ASK ANGIE^TM
By Angela Hallier, Esq.
Answers to your divorce and family law questions

Q I have been kept in the dark about our finances during my marriage. Now I am getting divorced. How can I find out what we have?

A There are many ways to obtain such information during the "discovery" phase of your divorce case. In Arizona, court rules require mandatory disclosure by each side of any information that may impact their case. This means that your spouse must voluntarily provide you all such information, even without a specific request. Unfortunately, in many cases, relying on your spouse's good will in adhering to this rule is not enough. If informal requests for information under this rule go unanswered, or you do not feel confident you are receiving accurate information, a good starting place for identifying assets is your personal tax returns. Your returns can be of assistance in identifying property and accounts, or assets sold during a given tax period. If your spouse is not forthcoming with copies of returns, or you believe the returns produced are not the actual returns filed with the IRS, you can request copies of the returns directly from the Internal Revenue Service. Not only personal tax returns, but any corporate and partnership returns should be reviewed.

Court issued subpoenas are also frequently used as a method of gathering information. A subpoena, listing information or documents you want to receive, can be issued to a person or entity not a part of your lawsuit. The recipient of the subpoena has ten business days under court rules to produce the information requested. Typical examples are subpoenas to a financial institution or employer. Even if you do not know the exact accounts which exist, a subpoena issued to a financial institution listing your spouse's name and social security number will be sufficient to obtain, in most cases, information about all accounts on which that social security number or name appears. Subpoenas to employers typically request information such as pay history, terms of employment, bonus information, and employee benefit information, including retirement, pension, employee savings, and stock option accounts.

Other discovery "tools" include Interrogatories (written questions to your spouse); Requests for Production of Documents (written requests for the production of certain documents); Requests for Admissions (written questions to your spouse asking he or she to admit certain facts as true); and Depositions (oral question and answer sessions at which your attorney asks questions of your spouse, an expert, or sometimes a third party in the presence of a court reporter, from whom a written transcript of the questions and answers can be obtained). Responses to all of the above are given "under oath".

In those cases where a spouse is purposefully trying to hide assets or has engaged in "pre-divorce planning", the hiring of outside experts might be necessary in order to obtain the information you seek. Private investigators, computer forensic specialists, and experts in asset tracing are among those you may want to consider.

Making sure you feel you have obtained all information material to your case is important. Only then can you assess your settlement options, obtain advice from your attorney as to a likely outcome if you proceed to trial, and prepare for trial if a settlement cannot be reached. Make sure you give your attorney any information you have regarding your assets, even if it is just a "hunch."

It is always advisable to seek the counsel of a qualified attorney who can advise you specifically about your case. The information in this column is provided for general information only in the state of Arizona, is not specific to any one case and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader. ©2003 - 2008 Hallier Law Firm PLC

ASK ANGIE^TM is published monthly in Arizona Trends Magazine.