September, 2003

Trial

(Part 6 of a 6 Part Series on Divorce Procedure)

I've racked my brains on what to say in this, the 6th part of my series on Divorce Procedure.  How am I going to cram all the information you need to conduct a trial into a one-column article?  The bottom line is that I am not.  To try to explain to you all the rules of evidence and trial procedure necessary for you to meander your way through the jurisprudence mine field of a divorce trial is impossible.  No matter how many big words I use, you will still be ill-prepared.  So what's my advice?  I don't know.  Get a lawyer. 

Still reading?  Okay.  Well let's see.  Now that I've wasted a quarter of the space I had to begin with, I really gotta sum things up.  The best advice I can give for the trial is to be prepared.  Write out a list of all the points you want to get across to the judge and group them into categories.  Have one category for introductory stuff (e.g. date you were married, how many kids you have, etc.) one for what a rotten spouse s/he was, one for what a great spouse/parent you are, one to show how s/he makes great money, and so forth. 

Next to each point, list out what evidence you have to prove it.  It could be your own testimony ("On May 3rd during a fight over money she threw an iron at me.") or it may be documentary evidence (e.g. the medical records documenting the ironectomy from your skull.)  Regardless of what evidence you have to introduce, it would behoove you pick up a law book on introducing evidence so you can be familiar with the procedure and rules regarding this very complicated issue.

Now you have your framework for the trial.  You can then fill in the substance by preparing your questions for your witnesses.  When I do this, I like to see if I can address the 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When and How.

After trail, you'll be required to submit your proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.  These are very similar to the Points you originally used to prepare for trial.  All those points are "facts" that you want the court to find as being true.  As you list each one, state what evidence it was brought out in.  For example:

12.On May 3rd, 2003, the Wife threw and struck the Husband with

an iron, causing severe injury to his head.  (Testimony of Wendy

Wife and Exhibit D, Medical Report of Dr. Thomas Gray)

Once you've submitted your Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, you wait for the Judge to issue his or her judgment.  But if you were stubborn enough to carry this thing all the way through to trial, then you probably won't be happy with the decision. 

Okay, that wraps up our 6 part series on divorce procedure.  I think I'm "divorced out" so we'll switch gears and talk about something else for the next few months.  If you have any specific topics you want me to talk about, give me a call.