One of the Best Ways to Protect Your Legal Rights in Your Separation or Divorce: Full Financial Disclosure!
You can only really determine your legal rights in your separation or divorce when you have full financial disclosure from your spouse.
What is full financial disclosure? Full financial disclosure means that your spouse provides full information on their income and expenses as well as the value of their assets and the amounts of their debts to you.
If you don’t have this information, you can’t figure out the important issues of child support, spousal support and the property issues in your family law case.
Hi, my name is Thomas O’Malley. I’m an experienced family lawyer in Durham Region and the GTA.
Full financial disclosure really involves a two-step process. First, you and your spouse must complete a Financial Statement.
You and your spouse complete separate Financial Statements. Your Financial Statement describes all of the details of your financial situation.
There are 5 key sections of the Financial Statement. In the first section, you must set out all sources of your income.
You must set out your monthly expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, in another section. You must also include the value of your property on the date of separation (called the valuation date).
Your property includes real estate, bank accounts, RRSPs, and business interests.
In the fourth section of your Financial Statement, you must include your debts and liabilities. Your debts and liabilities normally include the total amount owing on a mortgage, outstanding credit card debts, income tax liabilities, and other outstanding debts.
Your final section includes the property you own the date of marriage and excluded property, such as inheritances, and the amount of your debts on the date of marriage.
You need to use the Financial Statement whether you are married or in a common law relationship.
The second step is that your spouse must provide documents that prove how much income they earn on a yearly basis and statements showing their amount of their assets and debts.
You and your spouse must always complete a Financial Statement both when you are involved in a family law case in court or attempting to negotiate a separation agreement.
You cannot protect your legal rights, determine how much money are you entitled to keep in your separation or divorce, or how much spousal support your spouse must pay you if you and your spouse don’t complete a Financial Statement.
Don’t negotiate a separation agreement with your spouse unless they complete a Financial Statement. Don’t accept any excuse your spouse gives you for not completing a Financial Statement.
You must also provide your Financial Statement to your spouse.
If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, there’s a few ways to contact our office.
You can leave a message on my Facebook law office page, visit my website at www.canadiandivorcelegaladvice.com, or call me directly at 905-434-8837. We would be happy to speak to you.
Oh, by the way, did you know you can protect your family law rights and get essential information on settling your family law issues with your former spouse with the daily indispensable family law advice and tips at my FREE Facebook group?
Click here to find out more: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group.
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