Question
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Question of the week

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04 June 2021

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Family Law
Federal

Asked

Property settlement - Disclosure - Bank statements and tax returns

In property settlement negotiations, how many years back can a demand be made for bank statements and tax returns?

Answered

Thank you for the question.

The obligation to provide disclosure extends to all information relevant to a case: r 13.01 of the Family Law Rules 2004. What is relevant depends on the particular case and the issues at hand. A common starting point is the last 1 to 3 years of bank statements and tax returns. Again this depends on the case. For instance, if the parties have only been separated for 6 months and all accounts are joint accounts, then the last 3 years is unlikely to be required.

As the duty to disclose continues until the case is finalised, further documents may be requested if the initial disclosure raises questions and further investigations are required: r 13.01(2).

Regards

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