A pretrial statement example for family court is a written filing each spouse or parent submits before trial that sets out, in order, the agreed facts, the disputed issues, each side’s proposed outcome on custody, support, and property, the witnesses who will testify, and the exhibits that will be offered into evidence. It is the document the judge reads first and the one that controls what you can argue and prove at trial.
Treat it accordingly. In most jurisdictions the pretrial order built from these statements governs the rest of the case, and issues or evidence left out can be waived or excluded. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16, which many state family courts mirror, says the pretrial order “controls the course of the action unless the court modifies it,” and changes after the final pretrial conference require showing “manifest injustice.”1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 16 – Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management A sloppy statement can leave you unable to raise the arguments you planned to make.
The Sections Every Family Court Pretrial Statement Contains
Local rules vary, but the architecture is consistent. A complete pretrial statement in a divorce, custody, or paternity matter will have:
- Case information: names of the parties, case number, type of action, and relevant dates such as the marriage date, separation date, and the date the petition was filed.
- Stipulated facts: facts both parties agree on, such as the children’s names and ages, the date of marriage, or the value of a particular asset. These are not proven at trial.
- Contested issues: a detailed list of every dispute the court needs to resolve, with each party’s position stated clearly.
- Witness list: name, contact information, and the expected testimony of every witness you plan to call.
- Exhibit list: an index of every document or item you plan to offer as evidence, with copies for the court and opposing counsel.
- Proposed orders: what you are asking the court to do, written specifically enough that a judge could sign it as drafted.
Some courts require a joint pretrial statement where both sides collaborate on a single document, with agreed and disputed matters shown side by side. Others require each party to file separately. Check your local family court rules before drafting, because filing the wrong format can delay the case.
Stipulated Facts and Contested Issues
The most strategically important part of the statement is the line between what is agreed and what is disputed. Stipulated facts save trial time and keep the judge focused on real disagreements, and once stipulated they are binding. Courts have treated stipulations as a waiver of all issues the parties chose not to raise.
Common stipulations in family cases include each party’s gross income (when tax returns confirm it), the children’s ages and school enrollment, the existence and approximate value of major assets such as a home, and whether certain debts are marital. Small agreements add up. Every fact stipulated is one no one has to spend trial time proving.
For contested issues, specifics beat generalities. “Petitioner seeks primary custody” is too vague. “Petitioner seeks primary residential custody with parenting time for Respondent every other weekend and Wednesday evenings, per the attached proposed parenting plan” gives the court something it can act on. The same rule applies to support figures and property proposals: attach the numbers, show the math, and reference the evidence behind them.
Financial Disclosures
Both parties must give a complete picture of their finances, usually through a sworn financial affidavit covering income from all sources, monthly expenses, assets (real estate, retirement accounts, vehicles, bank accounts), and liabilities (mortgages, credit cards, student loans). Courts use this information to calculate child support, set spousal maintenance, and divide property.
Because the affidavit is signed under oath, inaccurate or incomplete disclosures carry real consequences. Courts can impose sanctions, draw negative inferences, or reopen final judgments where a party concealed assets. Supporting documents typically include recent pay stubs, two to three years of tax returns, W-2s, bank statements, and retirement account statements. In complex cases, courts sometimes appoint forensic accountants to trace funds or value a business.
Your pretrial statement should reference the financial disclosures already on file and flag any disputes about the other party’s reported numbers. If you believe your spouse underreported income or left an asset off the list, the statement is where you raise that issue and identify the evidence you will use at trial.
Child Support Positions
Child support calculations follow state guidelines. Roughly 40 states use the income shares model, which combines both parents’ incomes to estimate what the family would have spent on the children intact, then splits that obligation proportionally. The remaining states use a percentage-of-income model based on the paying parent’s earnings alone, or a hybrid approach.
