The Indiana Financial Declaration Form is a sworn financial statement that each party in a divorce, legal separation, or paternity case fills out, exchanges with the other side, and files with the court. Indiana judges use it to calculate child support, divide marital property, and decide spousal maintenance. The form asks for exact dollar figures on income, living expenses, assets, and debts, so completing it accurately means pulling your paperwork together before you start typing.
Where to Get the Form
The Verified Financial Declaration Form is available as a PDF from the Indiana state forms portal at forms.in.gov.1Indiana State Government. Financial Statement Many counties post their own version. Allen County, for example, links to the form with separate completion instructions on its family law forms page.2Allen Circuit Court. Family Law Forms Your county clerk’s office can hand you a paper copy. Layout varies slightly county to county; the substance does not.
Documents to Gather First
The form demands exact numbers across dozens of lines. Guesswork undermines your credibility and can be contradicted later by the records you were supposed to work from. Pull these together before you start:
- Recent pay stubs showing year-to-date gross pay, tax withholdings, and voluntary deductions. If you are self-employed, bring profit-and-loss statements and your most recent business tax returns.
- Federal and state tax returns for the prior three years, including all schedules and W-2s.
- Award letters for Social Security, disability, unemployment, or public assistance.
- Current statements for every checking, savings, and certificate-of-deposit account, plus brokerage statements and the most recent statement for any retirement account (401(k), IRA, pension).
- Mortgage statements, vehicle loan contracts, credit card bills, and student loan documents showing monthly payment and remaining balance.
- Health insurance premium breakdowns, especially the cost of covering children only, plus any life insurance policy with a cash surrender value.
- Deeds, vehicle titles, and appraisals for real estate or other high-value property.
Filling Out the Form, Section by Section
Preliminary Information and Health Insurance
The top of the form collects identifying details: your name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, occupation, and employer. You also list each child’s name, age, date of birth, and Social Security number. The health insurance section asks for the insurer, who is covered, and two separate premium figures: the total weekly premium and the weekly cost of covering children only.3Indiana State Government. Financial Declaration Form – State of Indiana The children-only figure feeds directly into the child support calculation.4Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Court Child Support Rules and Guidelines – Section: Guideline 3
Income
Courts scrutinize this section most heavily, because weekly gross income is the starting point for child support under the Indiana Child Support Guidelines.5Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Indiana Child Support Guidelines – Guideline 3A The form breaks income into categories: salary and wages (including commissions, bonuses, and overtime), pensions and retirement income, Social Security, disability and unemployment, public assistance, child support received from other cases, dividends and interest, rental income, and other sources.
Below the income section, list your itemized weekly payroll deductions: federal and state taxes, Social Security and Medicare, union dues, retirement contributions, existing child support withholdings, and garnishments. The form subtracts total deductions from gross income to produce weekly disposable income. These payroll deductions are not the same adjustments used on the Child Support Obligation Worksheet, which reduces gross income only by a subsequent-children credit, court-ordered support for prior-born children, a legal-duty-of-support credit for prior-born children without a court order, and maintenance paid.4Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Court Child Support Rules and Guidelines – Section: Guideline 3
The form also asks for your employment history over the past five years. If you recently left a higher-paying job, expect the other side to argue voluntary underemployment.
Monthly Living Expenses
Give a line-by-line breakdown of your household costs: housing (mortgage or rent, utilities, property taxes, insurance, maintenance), groceries, clothing, out-of-pocket health care, transportation (car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance), school expenses, child care, and miscellaneous items like cell phone service, entertainment, and credit card minimum payments. Use monthly averages rather than one unusual month. The court compares these figures against your reported income when it evaluates maintenance requests and tests whether your claimed expenses are reasonable.
Property and Debts
List every asset you and your spouse own, titled jointly or individually. For each item, provide a description, when it was acquired, whose name is on the title, fair market value, and any lien that reduces equity. Real estate entries typically need a legal description. Vehicles need year, make, model, and current value. Retirement accounts need the present balance and any outstanding loans against them. Household goods, jewelry, and other personal property get their own lines.
Debts follow the same structure: creditor name, original amount, current balance, monthly payment, and which spouse is responsible. Include mortgages, vehicle loans, student loans, credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans.
