How much time do I have to fill out my financial disclosures?

Have you filed and served your petition?  Turned in your proof of service? Great, the next step after you have filed for divorce will be to start working on your financial disclosures. This means you need to disclose everything you own and owe to the other party. 

How soon should you start working on this? Right away! The deadlines for preliminary disclosures are quick as a preliminary disclosure declaration may be served with the summons and petition or thereafter. See Fam C §2104(a). The declaration must be served within 60 days of filing the petition. Fam C §2104(a), (f).

The respondent may serve his or her preliminary declaration, along with his or her response, no later than 60 days after filing the response. Fam C §2104(a), (f). These deadlines may be extended by court order or by written agreement of the parties. Fam C §2104(f) (operative Jan. 1, 2013). See also Fam C §2450; Cal Rules of Ct 5.83(c)(4)(C). 

You will need to complete the following documents:

FL 142: Schedule of Assets and Debts

FL 150: Income and Expense Declaration

FL 140: Declaration of Disclosure 

FL 141: Proof of Service of Declaration of Disclosure. 

You can contact me at Amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.

Check out our post about how to fill out FL 150 here for details on how to fill out your FL 150 properly.   

What is FL 110 or Summons?

The first few steps of filing for divorce in California can be tricky.  You will need both a Petition for divorce as well as a Summons.

 In any court action for divorce, the Petitioner must first present an original completed form, Summons (Judicial Council Form FL-110), to the court clerk after payment of all applicable fees.

The clerk then "issues" the summons and retains the original in the court file. The clerk will file stamp conformed copies (for service and your file).

Next, both the Petition and the Summons must be properly served on the Respondent. 

You can contact me at Amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.

What is a FL 165 or Request to Enter Default

Experienced Bay Area family law attorneys will tell clients that a Request to Enter Default (Judicial Council Form FL-165) is the mandatory Judicial Council form to use in applying for an entry of a respondent's default in a divorce.

The form requires that either an Income and Expense Declaration (Judicial Council Form FL-150) or a Financial Statement (Simplified) (Judicial Council Form FL-155) and a Property Declaration (Judicial Council Form FL-160) be attached to the request unless (1) these documents were previously filed and there have been no changes; (2) there is a written agreement settling all issues subject to disposition in the action; (3) there are no issues of child, partner, or spousal support or attorney fees and costs; (4) the petition does not request money, property, costs, or attorney fees; (5) there are no issues of division of community property; or (6) the action is one to establish a parental relationship (i.e., an action under the Uniform Parentage Act (Fam C §§7600–7730)), rather than a marital action.

If you need assistance filling out your Request for Default, you can contact me at Amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.. 

What is an RSU?

An RSU is a restricted stock unit. The only difference between RSU and restricted stock is that an RSU is an unfunded promise. This amounts to an entry on the books at the corporate level. The only distinction between traditional restricted stock and an RSU is that you cannot make a Section 83 b election – the election for the employee to opt out of the standard IRS treatment with an RSU. Instead, you are typically taxed when the substantial risk of forfeiture goes away. 

There two key questions when evaluating the value of an RSU (1) when the does the earning period begin and (2) when does the earning period end.

I don’t know what types of equity compensation my wife has at her start-up, what documents should I ask for in a divorce?

The document that you are looking for in order to determine what type of stock award your spouse has been given is called an Equity Compensation Plan Document. At the company level this is a document that applies to all employees. You will also want something called a Grant Notice, which describes the specific provisions of each grant given to the employee.

Last, you will want to ask for an Account Statement, which is a snap shot of where the employees accounts are today.

You can contact me at Amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information..