Q: What's an evidentiary hearing? The judge just ordered that at my motion yesterday

Q: What's an evidentiary hearing? I was in court yesterday for a motion, and the judge ordered that my husband and I get a date for an evidentiary hearing. I have no idea what that means.

A: An evidentiary hearing is a mini-trial on one issue in a case. It sounds like you may be in a divorce case, so I assume that you and your husband will have a chance to show what "evidence" you have to plead your case.

This might be about custody after the divorce, for example, so this means that you would need to bring (and/or request the other side to bring) evidence to court to show whether custody should be shared, or joint custody. The judge (or a referee, perhaps) will listen to the evidence, perhaps the testimony of the parties, and whoever else the parties might bring to testify. At some point (not necessarily at the hearing), the judge will issue an opinion (another word for his or her decision on this issue), which will be binding on this issue in this case.  ** if it is about custody, focus your thinking on the best interests of the child factors, which can be found here:

I highly recommend that you do some discovery in advance of the hearing. If this means hiring an attorney, so be it, because you will only get one shot to make your case. If you aren't prepared for the hearing, and you try to appeal a decision, the appeal can easily be shot down if it's shown that you could have presented the same evidence at the hearing.

Discovery would be gathering evidence you need, either from your own records, or from the husband's records. For example: custody factors include the mental and physical health of the parties. If you want to include that information, you may need to request it from a medical provider. Your attorney would be able to request it on the correct court forms. This would be an advantage if, perhaps, you wanted to argue that your husband's health is too poor for him to be able to care for the children, or that he has mental health issues to the extent that he can't care for children properly, as his own mental health issues may interfere.

What is "discovery" in divorce cases in Michigan?

Q: What does it mean when you get served with interrogatories? I am getting divorced in Michigan, and my husband's attorney sent me all this paperwork to fill out. Do I have to? It seems a bit excessive.

A: Interrogatories are part of the discovery process in divorce cases in Michigan. 

Discovery is a period set by the court in a divorce case to determine things that the court will need to know before a judgment of divorce is entered.

Discovery can cover many topics, such as : income and assets of the parties, debts of the parties, employment history (this is related to income), educational history, infidelity (this may relate to fault of the marriage breakdown, and/or custody), criminal history (could relate to custody), and so on.

Some questions asked in interrogatories may seem too broad, but that doesn't mean they don't have to be answered. Ask an attorney for help.

Since you have been served with interrogatories, that means you will need to provide a written response for your husband's attorney. If the interrogatories also had requests to produce, you will need to make copies of things like tax returns, pay stubs, 401k statements, etc. Also, you will have to respond within the timeframe, or you could be facing a sanction for not responding. The deadline will be 28 days after you have received service of the interrogatories.

Please don't delay on this, as I said, sanctions (this is a fine to you) can result from not responding on time. You could also be sanctioned for giving an answer that is less than honest.

Other forms of discovery can be: subpoenas to your employer, subpoenas to your banks, depositions (this is where you can be asked questions about what's in the answers to your interrogatories), and so on. Best of luck in your situation.
Yours,
Nancy