Sex, lies and scandalous videos of celebrities fill the daily tabloid magazines and go viral on the internet. But what about you? You are not a celebrity, why does what you do in your personal life matter? Sex, lies, and scandalous videos can be very damaging to you if you find yourself embroiled in a hotly contested divorce, custody, or paternity case.
Almost everyone has something “private” and often times you think you are sharing something personal with someone you are involved in a trusting relationship with. However, when the gloves come off, these types of private occurrence come to light and can be embarrassing and damaging.
So why should you disclose this to your attorney, even if you think all your tracks are covered, the evidence is destroyed, or your former spouse or significant other would never bring these things up in court? The very simple answer is, with this digital age, nothing is ever permanently destroyed, and when your former spouse or significant other wants to win, all bets are off.
The truth is, this may never come up in court, but, the last thing you would want is for your attorney to be blind sighted during a trial with this type of scandalous information that could potentially be damaging or could portray you in a bad light. When you tell your attorney ahead of time, he or she can prepare a defense or strategy (such as admitting to first before the other side has a chance to paint you in a bad light), or be on the look out to object or otherwise, just in case.
Some examples of things that may not immediately come to mind in a contested child custody action, that you should disclose to your attorney, even if you think it will never come up (because inevitably, it will):
Ultimately, domestic litigation brings out these common themes that can catch litigants off guard, often to your detriment. If you think something won’t come out; it probably will. Remember, if you disclose it to your attorney, the conversation with your attorney is confidential, and privileged and your lawyer needs to know prepare for it.
We hope that you have found this information to be helpful in understanding some potential things you should consider disclosing to your attorney during a divorce or custody proceeding. This is not intended to be legal advice. If you have questions or concerns about your specific case, Dixon & Moseley, P.C. can help evaluate your specific case. This blog post was written by Attorney, Lori B. Schmeltzer.