Discovery and the Public Record Some spouses choose to draft an out-of-court settlement agreement for an uncontested divorce so they avoid the complex discovery process. This also keeps their financial records from becoming a matter of public record and protects their privacy.
In the United States, can a person obtain a divorce without the spouse's knowledge? Yes. It's far more complicated than doing it with the spouse's knowledge, but it can be done. Usually, it's done because one spouse left and has had no communication with the other for several years.
If your husband has failed to meet discovery deadlines, your attorneys can seek to bar him from presenting evidence or arguments at trial related to his undisclosed assets. Courts disfavor parties who fail to comply with discovery rules.
Divorces in New York involve many complicated steps, and the discovery process is one of the most important. Discovery is the process during which both sides exchange evidence, clarify key facts, and sometimes have one or more parties submit to questioning under oath.
How far back can discovery go in a divorce? Discovery in a divorce typically requires financial, asset, and debt information from the last three to five years.
The discovery process can play a foundational role in any divorce case and play a crucial role in gathering extensive financial details of both parties. This process, typically initiated by legal counsel, can take a considerable amount of time to finalize, often lasting several weeks to months or longer.
If there are no problems with your papers and your divorce is granted, the Judge will sign the Judgment and you will be contacted. Depending on the county where you filed your papers, the County Clerk's Office or the Supreme Court Office will contact you when the Judgment is signed and will tell you how to get it.
As long as you have a complete separation agreement (more on that below), the quickest way to get an uncontested divorce in New York is to state on your paperwork (under oath) that your marriage has been broken "irretrievably" for six months.
If things like child custody, property division, spousal maintenance, and other issues can be resolved quickly and are uncontested, a divorce could be finalized within two to six months in most cases.
The best way to file for divorce in the state of New York is with the help of an attorney. Though you could file on your own, there are things that could be missed and end up causing a lot of problems down the road. By hiring an attorney, you can make sure nothing gets overlooked and avoid any future problems.