DOCUMENTS NEEDED FOR YOUR DIVORCE

Documentation and Information for your lawyer:  You will want to get together information and documentation to give your divorce lawyer about your income, assets and debts incurred by both spouses during your marriage.  I suggest clients provide me with the following information (and documentation) or as much of it as a client has access to.  Remember if you require your attorney to spend the time to have to track down, request and obtain this documentation for you, the more you will owe your attorney in attorney fees.  If possible, scan or take photos of this information.

FINANCIAL

Income /Earnings: 

• Last 2 years of tax returns, including the most recent income tax returns including W2s, 1099s and schedules.

• Most recent paystubs for past 2 months which show gross income, hours worked, amount of each deduction from check, net income and year to date income.

Pensions & Retirement accounts through Employment:

• Copies of most recent statement for all pensions through employment including 401k, 403 (b), High Annuity Funds

• Copies of Defined Benefit Plan employer savings – this is usually a pension plan that is only contributed to by the employer and is payable in monthly amounts only upon reaching retirement age.

• Make sure if you can to find the name of the pension plan (Example:  General Motors Employee Hourly-Rate Employees’ Pension Plan), the name and address of the plan administrator and a contact telephone number of the plan administrator.

Medical and Dental Insurance Coverage through Employer

• Any brochure or statement from your employer showing the monthly cost to the employee deducted from their paychecks for any medical and or dental insurance through the employer. We want to know what the cost is for just an individual plan that covers employee versus a family plan that covers employee plus spouse plus children.
• Does employee contribute to a health savings fund that may have monies saved in it?  This is a dividable marital asset.

Personal private IRAs or other Financial Retirement Accounts not through employer.

• Other than those through employment, copies of any most recent statement for both parties IRA’s etc. showing present value of account.

Checking, Savings or Certificate of Deposit accounts: 

• Most recent monthly statements showing present value.

REAL ESTATE

For all real estate either you or spouse have an interest in, provide the following:

• Copy of the deed showing the date you or spouse acquired the real estate and includes the full legal description.  You can get a copy of the deed at the county recorder’s office at the Northland Building in Virginia, MN.  The legal description does NOT come from your property tax statement. 
  
• Also any documentation showing purchase price and down payment.

• Copies of all mortgages and home equity loans showing total balance remaining on mortgage or home equity loan, monthly payment amount.  Also, showing whether your mortgage is joint or in just one spouse’s name.  Also name and address of mortgage or loan creditor and account number.

• Copies of any real estate appraisal and your most recent property tax statement.

• Do you or your spouse have an interest in real property as part of estate planning for either of your parents such as a life estate for mother’s home?  Need to know that also.

MOTOR VEHICLES & RECREATIONAL VEHICLES

• Copies of Titles for Motor Vehicles showing registered owners on title (remember it doesn’t matter whose name is on the title for divorce court, if it was purchased during marriage, both parties have a marital ownership interest in it).

•  Need information of Year, Make and Model of all vehicles owned by either party (example:  2008 Ford Explorer) and total balance of any outstanding loans against vehicle and total monthly payment.  Also which party wants the vehicle?

• Same information needed for snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, boats etc.

•  Also, find out whether any loans on the vehicles are joint loans, or which party is responsible to the creditor for the loan.

• For each motor vehicle, state approximate date of purchase and purchase price.

DEBTS

• For all other debt (other than mortgage and home equity lines of credit, other than owed on motor vehicles above), such as credit card debt or other loans, provide most recent statement showing account number and creditor name and address, and showing the total balance due and minimum monthly payment and who is responsible for the debt (is the credit card in both parties names or just one).  Also state what the debt was incurred for.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE THE DOCUMENTS?

The documents and information above will be needed by your attorney to finalize your divorce case no matter what.   However, it is not necessary that you have all of this information or documentation before you hire your divorce attorney as I can commence a divorce action even without all of this information.



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