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From today on, keep and scan your pay stubs, bank statements, credit card statements, investment statements and mortgage statements. These records become important as the case goes on, and having easy access to them saves time and money later.
What to keep
- Income: pay stubs, bonus and commission statements, and profit and loss statements if you are self-employed.
- Tax returns: your federal and state returns for at least the last two years, with all schedules and W-2s or 1099s.
- Accounts: checking, savings, brokerage and investment statements.
- Retirement: 401(k), IRA and pension statements.
- Debts: credit card, car loan, student loan and line of credit statements.
- Real estate: mortgage statements, deeds, and closing statements from any purchase or refinance.
- Monthly expenses: rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, child care, school and medical costs. These support your Income and Expense Declaration.
Key dates
Statements from around the date of marriage and the date of separation are especially important. They help show what was separate property, what was community property, and how much each account was worth at each point.
Separate property
If you owned property before the marriage, or received a gift or inheritance during it, keep the documents that show where the money came from and where it went. Tracing separate property often depends on records that are years old.
How to organize
- Scan everything and keep one folder per account, with files named by month (for example, "Chase Checking 2026-03").
- Keep a simple list of every account: the institution, the last four digits, and whose name it is in.
- Do not throw anything away, even if it seems unimportant.
- Keep your records somewhere your spouse cannot access, and change passwords to accounts that are yours alone.
Family Code §§ 760, 770, 2100–2107
This guide is general information about California family law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case is different.