What is the Financial Affidavit in a Connecticut Divorce?

Updated December 10, 2023

The financial affidavit is one of the main, and most important, documents in a divorce. Connecticut uses them in all types of divorces: litigated, collaborative, and mediated.

Please read on to learn more about what the financial affidavit is in a CT divorce.

What Information Goes on a Financial Affidavit?

The financial affidavit is a financial snapshot of your income, expenses, assets, and debts.

You and your Freed Marcroft team will make a plan to gather the financials necessary to complete the financial affidavit. Connecticut has two Financial Affidavit forms for parties to fill out. The “short affidavit” is for parties whose assets total assets equal less than $75,000.  The “long affidavit” is for parties whose total assets equal more than $75,000.

We designed a way for our clients to share financials that avoids the confusion of the form financial affidavit. For example, our approach converts seasonal expenses like gardening and snow removal to weekly expenses. It also anticipates complex compensation structures including deferred stock and commissions.

What is an Affidavit?

In a nutshell, an affidavit is a sworn, written statement. With the financial affidavit, you certify under the penalties of perjury that the information is complete, true, and accurate.

Read: What Does Affidavit Mean?

What is the Purpose of a Financial Affidavit in a Divorce?

Each spouse’s divorce lawyer prepares a financial affidavit for exchange. Financial affidavits give a clear and accurate picture of the finances of the marriage, which sets the stage for negotiations and discussions about property division, alimony, and child support. It may lead to an additional exchange of documents or discovery.

If you reach an agreement in your divorce, the financial affidavits give the court confidence that the spouses have shared the appropriate information to reach a fair and equitable agreement. This is critical, because the judge must determine that your agreement is fair and equitable to make it an enforceable order of the court at an uncontested divorce hearing.

Read: Key Things to Know About a Financial Affidavit

Read: Discovery in Connecticut Divorces

Are Financial Affidavits Private?

The court automatically seals financial affidavits filed under Connecticut Practice Book Section 25-59A (h).  In other words, they are kept private and confidential and can only be disclosed to the judicial authority, court personnel, the involved parties, and their attorneys.

It’s important to know that most other files, affidavits, or documents on record with the court are not sealed. These documents are generally accessible to the public unless there is a compelling reason to seal them.  If this is an issue in your divorce, your divorce lawyer will argue that a “compelling reason” exists because the need for confidentiality outweighs the public’s First Amendment right to access such documents freely.

Read: Privacy During Divorce

Read: Confidentiality Agreements (NDAs) & Divorce

The Comprehensive Connecticut Divorce Guides

Alimony and property division are two of the most important issues in divorces. And, they are two of the most confusing. Connecticut has no set formulas or rules on (1) whether there will be alimony, and, if so, (2) how it’s calculated or (3) how long it will last. Nor do we have any set formulas or rules on how property will be divided. The good news is that creates tremendous flexibility for experienced divorce attorneys to craft an individualized approach. In order to prepare to make solid and informed decisions, you need to understand how property division and alimony work.

Read: The Connecticut Comprehensive Alimony Guide

Read: The Connecticut Comprehensive Property Division Guide

Next Steps

Now that you have learned more about financial affidavits, you may want to learn more about how property division works in Connecticut divorces.

To start making a plan for your divorce, reach out.  We designed our first step at Freed Marcroft, the Goals & Planning Conference, to get to the heart of your problem and unveil your true goals.  Then, we take those goals along with the facts of your case and analyze them so that we can present you with recommendations and options on how to move forward.