Ontario Form 13.1: Financial Statement (Property and Support Claims)

What Form 13.1 is and when it's used

Form 13.1 is required when a party is making or responding to a claim for property or for exclusive possession of the matrimonial home and its contents, whether alone or together with other claims such as support. It replaces Form 13 rather than adding to it, so a case with both support and property claims uses one statement: Form 13.1.

It covers what Form 13 does (income, expenses and other income earners in the home) and adds the property picture needed for net family property under Part I of the Family Law Act. The statement records the date of marriage, the valuation date and, if different, the date cohabitation began. Then:

• →Part 4: assets in and out of Ontario. Seven categories, from land and vehicles to bank accounts, pensions, insurance and business interests, each valued on the date of marriage, on the valuation date and today.
• →Part 5: debts and other liabilities. On the same three dates, including money owed to the Canada Revenue Agency, contingent liabilities such as guarantees, and unpaid legal or professional bills from the case.
• →Part 6: property and debts on the date of marriage. Leaving out a matrimonial home the spouses ordinarily occupied as their family residence at separation, and debts directly related to its purchase or significant improvement.
• →Part 7: excluded property. Property owned on the valuation date that is excluded from net family property, such as gifts or inheritances received after marriage.
• →Part 8: disposed-of property. Property disposed of during the two years before the statement, or during the marriage if that is shorter.
• →Part 9: calculation of net family property. Property owned on the valuation date, less debts on the valuation date, the net value of date-of-marriage property and excluded property.

Schedule A covers income not shown in Part 1, and Schedule B covers special or extraordinary expenses for the children.

Who serves and files it, and when

Under rule 13 of the Family Law Rules, both the party making the claim and the party responding to it serve and file a financial statement: the claimant with the application, answer or motion that makes the claim, and the other party within the time for responding.

The form directs each party to also provide the other with documents relating to support and property, and a Certificate of Financial Disclosure (Form 13A). Income tax returns are served but, apart from one exception the form notes, not filed in the continuing record.

The form's own note says it must be updated before any court event if it is more than 60 days old by the time of the case conference, more than 30 days old by the time a motion is heard, or more than 40 days old by the start of the trial or trial sittings, whichever comes first. The update is either a new financial statement or a Form 14A affidavit setting out minor changes or confirming the statement remains correct.

In a property case each party also serves a net family property statement (Form 13B). Its figures come from the same assets, debts and exclusions, so the 13B and the 13.1 have to agree.

Documents that feed it

Divo asks for these documents in a property and support package. The property documents are what the extra parts need.

• →Income documents. The same as for Form 13: proof of current income, and three years of tax returns with notices of assessment and reassessment (or CRA Income and Deductions printouts).
• →Valuation-date asset records. Statements and other evidence of value for bank and investment accounts, real estate, vehicles, life insurance (cash surrender value), pensions and business interests.
• →Valuation-date debt records. Mortgages, lines of credit, loans, credit cards and any tax owing on the valuation date.
• →Marriage-date assets and debts. Needed where a date-of-marriage deduction is claimed.
• →Exclusion and tracing evidence. Records of inheritances, gifts and insurance proceeds, and the paper trail showing where the money went.
• →Pension or business valuation material. Pension statements and valuations, and business valuation reports or financial statements.
• →Orders, parenting schedule and section 7 receipts. Any existing order or agreement, the parenting schedule where it affects support, and receipts for special expenses claimed.

Common mistakes that get a Form 13.1 challenged

• →Filing Form 13 in a property case. If either side claims property, equalization or exclusive possession of the matrimonial home, Form 13 is the wrong statement: it has no Parts 4 to 9.
• →Net family property figures that don't match. The Form 13B has to reconcile with Parts 4 to 9 of the sworn 13.1. A 13B built on different values from the sworn statement gives opposing counsel an easy point.
• →The matrimonial home in the date-of-marriage deduction. Part 6 leaves out a matrimonial home the spouses ordinarily occupied as their family residence at separation. Deducting its marriage-date value is a common error.
• →Exclusions without tracing. Gifts and inheritances from a third person after marriage can be excluded, but the onus of proving an exclusion or deduction is on the spouse claiming it (Family Law Act, s. 4(3)). Part 7 entries need documents that trace the money to what is held on the valuation date.
• →Stale values and missing notices. The 'today' column and the income section go out of date, and all three years of notices of assessment (or CRA printouts) are still required. Update within the windows above.
• →A valuation date that differs between documents. The valuation date on the 13.1 must be the one used on Form 13B and in the equalization calculation.

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 13.1 Financial Statement (Property and Support Claims), 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 13A Certificate of Financial Disclosure
• →Form 13B Net Family Property Statement
• →Form 13C Comparison of Net Family Property Statements
• →Ontario financial disclosure checklist