If this is about to be your first incursion into the family law system, in the state of Massachusetts, then you likely have no idea what this article is referring to, when it refers to “pink.” Whether you actually like pink as a color or not, get ready to hate it. Pink is the color of the paper on which the financial statements in all Massachusetts’ family law courts are printed on. Law firms that practice family law keep plenty of pink paper on hand, specifically for this purpose.

When you show up at a Massachusetts family court, you must always be prepared to provide the clerk an updated copy of your financial statement, and – of course – if you’ve prepared your financial statement ahead of time, it must be printed on pink paper. If you’ve hired an attorney, he or she will usually do this for you, and bring it along to provide the clerk. If you’re handling your matter pro se (meaning you are representing yourself), you will need to do this yourself. If you haven’t prepared it ahead of time, the clerk will provide you a pink form to fill out.

There are two versions of the financial statement, one is the “Short Form” and the other one is the dreaded “Long Form.” If your income equals or exceeds $75,000, you must fill out the Long Form. The Short Form is four pages long, and is relatively painless, compared to the Long Form. The Long Form is nine pages long, and is no fun. Your attorney, if you have one, will help guide you through filling out your financial statement.

The temptation many face, when filling out the financial statement, is to minimize their earnings, for obvious reasons. This is especially tempting, when it is obvious that the opposing party is lying about his or her earnings. This is a mistake, for many reasons. First of all, if you are employed as an employee of a company, the opposing party can subpoena your W-2 statement and earnings straight from the company you work for. Unless you can convince a judge to squash the subpoena, your company will have no choice but to comply. This means the opposing party will see exactly what you earn and if it differs from the amount you’ve posted on your financial statement, he or she will use it against you, in court. Second, if the opposing party is lying about his or her earnings, this can often be shown. If you or your attorney can establish that the opposing party is lying and you are not, things will go much better for you and much worse for the opposing party. Third, Attorneys are now required to sign financial statements, attesting that – to the attorney’s knowledge – the financial statement is accurate.

The fact that the family court now requires attorneys to sign these statements, as well, indicates how serious the court takes the accuracy of these statements. This makes sense, given that child support and many other matters of a financial nature are determined almost exclusively using these forms, unless and until other issues are raised.

While filling out these financial statements is even less fun than filing your taxes, if you have a matter pending in family court, get ready to do it each time you appear in court. As was already noted, hiring counsel can make the entire process much, much easier. Still, get ready to hate pink, either way!