How to Complete California Divorce Form FL-140: Declaration of Disclosure

The California FL-140 Declaration of Disclosure is a one-page cover sheet you serve on your spouse during a divorce, legal separation, or annulment, identifying which financial documents you are handing over as part of the mandatory disclosure. You fill in the case caption, check whether the disclosure is preliminary or final, check the boxes for each attachment included, sign under penalty of perjury, and serve the packet on your spouse. The FL-140 itself never goes into the court file; only the proof of service does.

Gather Your Financial Records First

The FL-140 is a cover sheet. It does not ask for a single dollar amount. The work is in the attachments, so pull the documents together before you open the form.

California Family Code Section 2104 requires each spouse to disclose every asset and liability they have or may have an interest in, whether the property is community or separate, and to include copies of tax returns from the two years before the date of service.¹

At a minimum, collect:

The last two years of federal and state tax returns. If you only have electronic copies of a jointly filed return, request duplicates from your preparer or order transcripts from irs.gov.²
Deeds, current mortgage statements, and any recent appraisals for real property.
Recent statements for every checking, savings, certificate of deposit, brokerage, and cryptocurrency account.
Current statements for 401(k) plans, IRAs, pensions, and deferred compensation.
Credit card statements, personal loan documents, car loan payoffs, student loans, and any tax liens or judgments.
Recent pay stubs (typically the last two months) and, if you are self-employed, a profit-and-loss statement or Schedule C for each business.³

If either spouse owns an interest in a closely held business, expect to gather formation documents, operating or buy-sell agreements, three to five years of financial statements, and corporate tax returns as well.

Filling Out the FL-140

Download the current FL-140 from the California Courts website.⁴

Start with the caption at the top: your name and your spouse’s name, the county superior court, and the case number. Check the box for whether this is a preliminary or final declaration of disclosure. Then check the box next to each document you are including in the packet: the Income and Expense Declaration, the Schedule of Assets and Debts or Property Declaration, tax returns, and any other documents you are serving. Sign and date at the bottom under penalty of perjury.⁵

Do not file the FL-140 with the court. You serve it on your spouse with the attachments, and only the FL-141 proof of service goes into the court file.

The Required Attachments

Two forms carry the actual financial information.

Schedule of Assets and Debts (FL-142) or Property Declaration (FL-160)

You must use either FL-142 or FL-160 to list what you own and owe. FL-160 can also be attached to a petition or response and filed with the court, which is why some people prefer it.⁶ FL-142 is the more traditional choice and walks you through each entry column by column.

On the FL-142, each asset gets a numbered row with these columns:⁷

Item number for easy reference.
Description that clearly identifies the asset (the address of a house, the name and account number of a bank account, the make and model of a vehicle).
Separate property designation: mark “P” for petitioner or “R” for respondent if you believe the asset belongs to one spouse alone.
Date acquired, which matters for distinguishing community from separate property.
Current gross fair market value — what the asset is worth today, not what you paid.
Amount owed on any mortgage, loan, or lien.

Debts go in a separate section with columns for the creditor, whether the debt is separate property, the total amount, and the date incurred. Values reflect the date you sign unless you specify a different valuation date. Use continuation sheets numbered to match the original item if you run out of space.⁷

Income and Expense Declaration (FL-150)

The FL-150 captures monthly income and expenses: wages, self-employment earnings, investment income, government benefits, and monthly obligations for housing, food, transportation, and insurance. Self-employed spouses attach their most recent tax return (including Schedule C) and a current profit-and-loss statement for each business.³ Black out any Social Security numbers on tax returns before handing them over.

The balance you list for a bank account on FL-142 should match the most recent statement you serve. Conflicting numbers invite questions or accusations that you are hiding something.

Preliminary vs. Final: When Each Is Served

California requires two rounds of disclosure.