Include each parent’s gross and net income, the basis for those figures (pay stubs, tax returns, or other documentation), and a proposed child support calculation under your state’s guidelines. If you contend the other parent earns more than reported, or if income is irregular because of self-employment or commissions, lay out the evidence. The cost of health insurance for the children, childcare expenses, and any special medical or educational needs also affect the figure.
Spousal Support Positions
Unlike child support, spousal maintenance does not follow a single formula in most states. Judges weigh the length of the marriage, each spouse’s age and health, earning capacity, education and work history, contributions to the marriage (including as a homemaker), and the standard of living during the marriage. In some states, marital fault such as adultery or abuse also plays a role.
Specify the type of support sought (temporary, rehabilitative, or long-term), the amount, and the proposed duration, and back each request with evidence. If you are asking for rehabilitative support while you finish a degree, include program details, timelines, and projected earnings. If you are opposing support, explain why: the other party’s earning capacity, their assets, or the short duration of the marriage.
Property and Debt Allocation
How property is divided depends on whether your state follows equitable distribution or community property rules. The large majority of states (41 plus the District of Columbia) use equitable distribution, where the court divides marital property fairly but not necessarily equally, weighing each spouse’s financial condition, earning power, contributions, and future needs. The remaining nine states follow community property principles, where the starting point is generally a 50/50 split of assets acquired during the marriage.
In either system, list every asset and debt, label it marital or separate, and propose who gets what. Separate property, such as an inheritance one spouse received or an asset owned before the marriage, typically stays with the original owner. But separate property that has been mixed with marital funds can lose its protected status. An inheritance deposited into a joint checking account and blended with marital income over years is hard to trace back without careful documentation.
Retirement Accounts
Retirement accounts are among the most valuable and most frequently overlooked marital assets. Dividing a 401(k), pension, or other employer-sponsored plan requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order directing the plan administrator to pay a portion of the benefits to the non-employee spouse. Federal law under ERISA generally prohibits assigning pension benefits to anyone other than the plan participant, with a carve-out for QDROs that meet specific requirements.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 29 Section 1056 – Form and Payment of Benefits A spouse who receives a QDRO distribution reports the payments as their own income for tax purposes and can roll the funds into their own retirement account tax-free.3Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO: Qualified Domestic Relations Order
If retirement accounts are at issue, your pretrial statement should list every account, its current value, and your proposed division.
Debt Division
Debts incurred during the marriage are generally treated like assets and divided between the spouses. List every debt, identify who incurred it and for what purpose, and propose an allocation. Courts look at who benefited, each party’s ability to repay, and whether the debt was for family purposes or one spouse’s personal spending. If your spouse ran up credit card balances on personal purchases without your knowledge, the pretrial statement is where you raise that argument and point to the records.
Custody Positions and the Best-Interests Standard
Custody disputes often dominate family court trials. Every state uses some version of the best interests of the child standard, with factors that commonly include the child’s age and health, each parent’s ability to provide stability, the child’s emotional ties to each parent, each parent’s involvement in daily life, and any history of abuse or neglect.
Attach a proposed parenting plan that specifies where the children will live, how parenting time is divided on weekdays, weekends, holidays, and school breaks, and how parents will handle transportation and communication. Vague requests for “shared custody” do not help the court. A detailed, workable schedule shows that you have thought through the practical realities of co-parenting.
Allegations of abuse, substance abuse, or neglect carry significant weight in custody cases and also invite scrutiny. If you raise them, identify the specific evidence: police reports, medical records, photographs, drug test results, or testimony from witnesses with firsthand knowledge. Unsubstantiated allegations can damage your credibility with the court.
Children’s Preferences
Courts in most states will consider a child’s stated preference about which parent to live with, particularly as the child gets older. The age at which that preference carries meaningful weight varies by state. Several states set 14 as a presumptive age of sufficient maturity, others use 12, and some have no specific age and leave it to the judge’s discretion based on the individual child’s maturity. Note any expressed preference in the statement, but understand it is one factor among many.
