FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS YOU SHOULD BEGIN GATHERING RIGHT NOW
The following is a list of information that your financial analyst will need in order to prepare the financial report for your legal team. Please bring the requested information and documents for all assets and debts that are yours, your spouse’s, yours jointly or your children’s. Thank you.
REAL ESTATE
Marital Residence, residential real estate, time share
• Recent mortgage statements – 6 months prior to date of separation to present, or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• Amortizations schedules
• Appraisal documents
• Home equity loan statements – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• 2nd mortgage statements – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
TRANSPORTATION
Cars, children’s cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, boats, jet ski, mo-bile homes, airplanes, ATV or other recreational vehicles
• List of make, model and year, and to whom the vehicle is titled
• Information regarding market value
• A good source for finding market value is www.kbb.com – You plug in the vehicles’ features and it gives you an approximate value.
• Documents regarding vehicle loan – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Art, jewelry, collections, furniture
• Appraisal documents
• Go room to room in your home and approximate the TOTAL value of all personal property
• List any very valuable items separately
• “Value” for furniture means garage sale value.
• A good source for value is www.ebay.com.
BANK ACCOUNTS
Savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, CDs, Children’s accounts
• Statements for 6 months prior to date of separation to present, or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
RETIREMENT PLANS
401(k) accounts, 403(b) accounts, IRAs, Roth IRAs, pension plans, deferred compensation plans, stock options plans
• Summary Plan Descriptions for all retirement plans (You may need to call the human resources or your benefits department to get these statements)
• Statements for 6 months prior to date of separation to present, or 6 months prior to current month if not separated – If you had the account prior to marriage, then statements 6 months prior to date of marriage through 6 months post date of marriage.
BUSINESS INTERESTS
Partnerships, sole proprietorships, corporations, LLCs, LLPs
• Copies of partnership agreements
• Tax returns for all businesses (If you don’t have copies of prior year tax returns and can’t get them from your tax preparer, you can request them from the government using IRS Form 4506 which can be found on the IRS website: www.irs.gov)
• Financial statements for businesses – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• Documents on appraisal of business assets
DEBTS
Credit cards, gas cards, store cards, loans
• Statements – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• Loan agreements – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
STOCKS, BONDS & MUTUAL FUNDS
Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, stock options
• Statements for brokerage accounts – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• List of actual stock certificates held (in safety deposit box for example)
• Any information you have about basis
LIFE INSURANCE
Whole life policies
• Statements for insurance policies with a cash surrender value – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
• You don’t need to bring information about term policies.
TAXES
• Tax returns for the past three years including all schedules, W-2s, 1099s, etc.
• Recent pay stubs – 6 months prior to date of separation to present or 6 months prior to current month if not separated
