Local court rules address whether one or both parties must complete a financial affidavit, setting forth the child’s monthly needs and expenses. In some counties, for example, such an affidavit must be filed several days in advance of the court date as well as served on the opposing party.
In Wake County, the local court rule that became effective on January 2, 1996, requires a plaintiff to file a financial affidavit, on the form dictated by the local rule, at the time the complaint is filed. It is often helpful to have the documents, such as checkbook registers and receipts, available in court to provide verification of the figures inserted on your financial affidavit.
Some counties require, in addition, that recent pay-stubs be attached to the financial affidavit in order to verify income assertions. The financial affidavit requires the allocation of the needs and expenses between the custodial parent and the child or children. A fixed percentage may be used to apportion the expenses unless there is evidence that such a division is unreasonable.
However, when the custodial parent remarries or lives with other third parties, he or she cannot total the expenses for everyone present in the home and then allocate a pro rata share to the child. Further, the present reasonable expenses of each parent only take into account actual or already planned expenditures. Any expenses that have not yet been paid and not concretely planned for will be viewed with suspicion. In other words, do not inflate the expense items on your affidavit.
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