Legal Question in Family Law in California

The court does not conduct your discovery for you. The judge can recommend that the parties share information in informal discovery, which seems to be what happened so far, but unless you make formal discovery requests, and back them up with a motion to compel if the other side does not comply fully, the court cannot and will not order them to provide you anything. If you do not have the records you need in order to reach a settlement, the MSC will be a waste of time. So if you need the records you need to get them before the MSC. If your spouse has superior income and/or assets, they can be ordered to pay your attorneys fees. It sounds like your spouse has an attorney. 99% of the time a person representing themselves against an attorney gets completely ripped off in a divorce case. You really need to find an attorney to at least help you, if not represent you. Feel free to contact me if you would like further assistance.

I agree with Mr. McCormick. I write separately to point out that in many counties, there are local rules that require an exchange of documents and witness information that the parties intend to use at trial, either at the MSC, or prior to the MSC. The rules usually provide that if the parties do not exchange documents, they can't be used at trial. I don't know what the rules are for San Francisco, but I strongly advise you to read them and become familiar with them.