• Statements verifying amounts of everything listed in your financial declaration.
• Complete tax returns for the previous two years.
• The last 12 months of pay statements.
• All loan applications or financial statements prepared in the past 12 months.
• Documents verifying real estate.
• All bank and investment statements for the previous 3 months.

Failure to provide your financial declaration and the above mentioned supporting documents, can result in a negative ruling by the judge on financial matters and other possibly other negative consequences.

Deadline for the Financial Declaration

If you are the Petitioner in the divorce, meaning if you are the one who filed the divorce, your complete financial declaration is due within 14 days after the Respondent files his/her answer to your divorce petition. The Respondent’s financial declaration is then due 28 days after the answer is filed. Do not miss your deadlines with regards to these disclosures. So what happens if the other party is refusing to provide you with their financial declaration or any other required information? You can file a motion to compel this information and ask the judge to hold the other party in contempt and issue sanctions and attorney fees (if you are represented by counsel) against them.

Help with the Financial Declaration and Disclosures

If you are not represented by an attorney and need help with your financial declaration or initial disclosures, call our office anytime to speak with a St. George Divorce Lawyer. The rules can be difficult to understand so it certainly helps to have an experienced attorney on your side walking you through the steps of providing the other party with the required financial declaration. Also, because the financial declaration can have such a huge impact on the financial issues in your case, you really should at a minimum review it with with a lawyer.

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Financial Declaration and Initial Disclosures

At the beginning of every divorce, both parties are required to fill out a financial declaration disclosing all of their income, expenses, assets, debts, etc. Full financial declarations are provided to each side. The financial declaration is extremely important as the judge in your case will take into account the information provided in this form in determining financial matters such as alimony, child support, and division of assets. As your attorney, we ensure your financial declaration is properly executed and ensure the other side has fully disclosed all relevant financial information.

Similar to your financial declaration, you must also provide, and the other side must do the same, initial disclosures detailing relevant evidence you intend to introduce at trial. This includes any witnesses, documents, etc. that you intend to bring as evidence in support of your claims. This covers anything known at the time you make the disclosures. There are court imposed deadlines for when your initial disclosures are due so it is important to speak with your St. George Divorce Lawyer early about this process.

Written Discovery Requests

To learn more about the other party’s claims, your attorney can send written discovery requests to them requiring they provide certain documents, answer questions, and admit or deny certain allegations. These are generally called requests for admissions, requests for production of documents, and interrogatories. Additionally, your lawyer can send subpoenas to any relevant party seeking any relevant piece of evidence. For instance, if you believe your spouse is hiding assets, subpoenas can be sent to accountants, banks, etc. to help find out more information about assets and related issues.

Written discovery requests are one of the most effective tools in your lawyers bag of tricks. Often these requests are battled between the attorneys because the potential impact a certain disclosures may cause. It is not uncommon for one side to object to a certain request and for the judge to have to intervene.

Depositions

Finally, a very useful tool in the discovery process is the deposition. We can call the other party to appear out our office to answer questions on the record. We can cross examine them just like we would at trial. This allows us to discover what their anticipated testimony would be at trial. The deposition is recorded and the testimony given can be introduced as evidence at trial.

Help From Utah Divorce Lawyers

We know how to use the discovery process to your advantage, to give you the best possibility of resolving your divorce in your favor. Retaining one of our Utah Divorce Lawyers can make a big impact on your ability to discover all the necessary information about your soon to be ex’s case. Call us today for an analysis of your matter.

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Victim Representation

We have represented individuals on both sides of the domestic violence equation. This includes victim representation in a domestic violence case against the accused. We do not discriminate between parties. Whether you need help filing for a protective order or defending against one, we can be of service to you. While some attorneys only represent defendants or victims, we have handles both sides of the story which we believe gives us an advantage and better understanding of an opposing party’s potential positions.

St. George Divorce Attorney

Once the dust has settled on a domestic violence matter or protective order proceedings, often parties are left with the divorce process to finalize. A St. George Divorce Attorney at our law firm will help you put everything behind and start a new fresh road by completing your divorce matter. Often people believe they can finalize a divorce all on their own without any problems. While you can represent yourself if you choose, you should at least consult with a lawyer prior filing anything. This can help prevent mistakes. We get many calls each month from people who filed for divorce on their own only later to realize they are bound to terms they never understood and now want to change. It is often more expensive to hire a lawyer post divorce to try and fix problems than to do things the right way the first time around. Don’t leave anything this important to chance. Email or call us today to get a free consultation.

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The purpose of alimony is not to take all the property away from one spouse to give to another.  The Utah Supreme Court has said, “We require that a trial court, in setting alimony, attempt to provide support for the receiving spouse sufficient to maintain that spouse as nearly as possible at the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage.” Noble v. Noble, 761 P.2d 1369, 1372 (Utah 1988).  According to Utah family law then, alimony is meant to give the receiving spouse enough money to continue living as if the person was still married.

Alimony Laws in Southern Utah

Utah state law has set many different standards for a Utah court to consider in setting the amount of alimony one should receive as a result of a Utah divorce.  A Utah court will usually look to the standard of living that existed at the time of the couple’s separation in determining alimony.  A court will consider all relevant facts and equitable principles and may base alimony on the standard of living that exists at the time of a trial.  Courts use several different factors in determining alimony and the issues can often become muddled.  Because family law can be very complicated, it is best to have a St. George divorce lawyer handle a divorce.

Get the Alimony Help You Need

If you are going through a divorce and need help with your alimony issues, don’t go through the divorce process alone.  Get the alimony help you need by contacting a St. George alimony attorney from St George Divorce Attorney.  Our law firm has experienced alimony attorneys that will help you through the divorce process.  Call us today to speak with a divorce lawyer for free at 435.625-1753.

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