Connecticut’s JD-FM-6-LONG financial affidavit is the sworn financial statement you file in family court when your gross annual income or your total assets reach $75,000 or more. Judges use the numbers on this form to set alimony, calculate child support, and divide marital property, so every figure carries the weight of testimony under oath. Filing the wrong version, leaving lines blank, or reporting stale numbers can delay your case, hurt your credibility, or expose you to sanctions.
Who Has to Use the Long Form
Connecticut Practice Book Section 25-30 draws the line between the short and long affidavits. You must use the JD-FM-6-LONG if your gross annual income from all sources is $75,000 or more, or if your total assets are $75,000 or more.1Connecticut Judicial Branch. Connecticut Practice Book Parties below both thresholds file the short form, JD-FM-6-SHORT.2Connecticut Judicial Branch. Financial Affidavit JD-FM-6-SHORT
The asset side catches people whose paychecks stay modest. Home equity, retirement balances, and investment accounts add up, and once the total crosses $75,000 the long form applies even if your income is well below the cutoff. Check both numbers before you start.
Reporting Income and Deductions
Section I of the form asks for gross weekly income from every source: base wages, overtime, commissions, bonuses, tips, rental receipts, interest, dividends, and government benefits. If you are paid on any schedule other than weekly, convert. Biweekly pay gets divided by two. Monthly income gets multiplied by 12 and then divided by 52.3Connecticut Judicial Branch. JD-FM-6-LONG Financial Affidavit
From gross weekly income, the form subtracts mandatory deductions to arrive at net weekly income. Only seven categories count: federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security or mandatory retirement contributions, Medicare, health insurance premiums, union dues, and existing court-ordered child support or alimony.4Judicial Branch of the State of Connecticut. JD-FM-6-LONG Financial Affidavit Voluntary 401(k) contributions, charitable giving, and gym memberships withheld from your paycheck do not go here.
Keep recent pay stubs and tax returns beside you as you work. When overtime or withholdings shift paycheck to paycheck, the form directs you to report average amounts. Rounding in your favor is exactly the discrepancy opposing counsel will flag.
Converting Expenses to Weekly Amounts
Every expense line has to be expressed weekly. The form gives you the formulas: divide biweekly expenses by two, multiply monthly expenses by 12 and divide by 52, and divide annual expenses by 52.3Connecticut Judicial Branch. JD-FM-6-LONG Financial Affidavit Do not divide monthly bills by four. A year is 52.14 weeks, not 48, and the shortcut understates your true weekly cost.
Expect granularity. Housing splits into mortgage or rent, property taxes, and homeowner’s insurance. Utilities, groceries, transportation, clothing, medical co-pays, and childcare each have their own lines. Expenses that hit once or twice a year, like car registration or an annual insurance premium, should be averaged using the annual-to-weekly formula. The court wants an honest picture of what your life actually costs across the year, not a snapshot of this month’s bills.
Listing Assets and Liabilities
The asset section calls for specific valuations. Real estate gets both fair market value and outstanding mortgage balance. Bank and investment accounts use the most recent statement balance. Retirement accounts need current values even when you cannot touch the money without penalty. Business interests and vehicles get their own entries.
Liabilities matter just as much. Credit card balances, auto loans, student loans, personal loans, and tax debts all get listed with current balances and minimum weekly payments. Judges consider the full debt picture alongside income and assets, and omitting a liability to appear more stable will unravel the moment the other side pulls your credit report.
Digital holdings belong here too. Cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens are treated as property for tax and legal purposes.5Internal Revenue Service. Digital Assets Report them at fair market value in U.S. dollars as of the date you complete the affidavit. The IRS expects records showing the type of asset, date acquired, number of units, fair market value, and cost basis, and the court will want the same detail if your holdings are contested.
Every line has to be completed. If a category does not apply, enter zero rather than leaving it blank. A blank line reads as skipped; a zero shows you considered the category and had nothing to report. Check your arithmetic before signing. Errors that inflate net income or deflate expenses can move support calculations by hundreds of dollars a month, and you are held to personal knowledge of every figure on the page.
