What financial disclosure involves
Divorce financial disclosure is the systematic collection of information about every asset and liability that forms part of your shared financial picture. At Fairway, this is not a generic process. Your Divorce Resolution Expert works from the customised checklist tailored to your situation, and guides each spouse through gathering and submitting their financial information category by category.
- real estate: the family home, any additional properties, cottages, or investment holdings, including current valuations and outstanding mortgages.
- bank accounts and bank statements, savings, and investment portfolios.
- registered assets such as RRSPs, TFSAs, LIRAs, and RRIFs.
- other assets such as vehicles and business interests, pension entitlements, deferred compensation, stock options
- any assets acquired before the marriage that may be excluded from property division or treated differently under the law.
- liabilities: mortgages, lines of credit, personal loans, credit card balances, and any other debts and expenses that form part of the picture.
The goal is not just completeness, but rather clarity. Both spouses, and their supporting experts, need to understand not just what exists but what each item is worth and what acquiring or relinquishing it actually means, both financially and practically.
Why full financial disclosure is required
Complete financial disclosure is not optional, and it is not negotiable. Any separation agreement or divorce settlement reached without it is vulnerable. Agreements built on incomplete information can be challenged long after the process is done. Hidden assets are a real risk in divorce proceedings, and proper disclosure is what eliminates that risk for both parties.
Fairway takes disclosure obligations seriously because the entire INR™ process depends on them. Without a thorough and accurate picture of the financial landscape, the consensus and division stages that follow cannot deliver a fair result. And a result that isn't fair is ultimately not in your best interest, even if both parties agreed to it at the time.
This is also one of the areas where Fairway's financial expertise makes a practical difference. Your Divorce Resolution Expert knows where gaps tend to appear. They know the questions to ask about pension structures that are more complex than they first appear. They know when a business interest warrants a formal valuation. They know how to work through situations where one spouse has limited visibility into the finances and needs more time and support to understand what they are looking at. With over 8,000 cases across Canada, we know what may get missed, and we make sure it isn't.
