The Rhode Island DR-6 financial statement, formally the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, Income and Expenses, is a sworn disclosure you attach to specific motions and complaints in Family Court. To complete it, you pull together your income, asset, expense, and debt records; fill in the FC-5/DR-6 form section by section; sign it in front of a notary; and file it with your motion while serving a copy on the other party. Rules 64(b) and 64A(b) require the form whenever you move for temporary support, attorney’s fees, or a modification of alimony or child support, and the opposing party must file one too.1Rhode Island Judiciary. Family Court Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure
When the DR-6 Is Required
The DR-6 is not a standalone filing with its own deadline. It travels with specific documents. Rule 64(b) requires it as a supporting affidavit for any motion for temporary support or attorney’s fees. Rule 64A(b) requires it with a complaint to modify an existing alimony or support order.1Rhode Island Judiciary. Family Court Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure If the other side files one, you file your own in response.
If the filing party submits a DR-6 and the opposing party does not, Rule 1.20 of the Family Court Rules of Practice lets the filing party go forward with the hearing, though the court may extend the deadline for good cause.2Rhode Island Judiciary. Family Court Rules of Practice Not filing leaves the judge with only one side’s financial picture.
What to Gather Before You Start
The form asks for specific dollar figures across four areas. Guessing invites problems at the hearing when the other side challenges your numbers against bank records or pay stubs.
Income Records
Pull your most recent pay stubs showing gross pay, deductions, and net pay. If you earn income from more than one source, gather documentation for each: pension or retirement distributions, Social Security, disability or unemployment, public assistance, dividends and interest, rental income, and household contributions from others. Federal and state returns for the most recent year, plus all W-2s and 1099s, help verify annual income and catch items like bonuses or investment gains that a single pay stub won’t show.
Monthly Expenses
The form breaks expenses into detailed line items for housing, food, utilities, clothing, medical costs, transportation, and personal spending. Review three months of bank and credit card statements to calculate realistic monthly averages. Common entries include rent or mortgage, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, electricity, heating fuel, phone, groceries, car insurance, gas, vehicle maintenance, medical co-pays, prescriptions, and laundry. Any existing alimony or child support you pay from a prior order belongs here as well.
Assets
List every account under your control with its current value: checking, savings, credit union, and other deposit accounts, along with the highest balance over the last six months and the present balance. Stocks, bonds, and investment holdings go in a separate section, as do tangible personal property of significant value and any real estate you own. For retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans or IRAs, use the most recent quarterly statement. If you own a business or professional practice, the court may need a formal valuation rather than your own estimate.
Debts
Collect current statements for every outstanding debt: mortgage balances, auto loans (noting the year and make of the vehicle), student loans, credit card balances, personal loans, and any other obligations. Note the balance, interest rate, and minimum monthly payment for each. Verify figures against recent creditor statements rather than relying on memory.
Filling Out the Form
Download the current form from the Rhode Island Judiciary’s website. In the court’s electronic filing system it is designated FC-5/DR-6, and it is organized into sections covering gross income, payroll deductions, insurance coverage, property and assets, expenses, and debts.3Rhode Island Judiciary. The Family Court Electronic Filing System Guidelines For Domestic Relations Cases
Income and Deductions
Start with gross income from all sources, broken out by category: salary, wages, commissions, bonuses, and overtime first, then pensions, Social Security, disability or unemployment, public assistance, child or spousal support you receive, dividends and interest, net rental income, household contributions from others, and any other income. Total those for your gross income figure.
The deductions section covers everything taken from your paycheck: federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security (FICA), Rhode Island temporary disability insurance, health insurance premiums, life insurance premiums, union dues, retirement contributions, savings plan deductions, and other withholdings. Subtract total deductions from gross income for your net. Note your withholding status and the number of exemptions you claim.
Converting Pay Periods
The form needs figures in a consistent pay period. Weekly earners multiply gross weekly pay by 52 and divide by 12 for a monthly figure. Bi-weekly earners multiply by 26 and divide by 12. Semi-monthly earners (paid twice a month on set dates) double one check. Getting this wrong is one of the most common DR-6 errors, and it can make your income look significantly higher or lower than it is.
Insurance Coverage
List medical, dental, and life insurance plans by name. For life insurance, note the owner, named beneficiary, face amount, and cash surrender value. Life insurance with cash value counts as an asset the court can consider in property division.
