Anything legal requires documentation. This includes a divorce. The courts will require you to produce quite a few depending on the type of divorce.
In some cases, they don’t only ask you for financial documents. You will need to produce what they ask for or have a valid reason not to.
Income information
In order to determine child support, custody and alimony, the courts will need you to provide:
- Tax returns for the last few years
- Balance sheets from businesses
- Bank statements for all accounts
- Mortgage statements for all properties you own, including those you own as a couple
- Credit card statements for all accounts, both single and joint
- All documents that relate to your income
If you do not have your tax returns, you must provide a reason or an extension request with supporting documentation.
Insurance and other policies
You will need to produce anything relating to your insurance including:
- Life insurance on you
- Life insurance policies that you are the beneficiary on
- All statements reflecting the cash value of policies
- Annuities
- Endowment policies
- Information on any loans on these policies
You might have to produce policies relating to any insurance policy you have.
Loan statements
You also have to produce any loan documents or applications. It does not matter if the loan went through or not. Usually, the time limit on this is the last five years. You should also provide information on any other debts with the loan statements. This helps when you are dividing assets.
Going through a divorce is not an easy thing to do. When producing documents, remember it is always better to include everything you need to rather than try to hide an asset or debt.