Preliminary Declaration

The petitioner must serve the preliminary disclosure with the petition or within 60 days of filing it. The respondent has the same window — with the response or within 60 days of filing it.¹ The deadlines can be extended by written agreement or court order. Missing them does not end the case, but the court cannot enter a final judgment while disclosure is outstanding.

One narrow exception: if the petitioner served the summons and petition by publication or posting and the respondent has defaulted, the petitioner’s preliminary disclosure is not required.⁸ In every other situation, including true defaults after personal service, the petitioner still must serve the preliminary disclosure.

Final Declaration

Before signing a settlement agreement, or no later than 45 days before the first trial date, each spouse must serve a final declaration of disclosure with a current FL-150.⁹ The final round updates the preliminary: current characterization of each asset and liability, updated valuations for community property, current debt balances, and current income and expenses.

Waiving the Final Disclosure

Many couples skip the final disclosure by mutual agreement using Form FL-144 (Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure), signed by both spouses and filed with the court.¹⁰ The waiver is not a shortcut around disclosure itself. Both spouses must have already exchanged preliminary declarations, and each certifies under penalty of perjury on the FL-144 that they have fully updated the preliminary disclosures with all material facts about characterization, valuation, community debts, and current income and expenses. The form also warns that if those obligations were not actually met, the court will set the judgment aside.¹¹

How to Serve the Packet

The disclosure packet (FL-140 plus attachments) goes to the other spouse or their attorney, not to the court. That keeps sensitive financial details out of the public file.⁵ Service can be done in person, by mail, or electronically.²

When both spouses are cooperating on a settlement, they can serve each other directly unless the court has ordered otherwise. In a contentious case, having a third party over 18 handle service is safer, because it removes any dispute about whether the documents were delivered.²

Filing the FL-141 Proof of Service

After serving the disclosure, file Form FL-141 (Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure) with the court clerk. This one-page form tells the judge you completed or waived the preliminary or final disclosure. Do not attach the FL-140 or any of the supporting documents; the court’s instructions explicitly say not to file the disclosure documents themselves.¹²

The court will not sign a final judgment until both parties have filed an FL-141 confirming the required disclosures were exchanged. This is the most common procedural hangup in uncontested divorces. If you waived the final disclosure, file the FL-144 with your FL-141.

Penalties for Incomplete or False Disclosure

If you fail to comply with any disclosure requirement, the court must impose monetary sanctions, including the other side’s attorney’s fees and costs, unless your noncompliance was substantially justified or sanctions would be unjust. The statute uses “shall,” so the judge has no discretion to let it slide.¹³

If a judgment is entered while either party has failed to meet the disclosure requirements, the court must set that judgment aside. Failure to disclose is not harmless error, and a divorce decree built on incomplete disclosures can be unwound entirely.¹³ A spouse who discovers perjury in the disclosures or fraud that kept them from participating has one year from the date of discovery to move to set aside the judgment; claims based on duress or mental incapacity carry a two-year window from the date the judgment was entered.¹⁴

Where a spouse deliberately hides a community asset, California Family Code Section 1101(h) allows the court to award 100 percent of the concealed asset to the other spouse, though the injured spouse must prove with clear and convincing evidence that the concealment involved oppression, fraud, or malice.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2104
2
The Family Law Facilitator. The Declaration of Disclosure
3
Ventura County Superior Court. Income and Expense Declaration Instructions
4
California Courts. Declaration of Disclosure FL-140
5
Judicial Council of California. FL-140 Declaration of Disclosure
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Judicial Council of California. Property Declaration (Family Law) FL-160
7
Judicial Council of California. FL-142 Schedule of Assets and Debts
8
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 2110
9
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 2105
10
California Courts. Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure FL-144
11
Judicial Council of California. FL-144 Stipulation and Waiver of Final Declaration of Disclosure
12
Judicial Council of California. FL-141 Declaration Regarding Service of Declaration of Disclosure and Income and Expense Declaration
13
California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 2107
14
California Courts. Legal Reasons a Judge Can Set Aside an Order or Judgment