Property and Assets
For each bank or financial account, provide the institution, account number, the highest balance over the past six months, and the present value. The highest-balance figure prevents a common tactic of moving money out of accounts right before filing. List stocks, bonds, tangible personal property (vehicles, jewelry, collectibles), and real estate at current market value. Cryptocurrency and other digital assets are treated as property and belong on the form at fair market value in U.S. dollars.4Internal Revenue Service. Digital Assets For retirement accounts, list the full current balance; the court decides how to divide them later, often through a Qualified Domestic Relations Order.5U.S. Department of Labor. QDROs Chapter 1 – Qualified Domestic Relations Orders an Overview
Expenses and Debts
Enter actual monthly spending on each expense line, not what you wish you spent. Judges can tell when someone inflates expenses to appear needier or deflates them to reduce a support obligation. Use your bank statements as a cross-check. For debts, enter the creditor, current balance, and payment amount for each obligation, including auto loans, mortgages, alimony, and child support.
Redacting Personal Information
Rhode Island Judiciary rules require you to redact personal identifying information from court filings. Include only the last four digits of Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, and financial account numbers.6Rhode Island Judiciary. Rhode Island Judiciary Rules of Practice Governing Public Access to Electronic Case Information Redaction is your responsibility, not the clerk’s. The DR-6 is marked confidential in the electronic filing system, which limits public access, but you still need to redact as required.3Rhode Island Judiciary. The Family Court Electronic Filing System Guidelines For Domestic Relations Cases
Signing Before a Notary
The DR-6 is a sworn statement. You sign under penalties of perjury, and the form includes a notarization block where a notary public witnesses your signature and administers the oath. Sign in front of the notary, not at your kitchen table. Many attorneys’ offices have a notary on staff, and banks, UPS stores, and town halls typically offer notary services for a small fee.
The oath has real consequences. Under Rhode Island law, perjury is punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment.7Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws 11-33-2 – Penalty for Perjury In child support cases, perjury or false swearing is specifically charged as a felony carrying the same maximum sentence. Hiding an investment account or understating income is a criminal act, and it can lead the court to reopen a finalized divorce decree.
Filing and Serving the DR-6
Rhode Island Family Court uses Tyler Technologies’ Odyssey File and Serve system for electronic filing.8Rhode Island Judiciary. Rhode Island Judiciary User Guide for Electronic Filing If you have an attorney, e-filing is mandatory. Upload the completed, signed, and notarized DR-6 as a PDF; the system generates a confirmation once the filing is accepted.
Self-represented litigants are not required to e-file. Under Article X, Rule 3(b) of the Supreme Court Rules Governing Electronic Filing, you may register for the system or file paper documents at the Family Court clerk’s office.9Rhode Island Judiciary. Article X Rules Governing Electronic Filing If you register, know that opting out later requires a motion and good cause, so don’t sign up unless you’re comfortable using it.
Filing with the court is only half the requirement. Serve a copy on the opposing party or their attorney. For attorneys and parties registered in Odyssey who have consented to electronic service, the system handles this automatically. For anyone not registered or not consenting, serve the document under the Family Court Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure.3Rhode Island Judiciary. The Family Court Electronic Filing System Guidelines For Domestic Relations Cases Keep proof of service. If the other side claims they never received your financial disclosure, that proof prevents delays at your hearing.
Updating the Form If Things Change
Your financial situation at the time of filing may not match what it looks like months later when the case reaches a hearing or trial. If your income changes significantly, you lose a job, receive a raise, or start a new business, file an updated DR-6. The same goes for acquiring or selling major assets, taking on new debt, or paying off existing obligations. An outdated financial statement invites the other party to challenge your credibility and ask the judge to draw unfavorable conclusions about what you might be hiding.
A judge who finds that a party’s financial picture has materially changed since the last DR-6 was filed, without an update, can impose sanctions including contempt, monetary penalties, and adverse inferences, meaning the court treats undisclosed assets as part of the marital estate. In serious cases, a court can reopen a finalized divorce decree if a party later discovers their former spouse concealed assets.
Mistakes That Cause Problems
The most frequent DR-6 errors are arithmetic and omission. Mishandling the pay-period conversion (using 4 instead of 4.33 weeks per month, or forgetting to annualize before dividing) throws off every income-based calculation. Leaving a bank account or credit card off the form, even by genuine oversight, invites the other party to argue you’re hiding assets.
Other common pitfalls:
- Forgetting irregular income. Bonuses, overtime, freelance payments, and rental income that doesn’t arrive monthly still need to be averaged into your figures.
- Listing joint debts incorrectly. If both spouses are legally liable on a mortgage or credit card, each party lists the full balance on their own DR-6, not half.
- Omitting digital assets. Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other blockchain holdings are property and must be reported at fair market value.
- Using stale numbers. A retirement statement from eight months ago does not reflect the current balance. Use the most recent available.
- Skipping the notary. An unsigned or un-notarized DR-6 is not a sworn statement, and the court can reject it.
Before filing, compare every entry on the form against the underlying document: pay stub, bank statement, loan balance, tax return. That final cross-check catches the small discrepancies that turn into big credibility problems at a hearing.