I frequently receive questions from people regarding their family law issues. The following is a question which the inquirer agreed may be publicly revealed, and my answer to the question:
QUESTION: If I do not comply to the court's ruling to produce financial documents after a Motion to Compel tentative ruling, what happens?
The judge gave me 10 days to produce documents (nearly impossible being that I had a 7 day biz trip in between and the amount of paperwork is massive).
What is the worst case scenario if I do not produce enough documents? I am already ordered to pay my ex's attorney 1k for monetary sanctions. Thanks.
ANSWER: The worst-case scenario for failure to comply with a Judge's order to produce documents are "Terminating Sanctions", where you would essentially be treated as a defaulting party, and the other party will be able to seek relief without your ability to oppose.
The next worst-case scenario could be "Issue Sanctions", where the Court would rule in favor of the other party and against you on the issues that the documents related to.
The next worst-case scenario would be "Evidence Sanctions", where the Court would order that you could not produce evidence on issues that the documents related to.
The Court would likely also issue "Monetary Sanctions" on a Motion brought by the other side as a result of your failure to comply with the Court's Order.
You are advised to do your best to timely produce as much of the documents that you can possibly produce. If you don't produce copies, I would suggest that you or a trusted friend or employee produce the originals and monitor the inspection and copying of the documents.
You should have advised the Judge of your business trip, and requested a longer amount of time to produce the documents, but the Court made its order, and the consequences of your violation of the order can be severe.
I would recommend that you retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to represent you in your case, without delay.
This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, a Los Angeles Certified Family Law Specialist, owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Century City and Woodland Hills, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Divorce Lawyer and Family Law Attorney serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years; call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for free confidential consultation to discuss your divorce or family law issues, and see www.conviser.net
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