Q: Am I able to serve the divorce petition and summons with the financial documents all together?

A: Yes, the financial disclosure documents and declaration can be served at same time as the summons and petition. Please see Family Code Section 2104(f), which states in pertinent part: "The petitioner shall serve the other party with the preliminary declaration of disclosure either concurrently with the petition for dissolution or legal separation, or within 60 days of filing the petition." The opposing party then has 60 days from service to prepare and serve their preliminary disclosures on you.

Page three of the income and expense declaration (I &E), item 12, asks you to list who is living with you. If, as you state, you moved back in with your parents, then you would certainly appear to be living with your parents and your parents living with you. Accordingly, your parents should be named. The more sensitive question is whether or not their income must be disclosed and that would seem to be a matter of relevance to the issue of child and spousal support. If relevant it would need to be disclosed to the Court and other party. If listed on the I & E, anyone who happens to be looking at the court case file and in particular the filed I & E form, would have access the information on the form. If your parents are concerned about having such private matters disclosed to the public via the information being shown on I & E which is filed with the Court and accordingly a public document, they could apply to the Court for an order deeming the I & E section 12 information about your parents' income redacted on the basis of privacy so that only the Court and the other party know their income. However, this assumes their income is relevant in your case and the facts do not necessarily reveal that to be the case. If they are not paying you money every month out of their earnings to support you or in return for work you are performing for them, and even if they are gifting you money every month to temporarily help you out , that alone does not necessarily make their income relevant to your support issues, because presumably your parents have no continuing obligation to gift you money next month or any of the other months that come and go in the future. Further, if your parents are allowing you to live there rent free, there is case law that supports the position that the Court can consider the fact that providing shelter rent free presumably lowers your expenses needed to survive each month, but the Court cannot consider the fair market rental value of living there rent free as income to you for purposes of calculating support. In sum, if it is important to your parents to maintain financial privacy and not disclose it in item 12, then you could object to disclosing their income on the filed I & E on the basis of relevancy and privacy, but if found to be relevant, that you would willingly provide the information in a separate writing, to the Court and other party to be kept confidential, while the filed writing would have the amounts redacted on privacy grounds. I would recommend that you consult with and/or retain an experienced family law litigator to help guide you in the process. Best of Luck.

A: Yes, you can serve the divorce petition and summons along with your financial documents all together. This approach can help keep your paperwork organized and ensure that all necessary information is provided to the other party at the same time.

When filling out the FL-150 form, you do not need to include your parents' income if you have moved back in with them and their income is not part of your household. Only include the income of individuals directly involved in the divorce. Make sure to accurately report all relevant financial information related to you and your spouse.

If certain sections of the forms do not apply to your situation, you are allowed to leave them blank. However, it’s important to clearly mark those sections as not applicable to avoid any confusion. Always review the form instructions carefully and consider seeking legal advice if you have any uncertainties.