When your spouse informs you they want to dissolve the marriage, or vice versa, you need to start preparing for the process to avoid last-minute rushes or making uninformed decisions. One of the steps to take during preparation is gathering documents.
Here are seven categories of documents you should have:
Marriage documents
These are documents related to your marriage, including your marriage license, prenuptial and/or postnuptial agreements if you have them and the separation agreement.
Financial documents
Property division can be a complicated process during divorce. Thus, it’s vital to gather your financial documents earlier. These include your paystubs, bank statements, income tax returns, investment statements, credit card statements, credit reports and loan information.
Real estate documents
You need to gather real estate documents for the properties you and your spouse own, such as mortgage statements, property deeds, property tax statements, real estate appraisals and your rental agreement if you don’t own a home.
Business documents
If you have a business, whether you started it before or after the marriage, or you and your spouse are owners or investors of a company, you need documents related to it. These include registration, business income tax returns, financial statements, patents, trademarks, payroll information and any other crucial documents.
Retirement documents
You need to have your retirement account statements during your divorce.
Insurance documents
Your life and health insurance information is also essential during a divorce. Thus, include the policies and their cash values in your paperwork.
Estate planning documents
Your divorce may affect your estate planning wishes. Accordingly, you need to gather your will, trust, power of attorney, health care advance directive, guardianship designation and so on.
Preparing for your divorce sooner can save you from costly mistakes. Consider legal guidance to understand the process in depth.
