Ontario financial disclosure checklist for family law files

Which statement the file needs

A support claim with no claim for property, equalization or the matrimonial home uses Form 13. Once either party makes or responds to a property or exclusive possession claim, the statement is Form 13.1, which adds the date-of-marriage, valuation-date, excluded property and net family property parts. Form 13A, the Certificate of Financial Disclosure, goes with either one.

Rule 13 of the Family Law Rules is the authoritative list of what each party must provide. The groups below follow the structure of Form 13A and the documents Divo asks for when it prepares an Ontario disclosure package.

1. Current income

• →A recent pay stub showing year-to-date earnings, or a letter from the employer confirming income received so far this year.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Pension, social assistance, workers' compensation or employment insurance stubs, with the last Record of Employment for EI.Form 13Form 13.1
• →For self-employed clients, the statement of income and expenses or professional activities, and business financial statements where income is in issue.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Details of non-cash benefits from an employer or the client's business, such as a company car or medical coverage.Form 13Form 13.1

2. Three-year income history

• →Personal income tax returns for each of the past three taxation years, with all materials filed with them. These are served but generally not filed in the continuing record.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Notices of assessment and any notices of reassessment for each of those years.Form 13Form 13.1
• →A Canada Revenue Agency Income and Deductions printout for any year where a notice is unavailable or no return was filed.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Records of income not shown on the main income table: partnership income, dividends, rental income, capital gains, and RRSP or RRIF withdrawals (Schedule A).Form 13Form 13.1

3. Existing statements, orders and agreements

• →Any financial statement sworn earlier in the case (helpful, not required).Form 13Form 13.1
• →Existing court orders, separation agreements or other written agreements dealing with support or property.Form 13Form 13.1

4. Parenting schedule and section 7 expenses

• →The parenting schedule, where parenting time affects support. Shared parenting under section 9 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines turns on a parent having the child at least 40 per cent of the time over the course of a year.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Receipts for section 7 special or extraordinary expenses claimed: child care, the child's share of medical and dental insurance premiums, health-related expenses, extraordinary education or extracurricular expenses, and post-secondary expenses. The schedule also asks for available tax credits or deductions (Form 13 Schedule C; Form 13.1 Schedule B).Form 13Form 13.1

5. Property at the valuation date

Form 13 asks only for current values of assets and debts, so recent statements matter in a support-only file. A property claim needs values at the valuation date as well:

• →Bank, savings, investment and registered account statements showing the valuation-date balance.Form 13.1
• →Real estate: evidence of value at the valuation date and the mortgage balance on that date.Form 13.1
• →Vehicles and significant household items: evidence of value.Form 13.1
• →Life and disability insurance policies, with cash surrender values.Form 13.1
• →Money owed to the client, including court judgments, estate money and tax refunds owing.Form 13.1

6. Debts at the valuation date

• →Statements for mortgages, lines of credit, loans and credit cards: current balances for either form, and valuation-date balances for Form 13.1.Form 13Form 13.1
• →Money owed to the Canada Revenue Agency, contingent liabilities such as guarantees, and unpaid legal or professional bills from the case.Form 13.1

7. Property and debts on the date of marriage

• →Evidence of the value of assets and debts on the date of marriage, where a deduction is claimed. Leave out a matrimonial home the spouses ordinarily occupied as their family residence at separation.Form 13.1
• →Keep in mind that the spouse claiming a deduction has to prove it (Family Law Act, s. 4(3)), so marriage-date records are worth chasing early.Form 13.1

8. Exclusions and tracing

• →Evidence of property excluded under subsection 4(2) of the Family Law Act, such as gifts or inheritances from a third person after the marriage (other than a matrimonial home), life insurance proceeds, and damages for personal injuries.Form 13.1
• →Tracing documents that follow excluded money into property held on the valuation date. The onus is on the spouse claiming the exclusion.Form 13.1

9. Pensions and business interests

• →Pension plan statements and any valuation of the pension for family law purposes.Form 13.1
• →Business valuation reports, and financial statements for businesses or corporations the client has an interest in.Form 13.1

Gaps that slow a file down

• →A missing year. One absent notice of assessment leaves the three-year history incomplete. Order the CRA printout rather than leaving the year blank.
• →Statements that miss the valuation date. A statement period that ends weeks after separation shows the wrong balance. Look for the statement that covers the valuation date itself.
• →Deductions and exclusions without paper. A date-of-marriage deduction or an inheritance exclusion with no supporting records is hard to sustain, because the onus sits with the spouse claiming it.
• →A certificate that lags the disclosure. Form 13A should list every document actually provided, and be updated as more goes out.

The official form

Ontario publishes the Family Law Rules forms on the Ontario Court Forms site. Check the version date printed on a form before you file it.

• →Form 13A Certificate of Financial Disclosure, May 2021 (PDF) ↗
• →All Family Law Rules forms on Ontario Court Forms ↗

Frequently asked questions

Related Ontario forms

• →Form 13 Financial Statement (Support Claims)
• →Form 13.1 Financial Statement (Property and Support Claims)
• →Form 13A Certificate of Financial Disclosure
• →Form 13B Net Family Property Statement
• →Form 13C Comparison of Net Family Property Statements
• →All Ontario family court forms Divo prepares