Do I Really Need to Provide Financial Disclosure?
If you are doing a prenuptial agreement, marriage contract or Separation Agreement, one of the first things that you will be asked to do is provide financial disclosure. Many people dread this stage, since it involves producing full Income Tax Returns, Notices of Assessment, bank account and credit card statements, and more.
Why do we ask for this?
1. You need financial information in order to make informed decisions about the terms of any prenuptial agreement, marriage contract or Separation Agreement.
2. Your lawyer needs proper financial information in order to give you full Independent Legal Advice. There may be issues that you wouldn't have spotted on your own. 3. Ontario's Family Law Act specifically states that any prenuptial agreement, marriage contract or Separation Agreement can be set aside (disregarded by the court) if a party failed to disclose significant assets, or significant debts or other liabilities.
4. If you want to get a divorce and you have dependent children, the court will need proof that the children are being properly supported in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines.
5. If you are going to court, you will need to provide a sworn financial statement in most cases. The Family Law Rules were recently changed to require that you also need to provide additional financial disclosure, to support the financial statement.