In All Seriousness

Taking legal action such as filing for divorce is serious and should not be done to test, punish or seek revenge.

If you file for divorce or respond to such a filing, you should be prepared to willingly assist in your case's timely preparation by responding to your attorney's questions, obtaining necessary information, and following all your attorney's advice.

Divorce proceedings typically require a lot of preparation by both the client and his/her attorney because of the very intimate nature of the proceedings.  The client houses a good majority, if not all, of the information required and all financial information in divorce must be disclosed to the other party.

In addition, the client typically has free access to all such information which becomes expensive to obtain another way.  If the client is not willing or able to do some homework or openly assist his/her attorney with readily available information, the client in effect makes strong advocay difficult for the attorney, prolongs the proceedings and may create a weaker case.

Keep in mind that it's your case and you must live with the consequences.  You cannot expect anyone to take your case or life more seriously than you do.

ALWAYS consult an attorney to determine all your legal options and the attendant consequences when faced with any legal action.

Get It In Writing

Agreements are only as good as the paper they are written on.  If you want your agreement with your spouse to stand a chance in family law court, get it in writing, specifying all the details, supported by the intent of the parties, and executed by both parties which means that both people must sign and date the same page of the document.  Have an attorney review the written agreement with you first and all the consequences of entering into such an agreement.  Finally, have the court enter it as an order.