Dissolution of Marriage – Common Documents

Every divorce is unique, but most share a common core of issues. Of course, at the core of every legal matter is a plethora of legal documents. Knowing the different names and acronyms will help you keep on top of your divorce and better communicate with your attorney. Here are five of the top documents that you should know about:

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (“The Petition”)

This is the document that officially starts your divorce proceedings in Oregon. The court must be informed of the general information regarding the marriage, the desire for dissolution, and relief sought. The petition can be filed unilaterally with a petitioner and respondent or jointly as co-petitioners. If filed unilaterally, the respondent will then often file a response. The response often contains counterclaims.

Confidential Information Sheet (“CIF”)

The petition for dissolution starts the divorce process. An additional document that gets filed with the court is a confidential information sheet. Information such as dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and social security numbers are required to actually keep track of the parties involved. The petition for dissolution, under normal circumstances, is a public document. To keep sensitive information off public records confidential information is filed in a CIF. The other party is informed that confidential information has been filed, but they are not readily available for review.

Uniform Support Declaration (“USD”)

This document is a standardized way to show the court your financial situation so that child support and spousal support levels can be determined. Income and expenses will be laid out in detail, including information such as health care costs, childcare expenses, and even union dues. This is a required document when child support and spousal support claims are at hand.

Asset/Liability Spreadsheet (“8.010”)

This document is used for the parties to easily show what assets or debts the marriage has such as real property, retirement accounts, bank accounts, and vehicles. Additionally, the liabilities are listed including things such as credit card debt, mortgages, and auto loans. This information is presented in a uniform way that judges are accustomed to seeing and is required by UTCR 8.010. Each line will include a description of the asset or liability, its estimated fair market value monetary value, and a proposal of how the item should be split between the parties. Premarital values are also included in the spreadsheet.

Request for Production (“RFP”)

This document officially requests the production of discovery. Discovery is anything that is used to create a full understanding of the situation surrounding the divorce. This usually means documents such as bank statements and paystubs. However, this can be as far reaching as journal entries and health records. The RFP lists out the various items that the party believes they need to achieve this full understanding and often involves multiple requests.

There are other documents you will likely see in your divorce and even the ones listed above can have slight variations or require responses. If you need help with your family law matter, please consider scheduling a consultation with our firm.