TO: Prospective Professional Paralegals

FROM: Managing Attorney

RE: Final Project Assignment

DATE DUE: Final day of Week 10

WHERE: In assignment item labeled “Final Project” under Week 10

This is the final project that each of you have already begun researching.

For this project, you will need to complete the following:

1. An uncontested divorce with children, valid in your state.
2. A verified complaint for a contested divorce, valid in your state.

PART A:

For the uncontested divorce, your firm represents Mary Jones against her husband Thomas Jones. They were married May 1, 1990 in YOUR COUNTY, YOUR STATE and have resided there ever since. They have four children Thomas Jr. born 1995, Marianne born 1997, Christina born 2001 and Haley born 2003. Neither parent has any other children or any former spouses. They separated June 10, 2006.

You must put together a packet for their uncontested divorce in your county, your state. Mary lives in the marital home at 123 Elm Street, Your County, Your State, Your Zip. Tom lives at 123 Market Street, Your County, Your State, Your Zip. Tom is represented by Mark Evan, Esq license # 12345. His office is 123 Kraft Road, Your county, Your state, Your Zip. Where you see “your county, your state and zip,” you are put in your state and your town. The supervising attorney in your firm is Thomas Sanderfer of the VCO Family Law Group, 123 Race Street, Your county, Your State your zip. Phone 123-456-7890. The marriage in this case is irretrievably broken.

Mary and Tom Jones have decided how they are splitting up their assets.

• Mary will keep the marital residence valued at $106,000. She will need to refinance the home in her name only and switch the deed to her name only.
• Tom will keep his 401K with Vanguard account # 1234567 valued at $32,645.21.
• Mary will keep her 401K with Vanguard account #456789 valued at $21,908.09.
• Mary will keep her 2001 Chevy Blazer and have it switched to her name alone. It is paid for.
• Tom will keep his 1997 Jeep Wrangler and have it switched to his name alone. He will pay all payments.
• Mary will keep all of the items in the house.
• Tom will pay alimony to Mary in the form of $500 per month for three years to be paid directly to her by check.
• Tom will also pay child support for the children (the figure which you came up with in week 9’s assignment: please see week 9 assignment for their income information) and will continue to pay their health benefits.
• Mary will keep her life insurance policy with Prudential Policy #123KLPKL and will make the children the beneficiaries.
• Tom will keep his life insurance policy with Prudential Policy # 356YHGH and make the children his beneficiaries.
• Tom and Mary will split their savings account with First National Bank account # 456898 in the amount of $54,345.98.
• The children will live with Mary during the week.
• Tom and Mary will have shared legal and shared physical custody of the children.
• Tom will have the children every other weekend from Friday evening at 6 pm to Sunday morning at 11 am. Tom is responsible for picking up the children and dropping them off.
• The children will spend mother’s day with Mary and father’s day with Tom regardless of whose day it is but all other holidays will be rotated, meaning Mary has them for the easter one year and then the following year Tom has them for easter, again regardless of whose day it is.

You need to complete a divorce complaint and any other documents that are required in your jurisdiction to complete an uncontested divorce such as notice papers that go along with the complaint, waivers and affidavits etc. You must also complete their marriage settlement agreement setting forth the agreement they came to above. The divorce complaint, settlement agreement and finalization documentation will make up packet #1 that needs to be submitted for this Final Project.

PART B:

For the verified contested divorce, your firm represents Barbara May against her husband Joseph May. They were married May 19, 2001 in YOUR COUNTY, YOUR STATE and have resided in that county ever since. They have no children and neither parent has any other children or any former spouses. They have been living apart since they separated May 1, 2003. Barbara has remained in the marital home since the separation.

For this verified contested divorce, you must put together a packet for their contested divorce in your country within your state. Barbara lives in the martial home at 123 Grant Street, Your County, Your State, Your Zip. Joseph lives at 123 Wood Street, Your County, Your State, Your Zip. Tom is represented by Mark Evan, Esq license # 12345. His office is 123 Kraft Road, Your county, Your state, Your Zip. Where you see “your county, your state and zip,” you are put in your state and your town. The supervising attorney in your firm is Martin Manager of the VCO Family Law Group, 123 Race Street, Your county, Your State your zip. Phone 123-456-7890. Barbara is claiming the marriage ended due to physical and emotional abuse by Joseph. She is seeking alimony and support while the litigation proceeds, attorneys fees, and the family home (which is their only major asset). It is valued at $89,000. There is no savings, no life insurance, no retirement funds. They both have their own cars titled in their own names, Mary has a 1991 Volvo which is valued at $980 and Joseph has a 1996 Harley valued at $1200.

Mary works at the local supermarket. Her net monthly income is $1000 and her gross monthly income is $1325.00. Joseph works as an auto mechanic and his next monthly income is $2300 and his monthly gross income is $2600. Each of their employers pays for their health benefits 100%.

You need to complete a divorce complaint and any other documents that are required in your jurisdiction to complete a verified contested divorce such as notice papers that go along with the complaint, waivers and affidavits etc. The divorce complaint and supporting documentation will make up packet #2 that must be submitted for this Final Project. Basically, you need to complete the divorce complaint by Mary but also the response required by Joseph to dispute Mary’s complaint. You need to look to your jurisdiction to see which response Joseph needs to file to protect his interests.

For each of these packets, you will need a reference sheet showing where you got your information. It need not be a part of the packet, but needs to be turned in when you submit your packets