How to complete a Form 13 financial statement in Ontario

If your Ontario family case involves support or property, you will be told to complete a Form 13 or Form 13.1 financial statement — a sworn account of your income, expenses, assets, and debts. It is the document your whole case runs on, and getting it wrong, or leaving things off, causes more damage than almost anything else you do. This is how to complete it properly.

Form 13 vs Form 13.1 — which one you need

The most common mistake is filing the wrong form. The difference is simple: it depends on whether property is on the table.

	Form 13	Form 13.1
Full name	Financial Statement (Support Claims)	Financial Statement (Property and Support)
Use it when	Your case is about support only — child support, spousal support, or both	Your case involves property or equalization, with or without support
What it covers	Income, expenses, and a summary of assets and debts	Everything in Form 13, plus a full net family property calculation
Married or common-law	Either	Usually married couples, because equalization applies to marriage

If you are married and dividing property, it is almost always Form 13.1. If you are common-law or the only issue is support, it is usually Form 13. When you are unsure, confirm before you spend hours on the wrong one.

Step 1 — Confirm which form your case needs

Look at what is actually being claimed. If any claim touches property, equalization, or the matrimonial home, you need Form 13.1. If the only claims are child or spousal support, Form 13 is enough. The court document that started your case — or your first court date notice — will list the claims. Match the form to them.

Step 2 — Download the current form

Get the form from the Ontario Court Forms website — these forms exist under Ontario's Family Law Rules. Always download a fresh copy rather than reusing an old file — the forms are updated, and an out-of-date version can be rejected. Use the fillable version so your numbers are legible.

Step 3 — Gather your documents before you type a number

Do not fill the form from memory. Pull the paper first, because every figure you enter should trace to a document:

• Your last three years of income tax returns and notices of assessment.
• Recent pay stubs, or if you are self-employed, your business financial records.
• Bank, investment, and pension statements.
• The mortgage statement and a sense of the home's value.
• Loan, credit-card, and line-of-credit balances.

Assembling this well is the real work, and it is where cases are won or lost. Financial disclosure in an Ontario separation explains why the documents matter more than the arguments.

Step 4 — Complete your income

Enter your income from all sources, using your actual figures. The form asks you to show your income a few ways, including your gross annual income — the same line that drives child support. Be accurate and consistent with your tax returns. If your income changed recently, use current figures and be ready to explain the change. Understating income here is the fastest way to lose credibility with a judge.

Step 5 — Complete your expenses

List your monthly expenses honestly — housing, food, transportation, the children's costs, insurance, debt payments. The goal is a true picture of what your life costs, not a number engineered to help your position. Inflated or invented expenses are easy to spot and hurt you.

Step 6 — Complete your assets and debts

List what you own and what you owe. On Form 13.1 this is the detailed part: you value your property at three points — the date you married, the date you separated (the valuation date), and today — so the court can calculate net family property and the equalization payment. Be thorough. Assets you leave off do not disappear; they surface later and cost you your credibility. If you want to understand how these numbers turn into a payment, equalization and dividing property in Ontario walks through the math. To see roughly where your support numbers land while you gather all this, run the free calculator.

Step 7 — Swear or affirm, then serve and file

The financial statement is sworn. You sign it in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits — a lawyer, a court clerk, or another authorized person — who confirms you swore or affirmed that its contents are true. Then you serve a copy on the other party and file it with the court, with proof of service, by your deadline. Keep a complete copy for yourself, including every attachment.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Filing Form 13 when property is in play and you needed Form 13.1.
• Filling it from memory instead of from documents.
• Understating income or leaving assets off — the single fastest way to lose a judge's trust.
• Inflating expenses to shape a support number.
• Missing the valuation-date figures on Form 13.1.
• Signing it without a commissioner, or filing without proof of service.
• Treating it as a rough draft. It is a sworn document, and updates require a fresh, sworn version.

When to get help

You can complete a financial statement yourself, and many people do. Get help when the numbers are complex — a business, a professional practice, multiple properties, hidden or disputed assets, or a spouse you suspect is not disclosing fully. In those cases a family lawyer or an accountant is worth the cost, because an error in a sworn document is expensive to fix. Form 13 and 13.1 are not the only court forms a separation needs, either — which family court forms you need maps the full set so you are not caught short.

Take the financial statement seriously and it does its job: it gives the court an honest, complete picture and keeps your credibility intact. Cut corners on it and you hand the other side an easy way to undermine everything else you say.