by guest author Larry Gaughan
In Court, “discovery” is the way lawyers formally require parties to provide information and documents. In divorce cases discovery can be a wasteful and frustrating process. At times it does not succeed in producing all of the information needed. Despite these problems, when a case is to be litigated there has to be an enforceable way to require exchanges.
Standard civil discovery rules and models are often not very useful in negotiated cases. The best way to proceed may be to start with a general financial spreadsheet and just some of the most essential documents, like evidence of incomes and accounts. Then another follow-up round or two may be necessary for the exchange of more specific or more detailed documents.
In 2009 I put together a Financial Profile for divorce that can be downloaded and opened in MS Excel. It was designed to be “user friendly”. You can download it by clicking here.
This spreadsheet is designed for those cases in which an agreement is being negotiated. Please feel free to use it without attribution and to adapt it to suit your needs.
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Guest author Larry Gaughan was admitted to practice law in Montana in 1957 and in Virginia in 1967. He was a tenured full professor at Washington & Lee and George Mason Law Schools. As an attorney he is rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the national rating service for lawyers, as “AV® Preeminent™.” Larry has been a family mediator since 1980 and is a Founding Member of Academy of Professional Family Members.
