What is financial disclosure (Form E) in a divorce?

What does full and frank disclosure mean?

Each of you has a duty to give a "full, frank and clear disclosure" of your financial and other relevant circumstances. Those are the words at the start of Form E itself. Nothing relevant can be left out because it is awkward, held abroad, in a business or in someone else's name.

The duty is not a one-off. The pre-application protocol says it continues until a final financial order is made, so a new job, an inheritance or a change in a business's fortunes has to be updated.

It applies whether you end up in court or agree everything between you. A judge can only check that a settlement is fair if they know what there is to share.

What is in Form E?

Form E runs to about 28 pages. It asks for your personal details, then your capital, your income, your future needs and the order you want. The capital sections cover property, bank accounts, investments, life policies, debts, business interests and pensions. You also set out what you expect to need to live on, for yourself and any children with you.

The form lists the documents you must attach, including:

• statements for the last 12 months for every bank, building society and National Savings account you have held or had an interest in
• any valuation of the family home or other property from the last six months, and a recent mortgage statement for each
• business accounts for the last two financial years, plus any evidence of what the business is worth
• a recent cash equivalent valuation for each pension
• for employees, your last P60, last three payslips and any P11D
• for the self-employed, your last tax assessment or an accountant's letter confirming your tax

You sign a statement of truth. The form warns that a false statement can lead to contempt of court proceedings, and deliberate dishonesty to a prosecution for fraud.

Do you need a Form E if you agree?

Form E is compulsory once either of you applies to court for a financial order with Form A. You have to attend a mediation information meeting (MIAM) first, unless an exemption such as domestic abuse applies.

If you are sorting things out through mediation, solicitors or between yourselves, you still have to disclose. The protocol encourages couples to use Form E as a guide for that voluntary exchange, and many mediators and solicitors ask for it anyway because it is thorough.

When you do agree, you ask the court to make it binding with a consent order. You send the draft order with a statement of information on Form D81, a much shorter summary of both your finances. The court fee is £62. Each of you signs to confirm you have read the other's statement, and a judge approves the order only if they think it is fair.

When is Form E due?

In court proceedings in England and Wales, the timetable is set by Part 9 of the Family Procedure Rules:

1. After Form A is filed, the court fixes a First Appointment between 12 and 16 weeks later.
2. Anyone with pension rights must ask each scheme for a valuation within 7 days of being told the First Appointment date.
3. At least 35 days before the First Appointment, you both exchange Form E at the same time and file it with the court.
4. At least 14 days before, each of you files a short statement of the issues, a chronology and a questionnaire asking for anything missing from the other's disclosure.

Exchanging at the same time stops either of you shaping your form around the other's. The questionnaire stage is where gaps and unanswered questions get chased.

How are pensions disclosed?

Pensions are often the largest asset after the home, and sometimes larger. For each one you give a cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) from the scheme. If a valuation has not arrived yet, you attach a copy of your letter asking for it.

Where a pension sharing or attachment order might be made, the schemes also need to provide details on Form P, the pension inquiry form. A CETV is a starting point rather than the full picture, particularly for final salary schemes, so it is worth understanding what each figure does and does not show.

What happens if someone hides assets?

An order made on false or incomplete information can be set aside. In 2015 the Supreme Court decided two cases on the same day. In Sharland a husband had given misleading evidence about plans to float his company, and in Gohil a husband had failed to disclose his finances. In both, the wife's challenge to an agreed order succeeded. The court confirmed that the duty of full and frank disclosure applies to agreed orders just as much as to contested ones.

If you suspect assets are missing, the questionnaire stage lets you ask for specific documents. Unexplained transfers, cash withdrawals or a business that suddenly looks less profitable are common things to query. A solicitor can advise on what the court can order, and a forensic accountant is sometimes used where a business is involved.

Key deadlines and court fees (England and Wales)

Source: Family Procedure Rules Part 9 and GOV.UK

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