your marriage, and financial support for your children.
Temporary financial support during a divorce can give you the stability and security you need to properly resolve important divorce issues without feeling pressured to resolve them quickly and not in your favor, simply so you can begin receiving the financial support you need in order to survive and take care of your children.
Contact Our Madison, NJ Divorce Attorneys Today
At Jacobs Berger, LLC, our attorneys have extensive experience helping clients across Randolph, Madison, Tewksbury, Morristown, Morris County, and throughout New Jersey to obtain financial support during their divorce, and ensure their family’s finances are fully and accurately disclosed and taken into account.
Our unique approach to family and divorce law focuses on helping our clients maintain financial and parental stability and set the foundation for a successful future, without tearing down all that they have worked to achieve during their marriage. We seek to do this through negotiation and open and honest communication between you and your spouse, but we also understand this may not always be possible, and as such we are prepared to aggressively and effectively litigate on your behalf in front of a judge in order to ensure you receive the divorce settlement agreement that you need and deserve.
To schedule a confidential case evaluation with our firm today regarding your divorce, including any specific issues or concerns you may have related to your family’s finances or securing temporary support, please contact us online, or through our Morristown, NJ office at (973) 771-5259.
