What happens if you lie on interrogatories

It's no secret that ending a relationship, much less a committed marriage, is complicated, emotional, and at times, frustrating. Add to the mix of emotions the fact that you'll need to categorize and split your property and debt, decide who will be a better caretaker for your children, and whether either spouse will financially support the other after the divorce, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Even the most well-intentioned couples sling mud and feed into the turmoil that comes with divorce, but when you or your spouse starts bending the truth or embellishing the facts to make themselves look better to the judge, you could face serious consequences. If you've ever watched a courtroom television show, you've likely seen the witness step up onto the witness stand, raise a hand, and swear or affirm to tell the truth. In any legal process, the moment you agree to tell the truth, the court considers you under oath, and if you lie, you may face serious consequences.

It's important to understand that being "under oath" isn't limited to live testimony in a courtroom. When you file for divorce, nearly every document that you submit has a "penalty of perjury" statement at the end.

For example, in Michigan, when you sign your divorce petition before submitting it to the court, you agree that all the statements in the document are true to the "best of your knowledge and belief. If you tell your side of the story during your divorce trial and you do so with integrity and honesty, you don't have to worry. However, it's easy to fall into the trap of embellishing or misrepresenting the truth to get an advantage in your divorce.

But, lying spouses often stand to lose more than they would gain if the lie were true. If you believe your spouse lied under oath, you'll need to prove it before you can take any other action. If your spouse lies during your divorce trial or in your case-related documents, and you can prove it, you can move forward in a few ways.

First, you or your attorney can confront your spouse or your spouse's attorney to let them know you can disprove the statement with evidence. If you would like to keep your divorce case civil, you can ask your spouse to correct the lie and continue with your divorce without informing the court. However, if your spouse refuses to disclose the error, you may need to notify the judge, which could result in severe consequences for your spouse.

Lying under oath, or, perjury, is a federal crime. Although the civil court has limited power to punish your spouse for perjury, the judge can forward the case to the prosecutor for criminal enforcement.

Punishment for committing perjury could result in probation, fines, or a prison sentence up to 5 years. If the plaintiff fails to do so according to the details within the order, a defendant should then move for sanctions under Rule One should take note that a court will not find that a false answer to an interrogatory falls within the exception of an evasive or incomplete interrogatory answer. Similarly, sanctions under Rule were not applicable because there was not a discovery order compelling the plaintiff to provide information, and her false answer was not evasive nor incomplete so as to allow for an award of reasonable expenses.

However, the court did award sanctions under its inherent power to do so due to a finding of fraud on the court. The French court cited similar rationale in its decision. See French , 86 Va. Neither you, your lawyer nor the judge can force any witness to tell the truth.

A judge can require a person to answer questions, but cannot require truthful answers. Judges can punish people for giving untruthful answers when the untruths are exposed, and that punishment can be a minor as imposing certain litigation costs on that party to actually initiating a perjury charge. Perjury charges almost certainly arise out of untruths in a civil case.

So how do you get the person to stop making false statements in answers to interrogatories? Share with your lawyer any evidence you have that the other person has lied, and then let your lawyer do his or her job. The beauty of cross-examination is that it can expose a liar. It does not always work, but many a liar has been exposed on cross-examination at a deposition or at trial.