Exhibits & Exhibit Lists for Trial/Evidentiary Hearings

Exhibit Lists and Exhibits for Trials or Evidentiary Hearings

**This article DOES NOT apply to exhibits related to motions**

UPDATED MAY 2024

Due dates for exchanging exhibit lists with the opposing attorney and filing the exhibit list vary greatly between judge, county, case, etc. Check the scheduling order and attorney to verify these deadlines.

Exhibit List template is on MyCase ( FAM – Exhibit List )

Preparing to Start the Exhibit List

1. Talk to the attorney and figure out if there is an agreed upon date of valuation or a specific date of valuation we are going to use for our debt asset sheet.
2. Talk to the attorney and determine if we are including financial documents for only the date of valuation or a larger date range
   1. Unless there is an agreed upon date of valuation, you will likely want to include a bigger date range. This is because the court could determine a totally different date of valuation and we want to make sure the judge has the documents necessary to determine values at that time.
3. Review file and make sure we have the financial documents we need for the period of time indicated in #2.
   1. If we don’t have the documents, then we need to request them (both from our client and OPA). If you are preparing the exhibit list and are just realizing we don’t have financial docs we need, it’s likely too late to request them from OPA, but we should be able to get the docs we need from our client.
4. Request current information from client regarding income and monthly expenses because even if the date of valuation you are proposing or is agreed upon is 2 years ago, things like income and monthly expenses are based on the current situation.
   1. Make sure we have the most recent tax return from our client and if not, request that.
   2. Request the last 3-6 months of paystubs from our client

Budget and Monthly Expenses are crucial in a case where either party is seeking spousal support. It is important to have the most thorough and accurate budget possible with as many supporting documents as you can. If spousal support is not at issue, then it’s unlikely we need to submit proof of monthly expenses, but talk to your attorney. 

1. Have the client complete an updated budget and potentially a “projected” budget if they anticipate lots of changes in their expenses after the divorce
2. Ask the client to provide updated supporting documentation for as much of their monthly expenses/budget as possible (especially big expenses)
   1. Client should be able to provide proof of these expenses: mortgage, rent, homeowners insurance, property taxes, renter’s insurance, gas, electric, water, sewer, garbage/recycling, internet/tv, cell phone, car payment, car insurance, health insurance premiums, and other insurance costs.
3. If client has a lot of out of pocket medical expenses (including prescriptions), request that they provide some of those statements/invoices to demonstrate the amount they are paying.
4. Groceries/Food/Cleaning Supplies are not something we generally try to support with receipts, don’t worry about that.

Organizing Sharepoint

• If you haven’t already, start a new folder in sharepoint titled “Trial.” Within that folder, create these folders: Our Exhibits, OPA Exhibits, DRAFTS.
  • Don’t use this as a “junk” folder. This folder should be focused ONLY on what is going be needed before and at trial like exhibit list, witness list, exhibits, notice, argument etc.

Documents to include as Exhibits

• Every document that was used/referenced on the DA sheet should be an exhibit. You should literally go down each line of the debt asset sheet and consider what documents need to be provided to support our values
• Examples:

• For this property, we see a FMV of $206,400 so we need to include a document to support that (it appears that is the Beacon report which would be the same as the tax statements. Then we see there is an outstanding balance of some sort, likely a mortgage so we’d also want to include the mortgage statements.

• For these bank accounts, we would want to ensure that we are including the statements that line up with these balances. As mentioned above, we may end up including more than just these one month of statements for each, but no matter what, we have to make sure that the we include the statement that references the account balances we list

• For this retirement account, we can see that there is a non-marital value, which appears to be the 2017 balance. We need a statement to prove that. Then we can see there was also a long taken out against this retirement account so we’d want to include a statement proving when the loan was taken out and the amount. Finally, we’d want to include the statement that supports our value on the DA sheet. As mentioned above, we may end up including more than just these one month of statements for each, but no matter what, we have to make sure that the we include the statement that references the account balances we list

• These vehicle values need to be supported by something, likely a KBB. Review the file to see if we have these KBBs or if we need to complete them. If we have to complete them ourselves, then make sure we update the value as necessary based on whatever the KBB says. Also, you can see the 2018 Honda and 2023 Ford both have loans on them so we need to include documentation proving those loans and the balances.

• Personal property is usually a bit more tricky as it’s common to not have documentation to support the values.
• If there is an item of personal property that has a high value or is significantly contested, we should try to get something to support our values. This may be documentation for the value of the item when it was purchased (if that was somewhat recent), “comparables” you can find listed for sale online (think ebay, facebook market place, etc), if it is jewelry the client could bring it to the jeweler for an appraisal (if there is time), guns can usually be valued online through different gun valuing websites. 
• Talk to your attorney about this section and whether or not they want you to try to get values. Oftentimes, personal property won’t have values. 

Other documents to include beyond what is in the DA sheet (based on the type of case and what the issues are):

• budget for our client
• OPP budget (or our version of OPP’s budget)
• monthly expense statements (outlined above)
• paystubs for both parties
• tax returns
• W2s (if not included in tax returns)
• finpacks (farming)
• health insurance options and rates
• non-marital claims
• expert reports (appraisals, pension valuation, vocational assessment, custody evaluation, cash flow analysis) (would need to call expert as witness to get these admitted)
• email / OFW / text exchanges between parties (keep this limited and focused)
• medical records (would likely need to call medical provider as witness to get these admitted)
• diagnostic assessments / therapy notes (would need to call therapist as witness to get these admitted)
• criminal complaints
• child protection reports
• school records for kids (report cards, attendance records)
• discovery response documents
• pictures of our client with the kids
• pictures of the kids’ bedroom and living space
• child support calculation worksheet
• business documents (articles of incorporation, purchase agreement, profit loss statement, accounts payable report, account receivable report, business tax returns, balance sheet)
• attorney’s fees (if asking for fees)

Organizing the Exhibit List

• Try to group the exhibit list in a way that makes sense. Examples of headings include: Real Property, Personal Property, Checking and Savings Accounts, Investment and Retirement Accounts, Tax Returns, Income, Debts, Expenses, Vehicles, Business Documents,
  • Here are some examples of exhibit lists:
    • Basic Exhibit List
    • Basic Exhibit List 2
    • Exhibit List with business
    • Exhibit list with farm, businesses, custody, DV
    • Exhibit list with farm
    • Exhibit List with CD and MH stuff

Numbering

• Petitioner’s exhibits are usually 1-100
  • This may take a little planning if you have a complex case where you have more than 100 exhibits.  Try to address as soon as possible at a scheduling conference or pretrial hearing. Worst case, contact the other lawyer before you get too deep into numbering and ask if you can have 1 – 200
• Respondent’s exhibits are usually 101-200 (see note above)
• Our first exhibit is always the Debt Asset sheet when finances are involved, so it’s eithe Exhibit #1 or Exhibit #101.

Redacting

• Confidential info needs to be redacted (usually account numbers -all but last 4, social security numbers)
• Have someone double check your redactions when time allows

Stamping & Bate Numbering

• Exhibits will need to be marked with exhibits stamps once finalized.
  • This should be done in Adobe. If you don’t have the adobe exhibit stamp – see: Adding Exhibit Stamp to Adobe – K|H Law Wiki (theintervenors.com)
• Bate stamp all the exhibits through Adobe unless told otherwise by your attorney

 

Submitting Exhibits to Court

This will be completed through MNDES. See MNDES (Minnesota Digital Exhibit System) – K|H Law Wiki (theintervenors.com)