Declaration of Disclosure

At the time of filing the Petition (or Response for the Respondent), or soon after, each party should serve their Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure on the other party and file a Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure with the court. The Disclosure itself is not filed with court. In every dissolution of marriage or legal separation, each party is required to serve the other with a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure and a Final Declaration of Disclosure before the Court will enter a Marital Settlement Agreement or set a contested matter for Settlement Conference and Trial. In an uncontested dissolution or legal separation, the parties can agree to waive a Final Declaration of Disclosure, but a Preliminary Declaration of Disclosure is mandatory.

The disclosures must identify all assets and debts of each party, as well as their monthly income and expenses. For each asset and debt, the parties must also state whether it is community or separate property, when it was acquired, the value, and any loans. It is also necessary to attach copies of relevant supporting documentation, which is set forth on the forms.

Declarations of Disclosure consist at a minimum of a form Income and Expense Declaration, and a Schedule of Assets and Debts. The Income and Expense Declaration must be accompanied by copies of the party's last three pay stubs or, if self employed, a complete copy of last year's tax return and profit and loss statement as supporting documentation. In other words, your claimed income must be supported by proof. The Schedule of Assets and Debts lists all:

• real estate, 
• household furniture, furnishings and appliances,
• jewelry and personal items,
• motor vehicles, boats, motorcycles, RVs, travel trailers,
• checking and savings accounts,
• investment accounts,
• retirement accounts,
• tax refunds and liabilities,
• debts, and
• miscellaneous assets or obligations.

For each category the form specifies the supporting documentation that should be attached. The purpose of Disclosures is to make settlement negotiations easier, and to ensure neither party is concealing assets or obligations from the other. The California Family Code provides sometimes severe penalties for a spouse who willfully fails to disclose assets or obligations. If you are considering not disclosing an asset or debt, even because you think it is not significant or believe the other party clearly recognizes it as your separate property, the other party can probably have a judgment of dissolution set aside after it is entered on the basis that you failed to disclose a significant asset or debt. It's just not worth the risk. you may end up re-litigating or renegotiating your divorce and you will look like you have something to hide. For a community asset that is willfully concealed, the court even has authority to award the entire asset to your spouse as a penalty.

Let me tell you it is not uncommon for someone to come into my office saying their divorce is complete and judgment has been entered, but for one reason or another they are very dissatisfied with the Court's judgment after trial or a settlement agreement they entered into. The first thing I look at is the other party's Disclosures to see if they omitted something. If I find something significant, especially if it leaves an arguable issue as to whether the settlement was a fair and equitable distribution of the marital estate, I may have an opportunity to have the judgment set aside. Your divorce was probably bad enough the first time. Don't be sloppy with your disclosures and have to do it again.