New Hampshire Family Court Rule 1.25-A

New Hampshire Family Court Rule 1.25-A states that if you file a Petition for Divorce or a Parenting Petition you have to provide certain financial documents to the other side. When you’re involved in these cases, you will hear lawyers, clerks and judges refer to these documents simply as “1.25-A’s”. The list of what you need to provide is longer for a divorce than for a parenting case.

People are often frustrated by the fact that they are required to provide these documents to people with whom they have been in a relationship, often for many years. However, failure to provide this information can lead the court to hold you in default or deny you the opportunity to make arguments about child support and a division of assets and debts. The parties do have the right to limit the documents that they exchange with one another. However, that limitation has to be done by agreement. In other words, both sides have to agree on what part of Rule 1.25-A does not need to be complied with.

The documents that the rule requires individuals to exchange include bank and credit card statements, tax returns, information about ownership in a business, health insurance, retirement accounts and pensions. The one document that cannot be excluded by agreement is a financial affidavit. Neither a Petition for Divorce nor a Parenting Petition will become final until both parties have submitted a financial affidavit. That affidavit includes information about income, assets and debts.

Navigating the requirements of Rule 1.25-A can be frustrating. To help with the process, you may wish to contact an attorney who can guide you through it.