Financial Disclosure – What You Must Disclose during Property Negotiation?

You may have received a letter from your former partner’s lawyer requesting you to provide a number of financial documents. You may wonder if they have rights to do so.

Technically, the Federal Circuit and Family Law Rules states that each party must provide full and frank disclosure of all relevant documents. It sounds as boring as it is, and importantly this probably does not give you a clear idea what exactly you need to disclose.

We have summarised a list of some commonly requested financial documents that you are required to provide in this article.

If you have not kicked out the negotiation process after separation, you may want to have a look at the documents you need to collate and the documents the other party needs to disclose to you.

Real properties

1.     At least an appraisal for each property in your name;

Bank statements

2.     Bank statements for all your bank accounts (including mortgage accounts, savings accounts, and credit card accounts) from 12 months prior to separation to current;

Motor vehicles

3.     Redbook valuation for each vehicle in your name or in your business name;

Income and Taxation

4.     Your recent three payslips;

5.     Your last tax returns for the last 3 financial years;

Shares

6.     Your share portfolio for the last 12 months;

Superannuation

7.     Your superannuation statement for the last 12 months;

Business, Trust and Company

8.     Financial statements for the last 3 financial years;

9.     Tax returns for the last 3 financial years;

10.  Business Activity Statements for the last 4 quarters.

AND MORE…

The above is not an exhaustive list. Remember any documents that may be relevant to your matter are required to be disclosed.

For example,

Jamie and Lucy were a couple for over 10 years and they are going through separation.

Example 1

Jamie says to Lucy that he had $100,000 when Jamie and Lucy started living together. Jamie would need to provide bank statements showing he had such an amount.

Example 2

Jamie says to Lucy that he owes his mother $50,000 which he needs to repay now. Jamie would need to provide a loan agreement and bank statements showing that he received the amount from his Mother. Jamie would also need to explain where the borrowed $50,000 is sitting at. If he spent it, how did he spend it.

Financial disclosure is not always straightforward. Often, people deliberately withhold information that may be disadvantageous to themselves.

Our R&G Law Group experienced family lawyers can assist you to investigate hidden assets and advise you what happened if the other party does not comply with those financial disclosure obligations.