Tampa family law attorneys are constantly asked about mandatory disclosures and the requirements to file a financial affidavit in their Tampa family law case. In short, the easiest way to think of these mandatory disclosures are that they are the required documents to back up the numerical figures on the financial affidavit. As you can imagine, folks with family law cases are incredibly concerned about their former spouse and/or significant other lying on their financial affidavit. These documents provide the paper backup to those numbers on the financial affidavit. Specifically, Rule 12.285 provides the outline for the requirements of mandatory disclosures. While a full listing of the documents required for mandatory disclosures is on our website, we’ll highlight a couple of them in the blog article here, quickly.
First and foremost, mandatory disclosure records require individuals to provide their checking and bank statements. As you can imagine, the majority of folks’ assets, in a liquid sense, are tied up in banking statements, which include checking and savings. While the largest asset for most folks is their marital home, the issue of this asset is usually later dealt with through appraisals and “desk reviews” of appraisals. Many times, if the case involves experienced divorce attorneys, the parties can agree to a value of the marital home.
Further, mandatory disclosure requirements make it necessary for parties to also show paper documents identifying any major debts they have, including but not limited to, credit cards, car notes, and mortgage documents. Again, the overwhelming majority of debts in people’s lives are related to their house, car and credit cards. It is worth noting that these documents are not made publically available, they are only provided directly to opposing counsel. A certification of compliance with mandatory disclosures is filed though for record keeping purposes.
If you or someone you know has questions concerning the mandatory disclosure requirements in Florida family law cases, contact the Tampa family law attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We’ve handled hundreds of family law cases in the entire Tampa Bay area, and take special time and attention to ensure our clients’ rights are respected and looked out for. If you have any questions and would like to contact one of our Tampa family law attorneys immediately, please use the “Contact Us Now” button in the upper right hand corner of our website. We appreciate your time in checking out our family law attorney blog, and look forward to working with you.