Any party to a lawsuit can use any of the five types of discovery tools: interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for physical and mental examination, requests for admission, and depositions. Most litigation in family law matters use all five of these methods to get the necessary information in their client's issues.
Interrogatories are written questions that one party uses to serve the opposing party with. The opposing party must answer the questions under oath. The opposing party may object in answering such interrogatories on the grounds that they are irrelevant, overbroad, or duplicative. Sometimes, the opposing party may try to use some form of privilege as a way to refuse to answer interrogatories. There are four types of privilege: spousal privilege, attorney-client privilege, physician/patient (therapist/client) privilege, and priest/penitent (clergy/parishioner) privilege. When answering interrogatories, the opposing spouse may have to reveal such items as bank accounts, stock accounts, or real property that was either jointly held or soley in the spouse's name. The spouse's current employment, earned income, bonuses, and health insurance and/or life insurance coverage may also come up. Today, in the age of technology, the spouse may have to turn over any electronic storage if they have business concerns stored on a computer hard drive so the moving party and the attorney can uncover the opposing spouse's assets and sources of earned and unearned income and any non-monetary employment compensation. They may have to reveal the names and addresses of parties residing with the spouse, doctors who've treated the spouse and children in the spouse's care, day care providers/child care workers caring for the children--and all these questions must be answered under oath by the spouse being served on.
Parties can also request for a production of documents for things like the other spouse's federal and state tax returns, canceled checks, computer hard drives and other electronic storage documents, bills for any minor children's summer camp or private school, copies of health insurance plans, insurance policies, copies of driver's licenses, pay stubs, titles to cars, boats, or other recreation vehicles. Unless the party being asked to submit these items can validate a privileged or confidential objection, he or she must produce such items. If this is the case, they may file a motion for protective order and a confidentiality agreement so that the other party's information is disclosed to limit such disclosure to the court and the parties only to protect te material the opposing party provides.
In such cases where one party alleges to the physical or mental stability in child custody issues, they may ask for a request for physical or mental examination to determine child custody or unsupervised visitation to the other party, and a blood test would detect the presence of any recreational or prescription drugs. Sometimes a paternity may requested to determine the paternity of the child(ren) for such purposes of child support.
A request for admission may be used when the moving party wishes for the opposing party to admit some truth as to certain facts or events to be proved in court. When one party files a request, the other party can either answer within thirty days, to which the court will deem it admitted, or the party can object, and both parties will have to come to some kind of compromise, or have their attorneys bring it before the court.
Depositions are not always used in dissolution cases, but when they are, they are used to identify the opposing spouse's assets or to support a particular parent's claim that the child(ren)'s best interest lie with sole physical custody, or limit the non-custodial parent's visitation rights. In such cases, the attorney will orally ask questions of the opposing party and any non-party witnesses who are all under oath to answer to the best of their knowledge. The deposing party's attorney usually includes initial questioning by direct examination. Afterwards, the opposing party's attorney will cross-examine the deponent (the party being deposed). If the matter arises after cross-examination, the deposing attorney may re-direct questioning to matters of the cross-examination. The following individuals must be present in a deposition: the deposing attorney, the opposing party, and the court reporter/videographer, the opposing party's attorney and the client, unless, the client is, for some reason, terrified of the opposing party, the deposing attorney can deem it necessary for his or her client not to be present per the risks to his or her client's safety. During a deposition, non-party witnesses must be invited, but their presence is not mandatory.
Reference
Luppino, Grace A. & Miller, Justine Fitzgerald. Family Law and Practice: The Paralegal's Guide. Pearson Education Group, Inc. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 3rd Ed. Pp. 370-380.
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