Massachusetts Financial Statement: Knowledge is Power

While it’s always a good idea to know your financial status, for court-related business it’s sometimes required. One example is when you are involved in a divorce case in which money or support is an issue, such as alimony, child support, attorney’s fees, or division of property. If you are a resident of Massachusetts involved in a case like this, you’re going to need to fill out Form CJ.D 301 or the Massachusetts Financial Statement. The specific version of the form you’ll fill out depends on your annual income – if it is less than $75,000.00 you’ll fill out the Massachusetts short form CJ.D 301S, while if it’s over that amount you’ll fill out the long form CJ.D 301L.


Each of these statement forms is designed to provide a general picture of your financial status. They take you through a step-by-step process in which the first step is to calculate your net weekly income based on weekly wages and benefits minus your itemized deductions. Using this net weekly income, you can calculate a gross yearly income from which you subtract your expenses, including attorney and legal fees, to end up with a net yearly income. In addition to calculating income, you are required to list your total assets including including real estate, motor vehicles and retirement plans, life insurance, checking or saving accounts, etc.. Finally you should note any liabilities, including the nature of the debt and to whom it is owed. Listing all of these things helps to give the court an idea of what your financial needs and capabilities are vis a vis those of a partner or a child.


There is lots of assistance available to you should you need to fill out either financial form. The Massachusetts court has a self-help tab, and you can check out the video below for instructions on filling out the short form. Using PDFfiller to fill out the form can also save you time and trouble – the filled in document is automatically saved in the cloud and can easily be sent for signature to your attorney without ever leaving PDFfiller’s platform. Get started filling out the Massachusetts Financial Statement short form CJ.D 301S today and remember the old adage, “Knowledge is Power!”