Signing Under Oath
You sign under penalties of perjury. A false material statement is a Level 6 felony under Indiana Code 35-44.1-2-1, prosecuted as a separate criminal case from the divorce itself.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 35 Article 44.1 Chapter 2 – Section 35-44.1-2-1 Compare every number on the form against your supporting documents before you sign.
County Deadlines for Exchange
Local rules set when the completed form must change hands, and the window varies. Hamilton County requires exchange within 30 days of a new case or modification petition.7Hamilton County, IN. Family Law Rules – Section: LR29-FL00-402 Floyd County allows 45 days.8Indiana State Government. Floyd County Local Family Rules of Practice – Section: LR22-FR00-302 In Marion County, the petitioner must attach the completed form when serving the summons and appearance, so it has to be ready at filing.9Marion Superior Court. Marion County Local Court Rules – Section: LR49-FR00-502 Check your county’s local family rules for the exact deadline. Missing it can draw sanctions or lead the court to draw negative inferences about your finances.
Redacting Confidential Information
The declaration contains data you do not want in a public court file. Indiana’s Rules on Access to Court Records require you to redact complete Social Security numbers and full account numbers from any publicly filed document. Only the last four digits of each may appear.10Indiana Judicial Branch. Order Creating Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records – Section: Rule 5
When the court needs the full numbers, Indiana uses a two-copy system. On paper, the version with confidential information is printed on green paper and filed alongside a redacted white-paper version. When e-filing, you upload the unredacted copy as a confidential document and the redacted copy as a public document. Either way, you file a separate form identifying what was excluded and the rule authorizing exclusion.10Indiana Judicial Branch. Order Creating Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records – Section: Rule 5 The LaPorte County dissolution checklist spells out which items go on green paper: Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, tax records, and medical records.11LaPorte County Judiciary. Dissolution of Marriage Checklist
Filing and Serving the Completed Form
Once signed, the form goes to the Clerk of the Court in the county where your case is pending. Indiana courts use the Indiana E-Filing System (IEFS); electronically filed documents are treated as official court records.12Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure – Rule 86 Self-represented litigants who are not registered IEFS users can file paper copies at the clerk’s window.
You must also serve a copy on the opposing party. Indiana Trial Rule 5 requires service of every pleading filed after the original complaint, and the financial declaration qualifies.13Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure – Rule 5 If the other party is a registered e-filer, service through the IEFS counts. Otherwise, you deliver a copy by mail or hand delivery and file a proof of service with the clerk. Skipping this step can delay hearings or lead the court to exclude your financial evidence.
Hamilton County requires both parties to submit their declarations as an exhibit immediately before any contested hearing on child support, property division, or maintenance.7Hamilton County, IN. Family Law Rules – Section: LR29-FL00-402 Bring a current copy to the hearing even if you exchanged the form weeks earlier.
Updating the Declaration After You File
Your obligation to provide accurate financial information does not end when you file. Indiana Trial Rule 26(E) requires you to supplement prior discovery responses when you learn a response was incorrect when made, or when a correct response has become untrue and failing to update it would amount to knowing concealment.14Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure – Rule 26 – Section: Supplementation of Responses A raise, a job loss, a new debt, or the sale of an asset can all trigger that duty. File an amended or supplemental declaration promptly. Waiting until after the court enters a support order risks back-dated adjustments and sanctions for the gap.
What Happens If You Leave Things Out or Lie
If you hide assets or understate income, the judge can deviate from the presumptive equal property split and award a larger share to the honest spouse. Indiana Code 31-15-7-5 makes a party’s conduct regarding property disposition an explicit factor in dividing assets, and deliberate concealment is the kind of conduct that moves the needle.
A court can also hold you in contempt for violating disclosure requirements. Contempt carries fines and potential jail time, and the judge may order you to pay the attorney fees the other side spent uncovering what you hid. Because the form is signed under oath, false statements separately expose you to a perjury prosecution under IC 35-44.1-2-1.15Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 35 Article 44.1 Chapter 2 – Section 35-44.1-2-1
Even without intentional fraud, incomplete answers cause problems. A judge working from a half-finished financial picture may set child support too low or approve a settlement that short-changes one side. When the missing information surfaces later, the aggrieved party can move to set aside the judgment and restart litigation everyone thought was done.