Contested Divorce Long Island: What Happens Next: Discovery

Once the process of a Long Island Contested Divorce is well underway both you and your spouse, through your respective Long Island divorce lawyers, will engage in what is called discovery. Discovery is disclosure by each you to the other of all financial materials that may be relevant to the divorce, including bank account statements, credit card statements, pension and 401(k) information, and so forth. In the downstate counties of New York discovery is limited to financial matters; there is no discovery related to the grounds for divorce or to custody. What is relevant is decided by the Long Island Divorce Lawyers and by the court; what you think is relevant is, in fact, irrelevant.

Each of you is expected to cooperate in discovery. Battles over discovery are both expensive and futile. In the final analysis the divorce court will force financial disclosure; if you refuse to deliver what your spouse’s attorney is seeking the court will punish you. One of the reasons that people choose Long Island Divorce Mediation is that, for one reason or another, they do not want to formally disclose certain financial information. A major reason is the need to disclose tax returns, which may be problematical for both of you. Many people are more comfortable with the informal disclosure of financial information in the Long Island Divorce Mediation process, rather than under oath in a divorce court.

The rules concerning discovery in divorce are very straightforward: everything concerning financial matters is to be disclosed.

Go back to Long Island Contested Divorce: How It Works to see the full list of topics about contested divorce.