Requests for Production of Documents

Obtaining financial records is an extremely important form of discovery.  Bank records, credit card statements, retirement account records, and other such records are necessary for a divorce lawyer to determine the nature and extent of the marital estate, the marital and non-marital character of property, the lifestyle maintained by the parties during the marriage, and other financial information that may be relevant pursuant to statute.

Records can be obtained either from a party pursuant to a request for the production of documents under Supreme Court Rule 214 or from a nonparty pursuant to a subpoena for records only served pursuant to a notice of deposition under Supreme Court Rule 204(a)(4).

In addition, in some countries, mandatory disclosure requirements may require a party to turn over income information without the need for a request by the adverse party.  The practitioner may want to confirm the veracity of information and the earlier withdrawal or transfer of funds prior to the disclosure by following up any mandatory disclosure requirements with other discovery tools such as subpoenas for records pursuant to Rule 204.

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