You have just decided (or found out) that you are getting a divorce. You have made an appointment with one or more divorce attorneys. Bringing the following four points to your first meeting with a divorce attorney will help you understand her situation more quickly and better evaluate your case. It will also save your attorney some work, which can ultimately lower your divorce costs.
- Your tax return. In one aspect, divorce is the process of dividing a legal entity – marriage – into two separate entities – former spouses. Much of this is about how to separate family assets and debts. The more active, the more difficult the divorce will be. This is why your attorney will want to see your tax return.
It is not just your divorce attorney who wants to see you. Many courts require both parties to divorce the prior year’s tax returns (or W-2 if prior year’s taxes have not yet been filed). The court will use this information, along with the evidence, to evenly divide the family property.
- Complete your financial statement. This is closely related to filing your tax returns; If you really want to impress your divorce attorney, bring your financial statement to your first meeting. This form is also required by many courts so that a judge can properly assess the division of property during your divorce. You will be asked to provide information such as your assets and liabilities, bank accounts, and income. Like your tax returns, it must be exchanged with the other party to the divorce. You can find a blank financial statement here.
- Chronology of the problems that led to the divorce. This is easier to prepare if you are a spouse seeking a divorce. Otherwise, you may have been shocked when you found out about the divorce. I know it was in mine. However, once you get over the shock, you can probably look back and see certain events or issues that were the alarms that your marriage was approaching divorce.
- True. People turn to lawyers for help, but they often cannot be completely honest with their lawyer. This can only hurt your business. Almost all divorce attorneys have a “war history” in which they were blinded by what their client confessed during cross-examination. When asked later why they are hiding this information, the client often responds that he does not consider it important. This may sound arrogant, but you found a divorce attorney because he or she knows more about the law than you do. You don’t know what is important and what is not! If you hit your spouse, confess it to your lawyer. If you cheated on your spouse, admit it to your lawyer. The sooner your divorce lawyer Singapore learns of the facts that harm you, the sooner he can deal with them. The sooner negative facts are dealt with, the less they matter when the judge hears them. It will not make your lawyer think less of you. They have seen of all kinds long before they saw you.