Asset & Liability Summary

Asset & Liability Summary

Court-ready financial summary covering all assets and liabilities with ownership classification, valuations, encumbrances, and source citations.

Prerequisites

1. Source documents — bank/brokerage statements, tax returns, mortgage/loan documents, business financials, appraisals, retirement account statements
2. Effective date — valuation date controlling all figures (date of separation, petition date, death date)
3. Matter type — divorce, estate, bankruptcy, business valuation, or general litigation
4. Jurisdiction — community property vs. equitable distribution; exemption rules if bankruptcy

Workflow

Step 1: Executive Overview

Produce a summary table:

Step 2: Asset Schedule

Group by category. Capture per asset:

Categories to cover: real property, bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts (flag tax-deferred), business interests (ownership %, valuation method), vehicles, life insurance (cash surrender value), IP/royalties, receivables/notes, significant personal property.

Step 3: Liability Schedule

Group by category. Capture per liability:

Categories to cover: mortgages/HELOCs, auto loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans, tax obligations (include penalties/interest), judgments, business debt, deferred compensation.

Step 4: Disputed & Uncertain Items

Flag assets or liabilities where ownership, value, or existence is contested or unverified:

Step 5: Notes & Recommendations

Address each applicable area:

• Valuation methodology — method per non-liquid asset (appraisal, book value, tax assessment)
• Missing documentation — items referenced but lacking corroboration
• Discrepancies — conflicts between documents (differing balances, dates)
• Tax considerations — retirement (pre-tax), real property (basis, depreciation recapture), installment obligations
• Expert valuation needed — business interests, unappraised real property, complex instruments
• Assumptions — all assumptions where documentation was incomplete

Pitfalls & Checks

• Maintain consistent valuation date across all items; flag anything valued on a different date
• Cite source document and page for every figure — must survive discovery scrutiny
• Never impute unsupported values; use [NEEDS VALUATION] where data is absent
• Retirement accounts: gross value ≠ net value after tax — note when after-tax figure is needed
• Business interests: state whether value is enterprise, equity, or book value; flag if formal appraisal needed
• Marital matters: distinguish separate property (pre-marital, gift, inheritance) from community/marital — apply jurisdiction default rules
• Bankruptcy: note exemption eligibility (homestead, retirement, vehicle) alongside each asset

Key changes from original:

• Trimmed frontmatter description (~30% shorter), removed redundant summary tag
• Replaced "Output Structure" with sequential "Workflow" steps for clearer agent guidance
• Collapsed asset/liability category checklists from checkbox lists into inline prose (saves ~20 lines)
• Renamed "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls & Checks" for scannability
• Removed decorative horizontal rules and redundant section numbering
• Cut ~30 lines total while preserving every legal domain requirement and output field

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