In the Family and Probate Court of Massachusetts, you are required to file a financial statement in all divorce, child support, and child custody issues. Typically, you would fill out a financial statement and submit it to the Court prior to the first time you appeared before the Court. The only time you need to file a new financial statement would be if any of your financial information has changed, including the amount of money in your bank account.
Many people forget that they must update the financial statement if there has been any changes whatsoever. I remind clients to provide an updated financial statement to me at least one week before we appear in court. This minimizes the time spent in court because no time is wasted in trying to put together a new financial statement.
I went to court with a client a few weeks ago for a divorce, and he had all of his documentation ready and signed. If it were just him, we would have been in and out of court within an hour. His wife forgot to update her financial statement. The wife had changed jobs but neglected to update the financial statement.
We went in front of the judge, and the judge asked if there were any changes on the financial statement. The wife said she needed to change her financial statement. The judge could not issue the divorce without an updated financial statement.
Filing out the financial statement in court is very dangerous. When you sign the financial statement, you are signing it under the pains and penalty of perjury. Mistakes made in the financial statement may come back to harm you later in the litigation.
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