So divorce is imminent. You know you need a lawyer, but what should you bring, if anything, to that first meeting?
"I generally don't ask clients to bring much to the very first consultation," said attorney Gus Dahlberg, "because most of what we're going to talk about I'm going to get through Q&A."
At Columbus divorce lawyers Babbitt & Dahlberg, part of what this means is that before that first meeting, you will fill out a client information sheet that includes some very basic information about you, your family, and your situation. In addition, if you have something you think your lawyers might need, bring it with you.
If you are interested in moving forward after this initial meeting, your divorce attorney will likely ask about it.
Financial documents
This includes things like multi-year tax returns or income documents like W2s, 1099s, etc. It also includes documents related to assets you own, starting with real estate, and anything that shows the source of a down payment.
Your attorney can probably track down mortgages and titles from the county recorder's office of most counties, but he or she probably won't have closing papers when you or your spouse bought property.
"Often you have a home that was purchased during the marriage by a couple, but one of the spouses used the proceeds from a home they owned before the marriage as a down payment," Gus said. "To get credit for it, the court may have to see where the down payment came from. Sometimes that means closing documents in a premarital home, or bank statements that help track a down payment into a new home."
You'll also want to collect your bank, retirement and/or credit card statements for a year if you have them, along with any other financial statements you might have, such as stocks, trusts or insurance policies.
"Especially when it comes to cash value policies or life insurance," said Gus. "For example, we want to see what is the term for the insurance, who is the beneficiary, what is the cash value, that kind of thing."
If children are involved, your attorney will need some information to determine child support. This includes health insurance coverage and costs, other benefits available through employment, and child care costs and details.
Car title
Assets that have title (like boats or motor vehicles) will likely need to be addressed in a final divorce decree. Sometimes lawyers also ask for registrations for such vehicles, but a good rule of thumb is that your lawyer will want to see any document you need to change the ownership of the asset.
"I will sometimes ask for a photo of the odometer on the car because then I can check with Kelley Blue Book to get a value for the vehicle," Gus said.
Other things to consider
If there are emails or other correspondence, such as letters, cards, pictures, or anything tangible that you think might be important, err on the side of caution and include them. These could be copies of text messages from your husband and his girlfriend, photos of cars or jewelry, handwritten balance sheets or wealthy statements – the list of documents that could potentially be important can be endless. In many cases, it's up to you first to decide whether or not it's important for your attorney to see this.
If you are the defendant who has been served with divorce papers, the question is different. In addition to the financial documents, your attorney will want to see the divorce petitions themselves.
"I need to see what you've been served with because in almost every single case in Ohio, there's probably an injunction that we need to understand and deadlines that we need to meet based on when the pleadings were filed," Gus said. "Without having copies of these documents, I will be in the dark as to what they mean for you and what we can do for your case."
Last step: Come organized
"That's probably the hardest part for clients," said Gus. "Bring it to us as organized as possible. It doesn't have to be color-coded with tabs or an index, but the less time I have to spend sorting and organizing your records and the more time I have to spend analyzing them, the better."