Stipulations are a frequently overlooked tool that can be useful in a divorce case.  They are asked for in the Pre-Trial Statement, but in the rush to get everything ready for trial, the usual answer under “Stipulations Requested” is “none”.

Stipulations are simply written statements of fact, agreed to by both parties, that are submitted to the judge at the beginning of the trial.  They can then be used as evidence in your case.

One benefit of stipulation is to save time in your trial.  You don’t have to put on witnesses to testify to the facts that are stipulated.  If you are paying a lawyer by the minute, that can be helpful.  They also educate the judge quickly about your case and provide a reference that the judge can have handy at the bench during the trial.

Facts that are easy to agree on include the names of the parties, their ages, the duration of their marriage, and the children’s names and birth dates.

It may be harder to agree on facts like the jobs, income, assets, liabilities and health of the parties.  But any of these issues that can be stipulated to, ought to be.

Subscribe

Related posts:

1. Using Stipulations in Your Divorce Case
2. Get the Facts First
3. Your Chances at Trial
4. Scheduling Conferences
5. Divorce Advice for Men — 11 Things to Do Now

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Divorce, Divorce Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.