The Illinois Supreme Court has approved a Financial Affidavit form that is to be used in all Divorce cases, Parentage (also known as Paternity cases), dissolution of Civil Union cases, and other Family Law cases where the matters of child support, spousal support, and/or asset and debt allocation are at issue. The official name of the form is “Financial Affidavit (Family & Divorce)”.  The form may be accessed at http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Forms/approved/. The form is a PDF fillable form meaning that you are able to type information directly on the PDF form and save the form to your desktop, cloud based or other data storage device. Please click here for the PDF fillable form.

The informational section of the form states that the purpose of the form is “to provide financial information and documents to the other party and the court in cases involving child support, children’s expenses, college expenses, spousal maintenance (alimony), or attorney’s fees.” The Financial Affidavit must be completed by any person asking for or being asked to pay child support, children’s expenses, college expenses, spousal maintenance (alimony), or attorney’s fees.

The form requests information related to your identity, your marital status or relationship to the other party, your household members, your children, your employment, your yearly and monthly gross income, you monthly deductions from pay, your monthly expenses, your transportation expenses, your personal expenses, your expenses for minor and dependent children, your debts, your assets, and your health insurance. There are instructions in the left hand margin of the form that provide information related to the completion of the various sections of the form.

The Financial Affidavit is a document used by the judge to assess the income, expenses, assets, and debts of the parties to the case. The statements on the form must be true, and are to be made under oath and subject to the penalties of perjury in the State of Illinois. You may face significant penalties or sanctions, including without limitation, fines and attorney’s fees if you provide false or misleading information on the Financial Affidavit.

There are a number of different financial documents that are to be attached to the Financial Affidavit. Those documents include the party’s most recent:

• Income tax returns;
• Pay stubs or other proof of income;
• Bank statements; and,
• Other supporting documents.

Your personal information should be deleted or redacted from the documents attached to the Financial Affidavit. For example, your social security number should be redacted from the  copy of your tax returns or any pays stubs before submitting them to the other party or the judge. Also, your bank account numbers should be redacted from your bank account statements.

Generally, the Financial Affidavit and supporting documents are exchanged by the lawyers representing the parties in the case. However, if you do not have a lawyer you must send a copy of the Financial Affidavit with the supporting documents to the other party or his or her lawyer. You must also complete and file a Proof of Delivery form with Clerk of the Circuit Court where your case is pending to prove that you sent your Financial Affidavit to the other party. You can find a Proof of Delivery form at: http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Forms/approved/. The Financial Affidavit is not to be filed with the Clerk of the Court unless required by the local rules of the court or a court order from the Judge in the case. Your Financial Affidavit should updated at least every 6 months, and whenever there is a substantial change in your financial circumstances such as a loss of employment, disability or the like.

The skilled Divorce and Family Law attorneys at Bruning & Associates P.C. can help you through the process of filling out your Financial Affidavit. Please contact the Divorce and Family Law attorneys at Bruning & Associates, P.C. at 815-455-3000 to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your family law case and financial affidavit.

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