gitana1
Verified Attorney
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- May 31, 2005
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I will have to go back and reread some of the documents but my recollection is that your question was at the crux of the ongoing disputes between the 2 parties in Family Court. JD had been trying to get financial disclosure for nearly 2 years from FD with no luck. FD had recently submitted a motion to request that JD pay his atty fees as he had had no cash flow from FORE Group in 2019.
I don't believe based on reading about 1/2 of the documents that there was resolution on any of the financial issues and this was ongoing source of great friction. The thing that I wonder though is that the motions from FD on the entire issue of financial disclosure seemed to have as their strategy to delay and delay and then when that didn't work he just didn't comply and was cited for contempt.
My guess is he knew they wouldn't toss him in jail and there seemed to be zero consequences for not doing what the court ordered IMO. I guess if I were to question Judge Heller on anything it would be exactly this issue. Namely why no consequences for financial disclosure non compliance?
And not only were there no consequences but the visitation was 'relaxed' by Judge Heller. IMO this was at best sending mixed messages to FD and at worst it just kept the Family Court gravy train of experts and GAL chugging along billing and billing with no end in sight. MOO but with the way things were going in the Judge Heller courtroom I'm not sure FD would ever have provided financial information. MOO.
Oh boy. The "relaxed" visitation remained professionally monitored which is highly restrictive in the world of family law. One of the most restrictive possible. He just got more time. But no overnights.
As far as the lack of "consequences" for failure to produce discovery, it's a difficult process that can be super unfair if one person doesn't have the funds to fight.
I tell people who are contemplating a divorce to begin secretly compiling financial information long before they separate, if their spouse is "self-employed".
But the big issue I find is they sign tax returns agreeing to low income but then try to say the soon to be ex spouse was actually earning much more.
Well you can't have your cake and eat it too.
But the process itself is time consuming. We probably aren't even at the stage of sanctions or are just getting there in this case.
The process typically involves motions to compel production or further production. The opposing side may then produce some more documents but claim that's all they have. And then it keeps going back-and-forth to court. But if they state that's all they have, unless there is direct evidence showing that they actually have more, it can be very hard to manage.
If it is determined, however, that the opposing side is refusing to produce important documents they do possess, then they will be ordered to do so and ultimately, sometimes after a few hearings, the issue of monetary sanctions will come up and sanctions are typically ordered. But it can take a while to get there.
If they're really obstinate in responding to discovery, the other party can request something like issue sanctions which means the opposing side won't be able to produce evidence in support of their position, as to a particular issue.
But it all takes time and is complicated by the court calendar and schedule.
So discovery is propounded. Discovery is responded to with objections or an insufficient response. The side that propounded then files a motion. Often the opposing side will offer more documentation right before the hearing but then the one seeking discovery will need time to review. So the hearing is continued.
At the new date they may argue why one side should get info and the other shouldn't have to produce more. Judge issues an order to produce. Another hearing is set to make sure they did so and to hear the issue of sanctions.
In the meantime maybe the one seeking discovery gets information that shows the opposition lied about not having certain info. So they can file another motion.
It can be seemingly endless.
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