Financial Disclosure in a New York Divorce

Compulsory financial disclosure is the rule in every New York matrimonial action. DRL 236B(4) says so, and the court rules spell out what has to be produced and when. This page explains the Statement of Net Worth, the documents that go with it, and the tools that exist when a spouse does not tell the truth.

The Statement of Net Worth

The Statement of Net Worth is a sworn, notarized form that every party must complete. It has sections for family data, monthly expenses in detail, gross income from every source, assets including cash, securities, real estate, vehicles, life insurance, business interests, retirement accounts, and personal property, liabilities, and a schedule of assets transferred in the past three years. It is signed under penalty of perjury and it follows you for the entire case. A statement that understates income or omits an account is the first exhibit at trial and the reason a judge stops believing you.

Fill it out completely and accurately. Where you do not know a figure, estimate and say so. Where an asset is in dispute as separate property, list it and note the claim. The form is on my forms page along with the information sheet we use to prepare it.

The documents the rules require

Ten days before the preliminary conference, each party must exchange and file the Statement of Net Worth together with current pay stubs and the last pay stub of the prior year, three years of state and federal tax returns with all W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and schedules, three years of statements for every financial institution account, and statements for every life insurance policy and deferred compensation plan. This is the floor. In a case with a business, expect demands for the business returns, general ledgers, bank statements, credit card statements, and the accountant's workpapers. In a case with real estate, expect closing statements, mortgage records, and appraisals.

How a spouse hides money and how it is found

The methods are not creative. Cash businesses that underreport. Personal expenses run through the business. Deferred bonuses and commissions timed to land after the case is over. Loans to friends and relatives that are really transfers. Overpayment of taxes to generate a refund later. Custodial accounts for children. Cryptocurrency held in wallets that do not generate statements.

The tools to find them are also not creative. Subpoenas to banks, employers, brokerages, and exchanges. Depositions under oath. Lifestyle analysis, which compares what a household spent with what it reported earning. Forensic accountants who trace transfers. And discovery sanctions, because a spouse who will not produce records is presumed to be hiding something.

Two rules do most of the work. First, courts impute income. Where a party's documents do not support the income claimed, or the party will not produce them, the court sets an income figure based on earning capacity, past earnings, and lifestyle. In February 2026, the Second Department affirmed imputation to a father who refused to produce records and whose claimed retirement was uncorroborated. In April 2026, it held in a Suffolk case that deferred income has to be included in the support calculation. Second, courts charge dissipation. Money spent for non-marital purposes, transferred without fair consideration, or moved in contemplation of the divorce is added back to the marital estate and charged to the spouse who moved it. In July 2026, the Second Department affirmed a Nassau judgment that did exactly that.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is marital property if acquired during the marriage, and it is discoverable. Exchanges respond to subpoenas. Wallets leave traces in bank records where the money went in and where it came out. In March 2026, a Kings County court awarded a wife 300,000 dollars in additional interim counsel fees and 125,000 dollars in expert fees after the husband concealed roughly 2.6 million dollars in cryptocurrency. The court's message was that concealment does not work and that the party who tries it pays for the effort to uncover it.

What to do now

If you are the spouse who has not handled the finances, start collecting what you can before the case begins: tax returns, account statements, insurance policies, the business's name and accountant, and photographs of any documents you can lawfully access in the home. Do not log into your spouse's accounts without authority and do not install anything on your spouse's devices. Evidence obtained that way is a problem for you, not for your spouse.

If you are the spouse who controls the finances, understand that the disclosure will happen, that the automatic orders prohibit moving assets once the case is filed, and that the court will look at your lifestyle as well as your returns. The cheapest path is complete disclosure early, which lets the case be about the real numbers instead of about credibility.

Call 516-928-5838 or use the contact form to schedule a free thirty-minute consultation.