Financial Affidavit

What is a financial affidavit?

A financial affidavit is a sworn legal statement that records a detailed disclosure of an individual’s financial situation, including assets, expenses, and liabilities. This is a unique source of information for courts and state authorities to understand a clear picture of an individual’s financial position.

This document includes detailed information about an affiant, a list of his/her monthly expenses, sources of income, and the reason for submission of an affidavit, as well as the date and signature.

A financial affidavit form is a helpful legal document in either of the following situations:

• Cases related to child support payments between ex-spouses;
• Cases related to alimony support payments to either of the ex-spouses;
• Cases dealing with the division of marital or communal property in the course of divorce;
• Cases where a court, by virtue of a separate order, demands a party to disclose their financial background;
• Cases related to property settlements where a court may require submission of a domestic relations financial affidavit, etc.

The parties involved in the creation of a financial affidavit are an affiant and a notary. An affiant is an individual who creates and signs the document. If an affiant provides misleading, inaccurate, or false information in the text of a document, he or she may incur legal charges, including imprisonment. A financial affidavit cannot be signed by one person on behalf of another, as this document represents a personal sworn statement before a notary.

How to draft a financial affidavit form?

Drafting a financial affidavit form requires attention to detail and accuracy. Courts rely on complete and truthful disclosure, and inaccuracies may result in legal penalties, including contempt of court. The affidavit should reflect the affiant’s full financial situation at the time of submission.

Affiant Details

A key element of every financial affidavit form is identification information about that affiant. This information includes:

• full name and current residential address;
• employment status (e.g., self-employed, employment contract, unemployed, etc.);
• contact information; and
• state and county of residence.

Besides that, the text of a document must clearly define the reason for which this document is being submitted. For example, in the case of a domestic relations financial affidavit, a person may need to prove coverage of certain or all household expenses while living with their domestic partner.

Monthly Income

The heart of every financial affidavit form is the list of sources of monthly income. This is not only your salary or income generated by a business. This also includes any federal or state financial aid, royalties, rental or investment income, social benefits including pensions, etc.

It is very common for an Illinois financial affidavit to include the list of checkboxes of all possible forms of monthly income so that an affiant can check the box.

Monthly Expenses and Deductions

To find out more about which thing a person can and cannot afford, it is also essential to include regular monthly expenses and deductions a person usually incurs. All monthly expenses could be divided into two big groups:

• mandatory expenses (federal and property taxes, insurance premium, mortgage payments, car or student loans, etc.)
• non-mandatory or flexible expenses (e.g., food, utility bills, childcare costs, general living expenses, etc.).

Last but not least, every financial affidavit form must include the total amount of monthly income and expenses in U.S. dollar equivalent.

Signature, Notarization & Applicable Law

Once a financial affidavit form is ready, an affiant must sign it in the presence of a notary. The signature could be put online or at the notary’s office. Notarization is a mandatory step for a document’s legal validity and further enforceability. An affidavit without its further notarization is not acceptable and does not have any legal power.

The law that is applicable to an affidavit is a law of the state where the document is notarized. For instance, an Illinois Financial Affidavit means that the document was notarized by a public notary located and registered in the state of Illinois.

How to customize an affidavit template at FasterDraft?

To get a fully customized legal document, follow a few easy steps below:

Click the “Create Document” button.

Answer simple questions in the form.

Select a template’s format – PDF or Word.

Make a payment.

E-sign, download and notarize the document.