If you’re going through a divorce in Hawaii, one of the first substantive documents you’ll be asked to complete is the Asset and Debt Statement. It may look like just more paperwork. It isn’t. It’s a sworn financial disclosure, and how carefully you fill it out can affect your case more than most clients expect.
Here are the two things I tell every client before they sit down with this form.
Don’t leave fields blank.
It’s tempting to skip a line when you’re not sure of the exact number, or when an account feels too small to matter. Don’t. A blank field doesn’t read as “unknown” to the court or to opposing counsel — it reads as incomplete, and incomplete disclosures invite exactly the kind of scrutiny and follow-up discovery that makes a divorce slower and more expensive for both sides. If you genuinely don’t have the information yet, say so directly on the form rather than leaving the space empty, and note what you’re doing to get it.
A good-faith estimate is enough.
You are not expected to have every account balance reported to the penny, and the court doesn’t require perfection. What it requires is a reasonable, good-faith effort to state accurate numbers based on the information available to you — recent statements, online account balances, a call to the loan servicer if needed. If a number changes later because you get updated information, that’s normal and expected. What creates real problems is a number that was never grounded in an honest attempt to find out — guessing low on an account to make it look smaller, for instance, rather than genuinely not knowing.
Remember what you’re signing.
At the bottom of the Asset and Debt Statement, you’re certifying under penalty of perjury that the information you’ve provided is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. That’s not boilerplate. If it later comes out that a number was materially wrong — especially if it looks like it was wrong in a way that benefited you — it can affect your credibility with the court well beyond that one line item, and in some cases can be grounds for reopening a settlement.
The bottom line: take the extra twenty minutes to pull real numbers before you fill this out, and fill it out completely. It’s far easier to get it right the first time than to explain later why it wasn’t.
Judy S. Howard, Esq. is a Hawaii family law attorney based in Waimea, focusing on divorce and pre- and postnuptial agreements. She is also a Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert (CDRE), helping divorcing couples navigate real estate decisions with clarity and neutrality.
The information provided in this blog post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Judy S. Howard. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change over time, and the application of law to any particular situation requires individual legal analysis. If you need legal advice, please consult a licensed attorney directly.