Witness Lists
Every witness you plan to call must be disclosed, along with contact information and a summary of expected testimony. Witnesses you fail to disclose risk being excluded. Federal disclosure rules require identifying each person likely to have relevant information and the subjects of that information, and most state family courts impose similar requirements.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 26 – Duty to Disclose; General Provisions Governing Discovery
Choose witnesses who can speak to specific contested issues from personal knowledge. A neighbor who has watched the children interact with each parent at drop-offs is more useful than a relative willing to say you are a good person in general. Teachers, therapists, coaches, and medical providers can offer observations about the child’s well-being that carry weight because they come from professionals without a stake in the outcome.
Expert witnesses serve a different function. A forensic accountant might testify about the value of a spouse’s business. A vocational expert can assess an unemployed spouse’s earning potential. A child psychologist or custody evaluator can give an assessment of the child’s needs and each parent’s ability to meet them. For experts, disclosure is more demanding: typically their qualifications, a summary of opinions, and the basis for those opinions. Opposing counsel gets to challenge the methodology at trial, so pick experts whose credentials and methods will hold up on cross-examination.
Exhibits and Documentary Evidence
The exhibit list catalogs every document, photograph, recording, or other item you plan to introduce. Each exhibit should be identified by number or letter, briefly described, and made available for the opposing party to inspect and copy before trial.
Common exhibits in family court cases include:
- Financial records: tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, retirement account statements, mortgage documents, and credit card statements.
- Communication evidence: text messages, emails, or social media posts relevant to custody fitness, hidden income, or other disputed issues.
- Medical and school records showing each parent’s involvement in the child’s healthcare and education.
- Expert reports: custody evaluations, business valuations, real estate appraisals, and vocational assessments.
- Photographs or videos showing living conditions, injuries, or interactions relevant to custody.
Every exhibit must satisfy your jurisdiction’s evidentiary rules for authenticity and relevance. An unauthenticated printout of a text exchange can be challenged and excluded. Make sure each exhibit will actually be admitted when you try to introduce it.
Deadlines and the Cost of Missing Them
Filing deadlines vary, but most courts require pretrial statements somewhere between 10 and 30 days before trial. Some courts set the date in the scheduling order issued early in the case, others have standing local rules. Missing the deadline is one of the fastest ways to lose control of your case.
If you fail to file or fail to disclose witnesses and exhibits, the consequences are severe. Under rules modeled on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37, a party that does not comply with disclosure or discovery obligations can be barred from using the information at trial, and the court can order payment of the other side’s attorney’s fees caused by the failure. In extreme cases, courts can strike pleadings, enter default judgment, or hold the non-compliant party in contempt.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37 – Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery; Sanctions
Treat the deadline as immovable. If something genuinely prevents timely filing, contact the court and request an extension before the deadline passes, not after.
Practical Drafting Tips
A few things separate effective pretrial statements from ones the judge skims and forgets:
- Be specific in your proposals. “Fair division of assets” tells the judge nothing. “Petitioner receives the marital home (appraised at $340,000) and assumes the remaining mortgage ($210,000); Respondent receives the 401(k) ($145,000) and the savings account ($18,500)” gives the court a starting point.
- Match every claim to evidence. For each contested issue, reference the exhibit or witness that supports your position. If you claim the other parent has a substance abuse problem, point to the drug test results in Exhibit 12 and the therapist on your witness list.
- Do not overload the witness list. Five witnesses who each testify to something different and relevant are worth more than twelve character witnesses saying the same thing. Judges notice padding, and it burns limited trial time.
- Keep the tone professional. The statement goes directly to the judge. Emotional language, personal attacks, and inflammatory characterizations undermine credibility. State the facts, identify the evidence, and let the court draw its conclusions.
If you are representing yourself, many courts provide fill-in-the-blank pretrial statement forms or templates through their self-help center or website. Using the court’s own form keeps you from missing a required section, and judges appreciate a format they recognize.