List Your Bank Accounts

Your net worth statement (also called an inventory) will include cash balances. These are checking accounts, savings accounts, travelers cheques and money market accounts. Gather up all the statements – either paper or online. Try to get all the statements as of the same date. But, a few days different one way or the other will be okay.

On your net worth statement, be sure to note the description of the account. For example, “Chase Checking 2345 Mary” would describe Mary’s Chase Bank checking account with an account number ending in 2345. Note the date of the statement. For example: “Balance as of January 14, 2009”.

You are going to want to periodically update these balances throughout your divorce process. However, don’t feel that you need to constantly update them. In a collaborative case, I will usually update the account balances prior to every or every other collaborative team meeting and whenever there has been a material deposit or payment, such as a deposited annual bonus or the payment of income tax.