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Decide if you have the information you need

You need information to make informed decisions. Before you make an agreement, make sure you have the information you need. If you don't have it, you can ask. 

Make sure you have received completed Financial Disclosures

You should have this information from your spouse: 

  • Tax returns from the last 2 years 

  • Income and Expense Declaration (form FL-150) with 2 month’s pay stubs 

  • Schedule of Assets and Debts (form FL-142) or Property Declaration (form FL-160)

If you or your spouse has any retirement accounts or a pension, you'll want information about those as well.

Look at these forms. If you think something is missing or you need more about something, ask for the information. 

If your spouse hasn't given you any financial disclosures, you can ask a judge to order or compel your spouse to give them to you. Your court's Self-Help Center can give you more information about how to do this.

Decide if there's more information you need

Sometimes you need information besides the disclosures to make decisions. If you do, you can ask your spouse for that information.

If they won't provide it, you can use a process called discovery to get the information. This information could be financial information, documents, or just answers to questions. 

Learn how to use discovery to get information

Make decisions

What's next?

When you have the information you need to make a decision, you can start to propose an agreement and negotiate with your spouse. The next step gives you some tools for how to negotiate.

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