What Documents Should You Gather Before Mediation?
Getting ready for your first mediation session? In addition to getting yourself in the right mindset, you’ll also need to get organized with a variety of documents to bring with you.
Most of these documents will be related to your finances. Here’s a quick overview of the most important paperwork for you to bring to your divorce mediation.
- Several years of state and federal income taxes, including business taxes if you run a company
- Three months of paystubs to verify current income level
- Recent statements for any debt accounts
- Recent statements for retirement, bank and investment accounts
- Recent mortgage statements (preferably one with as much detail as possible)
- Appraisals for valuable assets in your estate, such as a house, rental properties or other valuables
- Summaries for all of your insurance policies
- Summaries of any employee benefits you earn, including stock options
- Statements for various household bills and expenses
- Credit reports for both spouses
- Social security statements for each spouse
With all of these documents, it is important to have the most up-to-date editions available, as well as documents that contain plenty of detail. The point of having these documents with you is to verify your claims about your income, assets, net worth and debts.
Keep all these documents stored in a folder or binder, and have them organized and annotated as needed. You should also work with your attorney to make sure you have all of the documents you need and to determine if there is any other information you will need to provide during your mediation.
For more information about the steps you can take (and documents you can prepare) to get yourself ready for your divorce mediation sessions, contact an experienced Long Island lawyer at Solutions divorce Mediation.