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10 September 2010

How Accurate Did It Need to Be?

Think about the record you are using and the pieces of information it contains. Are there facts that don't really need to be accurate? Yesterday's tip mentioned a marriage date in a divorce record. Think about it for a minute.

In most divorce cases, is it material if the date of marriage is slightly incorrect? Probably not. The key fact is that the couple is married. Uusally a date being sightly off is not going to impact the divorce case in any significant way.

Always keep the intent of the document in mind when analyzing the information is contains. It doesn't mean things have to be wrong, but there may be certain facts that don't have to be 100% precise.