The links below correspond to screens in the software.
Financial Affidavit
The Financial Affidavit has different names in different states. For example, here are some states and the name the financial affidavit is called in those states:
· California: Income & Expense, Asset & Debt. Disclosure statement.
· Colorado: Sworn Financial Statement.
· New Jersey: Case Information Statement.
· New York: Net Worth Statement.
· Pennsylvania: Inventory.
Whatever it is called, it is the statement of income and expenses, assets and debts, of the parties.
This form is created entirely automatically, based on the entries you make on the Client Info tab.
Here’s why you should enter information on the Client Info tab:
· On the Client Info tab, the information is organized with more subcategories. This makes it easier for clients to enter all of their information. The software then automatically combines the subcategories into the categories that appear on the financial affidavit.
· Entries that you make on the Client Info tab also carry to the What If analysis, the child support calculation, the Budget Report, and elsewhere. Entries that you make directly on the financial affidavit will not do that.
· For assets and debts, the only way to create additional assets and debts is on the Client Info tab.
As you enter assets on the Client Info > Assets & Debts screen, please be sure to specify the Investment Type for investments, the Asset Type for personal items and vehicles, and, if applicable, the Debt Type for debts.
The selections will determine the sections on the financial affidavit to which the entries carry.
Please fill in the Client Info > Form Info screen. This screen will have all the text information for the financial affidavit and other information that does not relate to the incomes and expenses for assets and debts of the current year.
Typically, there is a checkbox on the Client Info > Form Info screen to specify that you want the information of the professional (attorney’s name, address, phone number, etc.) to carry to the financial affidavit.
The professional information can be entered by clicking Files & Settings > Settings > Professional information. This information needs to be entered only once, and it is saved from case to case.
You reach the screen where you view or print the financial affidavit by clicking Forms & Reports > View/Print affidavit (the name of the screen will vary slightly from state to state).
On the screen, there will be a way to select which party’s affidavit you want to print.
If the affidavit has multiple sections, you will have a way of selecting which section(s) you want to print.
Then click the Print or PDF button at the very top of the screen, to the right of the Forms & Reports tab, to print.
The key Asset & Debt and Income & Expense reports are on the link labeled View/Print Disclosure.
These include FL-140, 141, 142, 150, and 160 -- all on the link labeled View/Print Disclosure.
All the information you entered on the Client Info tab will flow there.
The software has the ability automatically to create details for line 11 of FL-150. This is an option that is specified at the top of the View/Print Disclosure page.
All of the remaining statewide additional Council forms are on the Judicial Council Forms link.
There is also a FL-150 report on the Judicial Council Forms link. This is a blank form, and only the names will carry to that form. We added this because there was a request to have a blank form that could be filled in completely by hand. If you want the FL-150 that is filled with the information from the Client Info tab, then click the View/Print Disclosure link.
You will also find forms for several counties on the Judicial Council forms tab.
If you are using the Windows desktop version and the Judicial Council forms do not appear, you may want to exit the software, download the forms again, and try again.
https://www.familylawsoftware.com/update/
If the parties are unmarried, or this is a post-dissolution matter, you will want to check a box at the top of the Client Info > Form Info screen, to indicate this.
By default, the software will carry 100% of the value of both parties’ assets to the Financial Affidavit.
If you wish to have 50% of the marital amount of parties’ assets carry, there is a checkbox on the Client Info >Form Info screen to do this.
On the Client Info > Form Info screen, you can also select long or short form, official format or expanded format, specify whether footnotes should print with the Affidavit, specify whether footnotes should print with each item or at the end, and specify whether to print the Appendix.
On the top half of the screen, there are a number of options, including whether to use the 902(b) or 902(c) form.
We suggest that you always use the 902(c) form, because it is only on that form that the footnotes will print.
The 902(b) form is so compressed, that we are not able to fit the footnotes.
Please note that there are two lines to which health insurance could carry. One is in the deductions from income section, and one is in the living expenses section.
There is a checkbox on Client Info > Income & Expenses > Living Expenses > Insurance for [party] that determines the line to which health insurance carries.
The Case Information Statement entries flow from the entries on the Client Info screen.
There are options on the screen where you view and print the Case Information Statement with respect to how footnotes are printed, whether to include the instructions, and whether to print the “other expense” lines that are blank.
Also on the screen, there is an option to mail a blank that Case Information Statement to a client.
Finally, there is an option to specify whether or not you want to display expenses for each residence individually when there are multiple residences.
The official Case Information Statement does not do this, but many attorneys have found this to be a very useful feature.
At the top of the screen where you view and print the Net Worth Statement, there are several options with respect to the printing.
Many of these options concern whether totals are displayed at the bottom of the Net Worth Statement
If this is a preliminary submission, you may wish to print the statement without totals.
There are checkboxes on the View/Print Net Worth screen for displaying or hiding the totals for each section.
There is also an option to hide expense lines which are blank or zero. If you select that option, you will print only expense lines that have values.
There is also an option to print or email a blank Net Worth Statement.