Divorce Attorney in New York, New York

What is discovery in a family law case?

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Discovery is all about the financial

issues in New York we don’t have

Discovery for custody issues now I know

that’s not true across the country but

in New York which is where I practice

there is no Discovery for for custody

and we’ll talk about that in a second

but there is definitely Discovery for

financial issues so what does that mean

it means first of all you would normally

exchange what’s called statements of net

worth they’re sworn to you put all of

your expenses and you usually use the

year prior to figure out what your

expenses are per category so there’ll be

all sorts of categories your rent or

your mortgage your H your taxes um

vacations clothing food groceries dining

out your children’s extracurricular

activities educational expenses all of

that goes in the beginning of the net

worth statement and then you’re going to

move on to the assets and the

liabilities and you’ll then have what’s

called a sworn statement of net worth

those are exchanged that is the

beginning of the discovery process now

you have the framework for what are the

assets and the liabilities hopefully now

sometimes your spouse may not actually

put down all of the assets and the

liabilities and they may not accurately

report what the expenses are perhaps

they think if they don’t accurate

accurately report the expenses they may

pay less support or perhaps all of the

assets and liabilities aren’t there

because they made a mistake an honest

mistake or perhaps they deliberately

didn’t put these these assets and

liabilities down because they just

didn’t want you to know about them and

so now here comes the difficult part

this is the part where you’re actually

sending out what are called Discovery

demands now demand is a harsh word but

that’s what they’re called they are

demands for certain documents and you’re

going to be looking at credit cards

statements and bank statements and

perhaps other documents if there’s a

business involved you may be looking at

General ledgers and you may be looking

at loans that were taken for the

business and you may get financial

statements that have been offered to

Banks and other entities and you’re

going to do a very thorough look at the

tax returns both business and personal

and this is when all of this discovery

comes in then you’re going to see what’s

missing from the discovery is the

Discovery deficient

and that’s very important because you

need to know if the discovery is

deficient have things been left out are

there years left out are there credit

card statements left out are you seeing

a payment for example to American

Express from the checking account but

there’s no American Express statements

being shown to you that is a red flag is

something on the net worth statement but

you’re not getting the documentation

from it for it is something being

transferred to another account but you

don’t have that account information is

something listed on the schedule in the

tax return are there accounts showing

dividends or distributions but they’re

not on the net worth statement and you

have no documentation for it you’re then

going to send what’s called a deficiency

notice as to what you believe is

deficient from your discovery that

you’ve just received pursuant to your

Discovery demand and then you’re going

to probably go to the next step and that

is taking a deposition which is asking

questions under oath of the other part

party and that is very important it’s

important to understand what the assets

and the liabilities are and sometimes

the assets and the liabilities are

complex there may be for example hedge

funds perhaps there’s restricted stock

units perhaps you need to know what the

vesting schedule is for those restricted

stock units maybe there’s bonuses

involved in compensation perhaps there’s

a business and you have questions about

the general ledger or how people are

being paid or why they’re being paid

certain amounts so this is the opp

opportunity to ask all of those

questions and you may work with an

expert actually a forensic accounting

firm that may help you formulate some of

those questions or real estate experts

or valuators of software that someone

may own this is all part of Discovery

and it’s a process and it’s important

that you go through that process

Contact Lisa Zeiderman

(212) 769-3500

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New York, NY family law attorney Lisa Zeiderman talks about discovery in a family law case. Discovery in New York family law is primarily concerned with financial issues, as there is no discovery process for custody matters, which differs from practices in other jurisdictions. The process begins with the exchange of sworn statements of net worth, which provide a detailed breakdown of expenses categorized by areas such as housing, taxes, vacations, clothing, food, and children’s activities, typically reflecting the previous year’s financial data. After detailing expenses, the statements also outline the parties’ assets and liabilities.

Once the statements are exchanged, the discovery process is initiated. However, there may be instances where one spouse does not fully disclose all assets, liabilities, or expenses. This may occur due to an honest oversight or, in some cases, a deliberate attempt to conceal financial information.

The next phase involves issuing discovery demands, which require the provision of specific documents. These demands may include requests for credit card statements, bank statements, business financial records, tax returns, and other relevant documentation. A thorough examination of these documents is essential to identify any deficiencies or missing information. For example, if payments are noted to a credit card company but corresponding statements are not provided, this would signal a potential issue.

If deficiencies are found in the discovery materials, a deficiency notice is issued to highlight the missing information. The process often leads to taking a deposition, during which the attorney poses questions to the other party under oath to clarify financial matters. This step is critical for understanding complex financial scenarios, including hedge funds, restricted stock units, bonuses, and business operations. Collaborating with experts, such as forensic accountants or real estate evaluators, can also aid in developing targeted questions. This comprehensive discovery process is vital to ensure that all financial aspects are accurately represented and accounted for in family law cases.

Divorce Attorney in New York, New York

What is discovery in a family law case?

Contact Lisa Zeiderman

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