Georgia’s Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (DRFA) is a sworn financial statement required by most counties in divorce and other family law cases in Georgia. The DRFA is an itemized list of your monthly income and expenses, and a list of your assets and debts including bank accounts, retirement accounts, houses, and credit cards.
The DRFA is extremely helpful for a number of reasons in family law cases. First, it is a good overview of the financial situation of the parties and of the marital estate. Second, the DRFA is extremely helpful in determining alimony. Alimony is awarded on a need vs. ability to pay basis and the DRFA quickly shows how much expendable income or deficit a person has on a monthly basis.Third, the DRFA requires the parties to think through the expenses for their children which they should receive credit for on the child support worksheets.
As a sworn statement, the DRFA is often relied upon in Court as a snapshot of your financial circumstances so it is important to be as honest and accurate as possible. Look at monthly bills and expenses and put the actual numbers on there. We recommend keeping all documents on which you based your DRFA numbers so they are easily accessible if your numbers are later challenged in Court.