Women2Women - Summer 2018 - 27

your divorce checklist

-By Jill Scheidt, Esquire, Masano Bradley Attorneys at Law

If you're contemplating divorce, you'll need to gather the following at a minimum for your own peace of mind
and for your lawyer. Of course, this is just a general list and depending on the specifics of your situation you may need to
gather additional documents. But the list below is a good starting point for you to have in hand when you meet with your lawyer
for the first time:
1.

All financial records for both you and your spouse. Basically,
anything with a dollar sign on it, including:
* Last 3 years of tax returns with W-2's
* Year-to-date paystubs
* Bank account statements (if you don't have access to the account
online, go to the bank and get access)
* Retirement account statements
* Loan statements such as credit cards, car and student loans
* Mortgage statements
* Closing documents from real estate purchases

4 . Make a list of personal property acquired during the marriage

and photograph any items of significance.

5 . Consider making duplicate copies of sentimental photographs,

videos, and other portable items since doing so now is easier
than later.

6 . If you have minor children, write a detailed schedule that they

follow with all of their activities and school obligations noted.
Also, try to put in writing how you celebrate holidays, birthdays
and vacations as well as changes over the summer as compared
to the school year. If you are in a custody negotiation, you will
be asked what schedule you want and there are many moving
parts when creating a written custody order. The more detailed
you can be, the better.

2 . Run a credit report which you can do annually for free on www.

annualcreditreport.com. Identify which debts are in individual
names and joint with your spouse.

3 . Locate all of your original important documents and put them

7 . Gather

your children's report cards and medical records, and
anything else that you believe to be significant for your attorney
or a Judge to know about when deciding custody.

somewhere safe, including
* Passport
* Social security card
* Birth certificate
* Car titles

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