Not every case needs to be litigated in court. Litigation is not only a stressful and long process, but it is also financially draining to many people. When contemplating a divorce or custody action, you should consider whether your situation would be better handled by way of entering into a settlement agreement. What does a settlement agreement really capture? It covers how you handle dividing your marital property, personal property, alimony (if applicable), retirement accounts, child custody schedule, and child support payments. The following items are included in a settlement agreement:

1. The basic background information about the parties which often includes, the date of marriage, location, date of separation, number of children, and your current living arrangement.

2. Division of your marital assets which includes addressing your home, retirement accounts, joint accounts, and vehicles.

3. Addressing debt which often includes credit card debt, student loans, and vehicle loans.

4. Creating a child custody and visitation schedule which will address both joint and physical custody and outline a holiday visitation schedule.

5. An agreement on child support and spousal support (if applicable).

Once you have a signed settlement agreement, the next step will be obtaining a final court order and make sure that agreement is incorporated in it. Although divorce is not the easiest process to go through, there are ways that you can make it financially and emotionally manageable. Call us at (443) 741-2567 and we would be happy to meet with you to discuss the most efficient way to handle your matter.

What is the discovery process? Formal discovery is a process designed to gather information from the other party that can later be used as evidence to support your case at trial. There are various methods to the discovery process which may include interrogatories, request for production of documents, depositions, requests for admissions of fact, and subpoenas. The most commonly used discovery tools are interrogatories and requests for production of documents.

Interrogatories are a series of questions that must be answered under oath that usually seek information about you, the case, your finances, the circumstances that led to you either filing or defending the case, etc. In certain circumstances, one can object to answering the interrogatories if the information that is sought is objectionable. The requests for production of documents are a series of requests that seek documentary evidence from the other party. Similar to the interrogatories, if the requests are objectionable, your attorney will help you identify and note each objection.

The discovery process is not only time consuming, but can also be very expensive. It is however, an important part of your case that cannot be skipped or it can have an adverse effect on the outcome of your case. If you would like to schedule a consultation regarding your case, please call us at 443-741-2567.