Living Expenses

• The living expenses section of the affidavit details a party's monthly expenditures for the basic necessities of life. The party should include mortgage or rent payments, utilities, groceries, car payments, home and vehicle maintenance, uninsured medical expenses, clothing, personal care and entertainment. For expenses a party incurs irregularly or only a few times a year, she should average the yearly expenditures across a 12-month period. The dependent spouse's affidavit will focus on living expenses during marriage, which may be higher than her current expenses. The supporting spouse's affidavit will be more focused upon his current expenses, since the court is less concerned with his pre-separation standard of living and more concerned with his present ability to pay support.
  
  

Debt Service Obligations

• In addition to a party's recurring living expenses, she should also include her debt service obligations. Student loan payments, credit cards, past due medical bills and personal loans should all be listed to show how much money she needs to keep her debt service current. Forms in use by some court systems and law firms have spaces not only for monthly debt payments but also for the balance due on each debt. Including the balance due indicates to the court how long the obligation will endure.
  
  

Child-Related Expenses

• A party with custody of a couple's children should include an itemization of costs incurred on behalf of the children, as well. Additional groceries, medical care and insurance, work-related child care, dental care and orthodontics, entertainment and education-related expenses should all appear on the custodial parent's affidavit of financial standing. While the noncustodial parent is theoretically helping out with child-related expenses in his child support obligation, these are all valid expenses that relate to the custodial parent's need for spousal support or ability to pay it. Child support received may not be sufficient to cover these expenses.
  
  

Net Income From All Sources

• Finally, a party should include her net income received for all sources in the last section of the affidavit of financial standing. Wages from employment, investment income, trust income, retirement or disability pay and child support should all be included in order to show the balance --- or lack thereof --- between what the party is receiving and what she needs to break even. If certain income is only received a few times a year, the party should average that figure out over a 12-month period.