This form is not a prescribed form, but you may be directed to prepare one in your case. A balance sheet is used to list assets and liabilities held by parties. The balance sheet also includes add backs, financial resources and superannuation.
In order to prepare a Balance Sheet, you will need to itemise, describe and provide your value for each of your assets and liabilities.
If you are preparing a joint balance sheet, the other party will undertake the same process in the column next to your values. This document will highlight if there are any discrepancies in your respective values and the source of the discrepancies.
Tips for preparing a Balance Sheet:
- Only place your values under the heading relevant to you, as the adjacent column will be for the other party’s values.
- Provide current values. It is important that the Balance Sheet accurately reflects your current financial position. This means you will need to review your financial documents and provide the most recent values available to you.
- Provide evidence for your value. Where you have provided a value for an asset or liability that the other party does not have access to, such as a bank account in your sole name, you will need to provide them with a copy of the bank statement which corroborates the value you have given in accordance with your duty to provide full and frank disclosure.
- If you are unsure of the value of an asset, mark the asset ‘N.K’ for ‘Not Known’. This will identify the items that require financial disclosure from the other party or the items which require a formal valuation.
Keep your value for ‘Home Contents’ realistic. The value attributed to your Home Contents should reflect the resale value of your belongings which is likely to be less than their value when they were purchased.
