Share your financial information
Sharing your financial information with your spouse or domestic partner is a required step in every divorce or legal separation. The court calls this financial disclosure.
📌 You don’t file your financial documents with the court. You only share them with your spouse. Then, you file a form to tell the judge you met this requirement.
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Why you must share financial information
Sharing this information helps both of you make fair decisions about money and property.
You’ll fill out forms that list what you:
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Own
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Owe
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Earn
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Spend
You’ll also give your spouse copies of certain financial documents, like pay stubs or tax returns.
📌 Be honest and complete. If you hide information or leave things out, the judge could take away some of your property or order you to pay your spouse’s attorney’s fees.
Who must share financial information
Both people in a divorce or legal separation must share their financial information.
If you started the case (the petitioner):
You must share complete and current financial information with your spouse.
If you are responding (the respondent):
You must share your financial information if you filed a Response.
If you didn’t file a Response but you and your spouse want the court to approve an agreement (called a default with agreement), you must also share your financial information.
If your spouse doesn’t respond
If your spouse doesn’t file a Response (this is called a default), you still have to share your financial information with them.
But you can finish your divorce even if they don’t share theirs.
Learn how to finish your divorce if your spouse doesn’t respond
When to share your information
The first time you share this information is called your preliminary disclosure.
📅 You must complete your preliminary disclosures by these deadlines:
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Petitioner: within 60 days after filing your Petition
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Respondent: within 60 days after filing your Response
Final disclosures
Later in your case, you’ll either:
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Share your updated information a second time (this is called your final declaration of disclosure), or
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Agree with your spouse to skip this step if you’ve both kept each other up to date
To waive final disclosures, you and your spouse must sign and file a Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure (form FL-144) (🔗 opens in new tab).
Key takeaways
- You must share your financial information with your spouse or partner in every divorce or legal separation.
- You don’t file your financial documents with the court—only a form saying you shared them.
- Both sides must be honest and complete. Hiding information can lead to penalties.
- You must complete your first (preliminary) disclosure within 60 days of filing your Petition or Response.
- You may need to update your information later or agree to skip the final disclosure by filing form FL-144.
Share financial information
What's next?
The first step is to gather details about your finances — what you earn, spend, own, and owe.
Then, fill out your disclosure forms and share them with your spouse.
If your spouse filed a Response or you’re doing a default with agreement, they’ll share their financial information too.