Q: My son's father's lawyer has requested a lot of financial info, do i have to send everything he requested?
He has asked for 6 months of bank statements, 6 months of credit card statements for all in my name, 4 paystubs, 2018 and 2019 tax returns. I understand the pay stubs and tax returns, because the court would request those, but the others seems irrelevant and intrusive.
A:
I get this question in nearly every case. The discovery process can feel intrusive, but the main thing is that the request must be reasonably calculated to lead to relevant evidence. So it would be helpful to know what kind of a case it is. Is it an initial custody case? If so, then bank statements and credit card statements are generally considered relevant, along with many other requests. If you would like to make sure that your records cannot be posted online or otherwise disseminated, you should ask the other attorney if they will stipulate to a protective order restricting those actions. If it is a case that has to do with a very limited claim, then you could make the argument that certain requests are not appropriate.
In any event, make sure that you respond to this request and any future requests by the deadline, or you likely waive your objections. The requests you list do not sound out of the ordinary to me. Keep in mind that you can make the same requests to your son's father.
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