Divorce in California: Income and Expense Declaration

Filing for divorce can be complicated, emotionally and financially, but keeping organized during this tough time can make the legal process a little easier. During your marriage, you and your spouse probably shared financial assets, debts, as well as physical belongings, your residence, and you might even have children that still depend on you both for care. 

Depending on which state you live in, the court may require you to submit a variety of documents during the divorce procedures. Most of these documents, and the information in them, give your legal counselors and the overseeing judge a better picture of your married (financial) life so they can simply and fairly divide all the assets and calculate child or spousal support payments. 

In the state of California specifically, you’ll need to complete The Income & Expense Declaration (Form FL-150). This form, informally called the “I & E,” is used in a lot of different family law proceedings, often in conjunction with other forms, but its most commonly used in divorce cases. 

Already know you need this form? Don’t let me stand in your way. Click here to fill out your California Income and Expense Declaration (Form FL-150)

According to the State of California government resource center, filing this form ALONE without any other paperwork won’t guarantee you a court date. If you’re filing the Income & Expense Declaration by itself, it’s probably because the judge has specifically asked you for updated information prior to a hearing that’s already scheduled. 

To get started filling out the California Income and Expense Declaration form, you’ll need a few other things on hand. 

  • Proof of Income: Current pay stubs for the last 2 months OR your Schedule C, if you’re self employed, from your last income tax return. 
  • Information regarding the custody/visitation of each parent
  • Information regarding the other party’s income, if you have it
  • Your general life-expense information 

Now, if you were filling out this form anywhere else, you probably wouldn’t be able to save the information you type in, but with PDFfiller’s secure platform and comprehensive editing tools, you can save everything you work on. Don’t worry if you need to leave certain sections of the form blank—it’s likely those sections aren’t relevant to your case. And if anything changes, you can always go back into the form anytime to make changes, delete, add a signature, and save it again. When you’re ready, just print it out and bring it with you to your court hearing.  

For more advice on how to get your financial paperwork in order when filing for divorce, check out this roundup of useful tips from the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts.