2 Years Tax Returns Now Required In California Divorce Cases
We are a California divorce document preparation firm, we do specialize in providing divorce services in California.
And I wanted to talk to you about some changes in regards to family law and the paperwork when you’re filing for divorce.
In July, 2013 we received updates from our software provider regarding the forms software we use for filing divorce papers, and realized there have been several changes to the forms. So, part of divorce is filling out your financial disclosures.
This is called the declaration of disclosure. That said; there are certain documents that need to be served. What they’ve added to the declaration of disclosure, and if you want to look this up, you can look up family code section 2104, but what they’ve added is really two things.
Number 1, is you now have to serve two years of tax returns. So on top of your, with your income and expenses declaration, and your schedule of assets and debts, along with the documentation, you now have to serve two years tax returns, that wasn’t a required in L.A. County as far as I know, until these most recent changes.
It had been part of the disclosure process in counties such as San Bernardino which we filed cases for as well. There has been that rule there, but this seems to be a new change for Los Angeles County.
The other thing that they’re requiring is now that we have – as far as when those declaration of disclosure needs to be served, they are now giving you sixty days, from the day of filing the petition to submit your schedule of assets and debts, and your income, expense declaration.
Normally, or in the past I should say. That wasn’t required; there wasn’t so much of a time frame. You could file your petition, serve the other party and there wasn’t really a time frame in which that had to be done. But now there is a family code section 2104 that also indicates that you have to serve your preliminary declaration of disclosure.
Of course, included here is the two-year tax return within sixty days of filing the petition. So I guess what we’re seeing is the family law court starting to follow suit, more closely aligned with civil procedure as opposed to kind of being left a little more loose.
Again this is Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com. We do prepare divorce documents in California.
Please call us if you have any questions 661-281-0266 and thanks!