Divorce involves a lot of paper.  Within forty-five days of service your divorce complaint, the Massachusetts court rules require you to complete a 410 exchange, which involves collecting the following documentation and providing it to opposing counsel:

 

• Your federal and state income tax returns and schedules for the past three years, as well as the tax documentation for any private entity in which you have an interest (like a limited partnership); and

 

• Your four most recent pay stubs; and

 

• Documentation regarding the cost and nature of your available health insurance coverage; and

 

• All your bank account statements for the past three years; and

 

• All your statements for all your investments and retirement assets for the past three years; and

 

• All loan or mortgage applications you made in the past three years; and

 

• All your financial statements or statements of assets/liabilities in the past three years.

 

Collecting this documentation is a lot of work. As soon as you start considering divorce, you should make an effort to get this paperwork in order. It often takes banks a while to retrieve three years of statements, so you will benefit from getting started on this task as early as possible.