Signing Before an Authorized Officer
You cannot sign the affidavit at your kitchen table. It must be signed in front of someone authorized to administer oaths: a notary public, a clerk of the court, or a commissioner of the superior court. Under Connecticut General Statutes Section 51-85, every attorney admitted to practice in Connecticut is automatically a commissioner of the superior court and can administer oaths.6FindLaw. Connecticut General Statutes Title 51 Courts 51-85 Any Connecticut lawyer in good standing can witness your signature, whether or not they represent you.
The certification you sign states that the information is complete, true, and accurate, and that willful misrepresentation can bring sanctions and criminal charges.3Connecticut Judicial Branch. JD-FM-6-LONG Financial Affidavit7Justia Law. Connecticut General Statutes 53a-156 – Perjury Class D Felony
Filing Deadlines, Service, and Updates
Practice Book Section 25-30(a) requires each party to file the financial affidavit at least five days before any hearing on alimony, support, or counsel fees. When the case is moving toward a final decree of dissolution, legal separation, or annulment, both parties must file sworn financial statements within 30 days before the decree date unless the judge orders otherwise.1Connecticut Judicial Branch. Connecticut Practice Book
Once notarized, the affidavit goes to the court clerk in the judicial district where your case is pending. Connecticut’s Judicial Branch runs electronic filing for family matters, open to both attorneys and self-represented parties.8Connecticut Judicial Branch. E-Services Paper filing at the courthouse is also available. Either way, a copy has to be served on the opposing party or their attorney so both sides come into the hearing with the same numbers.
If your finances shift meaningfully after you file, submit an updated affidavit. Courts expect refreshed numbers before depositions, hearings on financial motions, trial, and the final dissolution. Stale figures invite the judge to draw negative inferences about what you might be hiding, and if you spot a mistake on a filed version, replace it promptly rather than wait for the other side to raise it.
What Inaccurate or Incomplete Disclosure Costs
Beyond perjury exposure for outright falsehoods, Connecticut courts have wide authority to punish parties who hide or waste marital assets. Under Connecticut General Statutes Section 46b-81, a judge can consider dissipation of marital assets when dividing property, and courts have reattributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the offending spouse’s column when dissipation is proven.9Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries. Discovery in Family Matters
A party who ignores discovery obligations also risks having their evidence excluded at trial. If you refuse to produce financial records, the judge can bar you from introducing any evidence within the scope of what you failed to disclose. That can be devastating when you are arguing for a favorable property split or a lower support obligation. A motion for contempt is also on the table for violating the automatic orders that freeze assets during a divorce.
Tax Consequences the Numbers Drive
The financial picture on the affidavit feeds court orders that carry real tax consequences. Knowing them before you negotiate keeps you from agreeing to a deal that looks even on paper but is lopsided after tax.
Alimony
For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not deductible by the payer and not taxable income to the recipient.10Internal Revenue Service. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes The rule, from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, applies to all new agreements finalized in 2026. If your case modifies a pre-2019 agreement, the original tax treatment can survive unless the modification specifically adopts the new rules.
Property Transfers Between Spouses
Under 26 U.S.C. Section 1041, transferring property to a spouse or former spouse as part of a divorce triggers no taxable gain or loss at the time of transfer, and the recipient takes the property at the transferor’s original cost basis.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce The practical effect matters. A $400,000 house with a $200,000 basis is not the same as $400,000 in cash; the recipient inherits the tax bill on the built-in gain. The transfer must happen within one year after the marriage ends, or be related to the divorce, to qualify. Transfers to a nonresident alien spouse do not qualify.
Retirement Account Division
Dividing a qualified retirement plan takes a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO. This court order directs the plan administrator to pay a share of the participant’s benefits to the other spouse. The recipient reports the distributions as their own income and can roll the funds into their own retirement account tax-free.12Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO Qualified Domestic Relations Order Without a valid QDRO, the account holder can be hit with taxes and early withdrawal penalties on distributions meant for the other spouse. If retirement accounts are a meaningful line on your affidavit, getting the QDRO right is not optional.