USA Net Worth Statement Help

[FinNovice]

Hi, forum - first post here - hope i'm in the right place and you can help. So, I am going thru a divorce where my spouse left and has all the assets at the moment, and filling this out is so hard for me. Hoping you can put me on the right path.
1.The overall confusion preventing me from getting this done with, is for example, if the situation changed from the last 12 months, and went from monthly expenses from X to Y, what do I report? Monthly food for example, say was $800 (w everyone), now suddenly is $500. Same with rent, etc.
2. The situation is very new, so where I am just "getting up on my feet", and let's say for example, it asks about "rent insurance" - will need to have it, didn't get to it yet - do I put in a quote of what it will cost? My son is planning on a gym membership, potential recreational activities, vacation - do i include estimates of these things? I'll need to lease a car, etc. Bc, literally, these WILL be my expenses in the month or two to come.
3. When it asks for accounts, I am aware of the ones held by my spouse (name only) but are potential marital property - should I be including this as well?
4. Spouse bought a house, certainly I will report this as well, correct?
5. There is jewelry, art, etc. retained by spouse- report this as well?
6. And of course there was debt that was run up as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tempe Tony]

I'm probably not qualified to answer this in full, but I will ask couple questions that all reading your post I am sure are wondering:


Can you give more specifics as to what this "net worth statement" is needed for ? What organization is asking for it ? Is an attorney asking you for it in relation to the divorce? Or, are you going to a bank to apply for a miscellaneous loan, and they are asking for it?


Also, you refer to it (in the subject) as "Net Worth Statement". However you repeatedly refer to "ongoing expenses" and estimates of such expenses. Ongoing expenses would apply more to a budget or personal income statement, which is a completely different animal than a net worth statement (the latter which would be referred to in the corporate accounting world as a "balance sheet" and is a snapshot of net worth at a given time (easy to calculate on an individual level since it is assets minus liabilities)).

So, are you needing to estimate your expenses & income and form that into an estimated budget? Or rather are you simply determining your net worth (again, assets minus liabilities) ?

 

[FinNovice]

Thx for your reply. You asked,<Is an attorney asking you for it in relation to the divorce?> yes.

Is this used for asset distribution or determination of spousal/child support? I think the former. Thx

 

[Tempe Tony]

Without being able to see the document(s) the attorney wants you to fill out, I'm still not real sure if he is mainly asking for net worth, or an income statement. Also not sure how to answer the second question of why he needs it, but I would guess it would be handy to him for BOTH asset distribution AND spouse/child support.

Just be sure to consult him on how to fill it out, and don't be shy to ask him the various reason(s) why he needs them filled out.

One thing I would be able to pretty much confidently guide is that for net worth calculations, only state your own assets. For example in your original January 4 post above, answers to #4 and #5 would be "no" because those belong solely to spouse and hence are her assets. (However if some of the property of #5 will be chopped between both of you, then you would need to consult your attorney on if you should list any of that estimation of value.)

Again, hard to answer your post without being able to see what documents the attorney has given you to fill out....but hopefully you have a friendly attorney that will be glad to guide you through the process and clear up any questions you have along the way.

 

[FinNovice]

Hi, Tony (you said your not an acct or atty ? Anyway, here is a template form that resembles what I've been asked to fill out. What are your thoughts on that? Many thanks!

https://www.nycourts.gov/forms/matrimonial/networth.pdf

 

[Tempe Tony]

1. As for my background: I'm a simple man essentially, LOL. I'm far from an attorney, nor do I have any knowledge of law practices. I do have an interest in personal budgeting though (in fact, I kept a very detailed personal budget from 2014 to 2017 to get a hold on my finances; very similar to sections II and III of the PDF). And, I received a bachelor's in accounting in 2018, but so far have not re-entered that career (I did light accounting jobs some years back).

2. As for my thoughts, WOW that sure is dizzying.....LOTS OF INFO REQUIRED. Now I can say for sure the court & attorney is asking for BOTH an income statement (calculated in sections 2 and 3) and also net worth statement (sections 4 & 5).

My guess is that your shared assets and liabilities will be hardest to list out. If you have a significant amount of them, maybe ask attorney if you could attached separate sheet(s) explaining the shared position of each.

I and others here can likely and gladly answer any other easy questions you have, but the drill-down detailed questions probably will need to be fielded to your local attorney.