The Need for Financial Disclosures In A Divorce

In California divorce cases, a financial disclosure known as a “Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure” is a legal document declaring your income and your expenditures, what you own and how much you owe in terms of assets and liabilities is required.  It a legal document that both parties have to prepare and serve separately while filing for a divorce. It is important that this legal document has all the correct information because it is going to be thoroughly scrutinized by your spouse’s attorney.

Completing a divorce financial disclosure 

A divorce financial disclosure is a very crucial piece of legal proof of your finances. All the information provided has to be accurate because all decisions regarding how much spousal or child support you receive or have to pay depends on this paper. Both temporary and final divorce settlements are determined by the declarations in the financial affidavit.

The declaration is made under oath and any false information could mean you being penalized under perjury. In some cases, severe penalties include your spouse being awarded 100% of the hidden assets. So it is absolutely necessary that you provide every little financial detail and be accurate.  Every minute detail has to be furnished for the financial disclosure.  Your expenditures will be categorized.

Consulting with your divorce attorney and financial advisor

Your divorce lawyer generally is the one that will prepare your financial disclosure with your involvement and input.  However, you can have your financial advisor will go through your disclosure with a fine-toothed comb.

Also, your financial advisor can do a lifestyle analysis, which is an analysis of a couple’s spending habits and their daily living expenditures during the last few years as a married couple. All sorts of expenditures – recurring, non-recurring, ordinary and unusual – will be considered. The lifestyle analysis is a sort of a confirmation of the income, expenditure and the net worth statements filed.

Getting divorced in California can be complicated.  Download our free eBook, 18 Important Things to Know About California Divorce to educate yourself on the process.  

Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.