Divorce Discovery Interrogatories

Added: (Fri Dec 18 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Divorce discovery interrogatories in California may be a touch on the tricky side, necessitating the assistance of competent legal counsel.

First of all, when it comes to divorcing, this is a difficult decision to make and often an even harder thing to accomplish due to the feelings that are dredged up by both parties to the proceedings. Unfortunately, if the couple is not on very good terms with one another by the time they get to legal counsel, there will be some issues that may be even more difficult for them to handle. One of those issues is a California divorce interrogatory.

Divorce interrogatories are a list of written questions that are asked by one party, which must be answered by the other party while under oath and the penalty of perjury. In other words, this is a serious process and considered to be a form of pre-trial discovery – information gathering. For instance, one party may be looking for answers to certain questions that relate to the whereabouts or the value of assets, income and expenses. Information that is not readily accessible by the party asking the questions.

A divorce interrogatory has other uses as well, and those include finding out about potential witnesses, liabilities, allegations and exhibits. Often it doesn’t matter how the interrogatories are used so long as they follow certain criteria. For instance, they should never be used as a form of coercion or control. The information being sought needs to be relevant and the questions reasonable.

While there are often at least two interrogatories during the course of a divorce proceeding, there should not be an unlimited number of them. This serves no point other than harassment and coercion. In addition, any divorce interrogatory must be completed within a specific time frame.

There is no standard format or usual list of questions when it comes to California divorce interrogatories, as each case is unique and thus the questions will tend to vary from case to case. This is not the only thing that may be variable either. The rules and regulations for using these interrogatories for pre-trial discovery may vary.
This is information that a skilled Irvine divorce attorney will go over with clients prior to calling for any divorce interrogatories.

Most often these interrogatories serve a valid purpose to determine key facts of the case in order to move it forward and allow the courts to make a decision regarding property, child custody and other matters relating to a divorce. It is best to have legal representation in the form of an Irvine divorce attorney before trying to wade through answering any questions in a California divorce interrogatory.

Gerald A. Maggio is senior partner of The Maggio Law Firm, Inc., an Orange County and Riverside Divorce and Family Law firm headquartered in Irvine, California. The Maggio Law Firm is experienced in all aspects of divorce and family law matters, including child custody, child support, spousal support, complicated high asset marital property cases, and domestic partnerships.