Family Law Financial Disclosure Obligations 1-877-602-9900
What are my family law financial disclosure obligations in a family law dispute ?
Under our BC provincial legislation, a party to a family law dispute must provide to the other party full and true information for the purposes of resolving a family law dispute. Our Family Law Financial Disclosure Obligations lawyers have been named as Vancouver’s Best Family Law firm on multiple occasions so meet with us to find out exactly what you and your spouse’s Family Law Financial Disclosure Obligations are.
We have 5 offices in BC in Vancouver, Surrey Kelowna, Richmond and Fort St John call us toll free at 1-877-602-9900.
The documents relevant for resolving the family law dispute on financial issues will depend on the claims made by the “suing party”, but will generally be those documents related to determining family property/debt and excluded property/debt.
Prior to litigation being commenced, there are no legal obligations to disclose financial information, per se. However, if you are looking to settle out-of-court, it is prudent and our Family Law Financial Disclosure Obligations lawyers say mandatory for a party wanting a settlement to be upheld to disclose materials that will assist in resolving the issues mentioned above, namely the issues of family property/debt and excluded property/debt. Documents that may be relevant include banks account and credit card statements, real property documents, personal and corporate tax returns and notices of assessment. Valuation documents are crucial to setting excluded values for future court purposes. Save every financial document you have and put them in a safe place!
Family Law Financial Disclosure Obligations
Our Family Law Act makes disclosure mandatory in a family law action and contains specific provisions for setting aside agreements for non-disclosure:
Duty to disclose
5 (1) A party to a family law dispute must provide to the other party full and true information for the purposes of resolving a family law dispute.
(2) A person must not use information obtained under this section except as necessary to resolve a family law dispute.
93 (3) On application by a spouse, the Supreme Court may set aside or replace with an order made under this Part all or part of an agreement described in subsection (1) only if satisfied that one or more of the following circumstances existed when the parties entered into the agreement:
(a) a spouse failed to disclose significant property or debts, or other information relevant to the negotiation of the agreement;
Once a family law suit is commenced, both parties will have legal disclosure obligations. If property division, child support and/or spousal support are being sought by either party, both, parties will be required to file a Form 8 Financial Statement in which they are required to disclose their income, detailed monthly expenses, tax returns, recent pay stubs, notices of assessment and a list of assets and debts.
Further, once an action is commenced, our Supreme Court Family Rules requires that each spouse to a family law action prepare a list of documents that lists all documents, including non-financial documents that are or have been in the party’s possession or control and that could, if available, be used by any party at trial to prove or disprove a material fact. This test casts a fairly wide net in terms of what a party must disclose.
The documents on the document list must be available for inspection by the opposing spouse except in certain exceptional circumstances (i.e. where “privilege” is claimed over the document; for example, sensitive medical files of the disclosing spouse).
Further disclosure obligations arise when “examinations for discovery” occur. An examination for discovery is a pre-trial opportunity for each party to orally examine the other party, out of court. At an examination for discovery, the spouse being examined must produce for inspection all documents in his or her possession or control, not privileged, relating to the matters in question in the family law case.
In conclusion, full disclosure is the basis for any successful resolution of a family law claim, regardless of the process chosen. Once litigation is commenced, disclosure become mandatory.
If you have further questions about your financial disclosure obligations, give MacLean Law a call today.
