Form FL-150 is the document California courts use to decide who pays what. Every request for child support, spousal support, or attorney fees runs through the numbers on this form, so getting it right matters more than almost any other piece of paperwork in a family law case.
Key Takeaway: FL-150 asks for income, expenses, assets, and debts across four pages, and it has no filing fee of its own. A shorter alternative, FL-155, is available in a narrow set of circumstances, but most cases involving spousal support, attorney fees, or self-employment income require the full FL-150.
What Is Form FL-150?
Form FL-150, Income and Expense Declaration, gives the court and the other party a complete financial picture, income from every source, monthly expenses, assets, and debts. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-150 */}
Courts rely on it to make orders for child support, spousal support, and attorney fees. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-150 /} There is no filing fee for the form itself. {/ source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-150 */}
The same income and expense figures reported on FL-150 often carry forward into other parts of a case, including a guideline child support calculation, so the numbers on this form tend to resurface more than once as a case moves forward.
When FL-150 Is Required
FL-150 shows up in two different moments in a California family law case.
As part of financial disclosures. Both spouses in a dissolution, legal separation, or nullity case must complete a preliminary declaration of disclosure, and FL-150 is one of the required documents, alongside the Schedule of Assets and Debts and tax returns from the two years before service. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/divorce/financial-disclosures/gather-share */} Our guide to getting financial clarity before you file covers the full disclosure requirement and its 60-day deadline.
Alongside a Request for Order. Asking the court for child support, spousal support, or attorney fees requires filing FL-150 together with Form FL-300, Request for Order. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/request-for-order/child-support */} That copy of FL-150 is separate from any disclosure copy already exchanged, since it reflects current income and expenses at the time of the request, not whatever figures were on file months earlier.
FL-150 vs. FL-155: Which Form Applies
A shorter alternative, Form FL-155, Financial Statement (Simplified), exists for a narrow set of child support cases. The instructions on FL-155 itself lay out who cannot use it. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl155.pdf */}
FL-155 is not available if any of the following apply:
- Either party is asking for spousal support (alimony) or a change in spousal support
- Either party is asking the other to pay attorney fees
- Either party receives income from any source other than welfare, salary or wages, disability, unemployment compensation, interest, workers' compensation, social security, or retirement
- Either party is self-employed
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl155.pdf */}
The rule runs one direction only: someone eligible for FL-155 can still choose to file the full FL-150 instead. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl155.pdf */} In practice, FL-150 is the form most cases end up using, since a request for spousal support, attorney fees, or income from self-employment is common enough to rule out the simplified version on its own.
What to Attach
FL-150 is not meant to stand alone. Specific proof has to travel with it, and the form is explicit about what that proof looks like.
- Copies of pay stubs for the last two months, with Social Security numbers blacked out
- Proof of any other income received
- A profit and loss statement for the last two years, or a Schedule C from the most recent federal tax return, for anyone with self-employment income
- A copy of the most recent federal tax return, brought to the court hearing rather than attached to the filed form
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Blacking out a Social Security number before attaching a pay stub is a small step, but it is the one the form calls out by name, since pay stubs and tax documents end up in the hands of the other party as well as the court. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Section-by-Section Walkthrough of FL-150
The form runs twenty numbered items across four pages. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Page 1: Items 1-4
1. Employment. Current job details, or the most recent job if unemployed: employer, address, occupation, date started, hours worked per week, and gross pay before taxes.
2. Age and education. Age, whether high school was completed, years of college or graduate school, and any professional or vocational licenses.
3. Tax information. The tax year last filed, filing status, which state the filer files returns in, and the number of exemptions claimed.
4. Other party's income. An estimate of the other party's gross monthly income, with an explanation of how that estimate was reached.
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Page 2: Items 5-11
5. Income. Every income category, salary or wages, overtime, commissions or bonuses, public assistance, spousal or partner support, pension or retirement payments, Social Security retirement, disability, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, and other sources, each broken out by last month and a 12-month average.
6. Investment income. Dividends, interest, rental property income, and trust income.
7. Income from self-employment, after business expenses, with the profit and loss statement or Schedule C attached.
8. Additional income, for one-time money such as lottery winnings or an inheritance received in the last 12 months.
9. Change in income, if the financial situation has changed significantly over the last 12 months.
10. Deductions, including required union dues, required retirement payments, health insurance premiums, and child or spousal support paid for other relationships.
11. Assets, covering cash and bank accounts, stocks and other liquid assets, and the estimated value of other property.
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Page 3: Items 12-15
12. Household. Everyone living with the filer, their relationship, income, and whether they contribute to household expenses.
13. Average monthly expenses, itemized across categories including housing, health care, child care, groceries, utilities, transportation, insurance, and savings, with a total.
14. Installment payments and debts not already listed, including who is paid, the amount, the balance, and the date of the last payment.
15. Attorney fees, required only when either party is requesting attorney fees: amounts already paid, the source of that money, and what is still owed.
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Page 4: The Child Support Section
The form itself instructs filers to complete page 4 only if the case involves child support. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */} That page covers:
- 16. Number of children, and the percentage of time they spend with each parent
- 17. Children's health-care expenses, including whether insurance is available through the filer's job
- 18. Additional expenses for the children, such as child care needed to work or attend school, uncovered health care, and travel expenses for visitation
- 19. Special hardships, for extraordinary health expenses, uninsured losses, or expenses for other minor children living with the filer
- 20. Other information the filer wants the court to know about support in the case
{/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
A case with no child support request has no reason to touch this page at all, and filling it in anyway just adds numbers a court was never going to look at for that case.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most FL-150 problems trace back to a handful of recurring slips rather than the underlying math.
- Filing FL-155 when a request involves spousal support, attorney fees, or self-employment income, none of which qualify for the simplified form
- Leaving Social Security numbers visible on attached pay stubs instead of blacking them out
- Skipping the self-employment profit and loss statement or Schedule C when item 7 applies
- Filling out page 4 in a case that does not involve child support, or skipping it in a case that does
- Attaching the tax return to the filed form instead of bringing it to the hearing
- Submitting outdated income figures instead of the last two months of pay stubs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Form FL-150 used for?
Form FL-150, Income and Expense Declaration, gives the court and the other party a full picture of income, expenses, assets, and debts. Courts use it to make orders for child support, spousal support, and attorney fees. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-150 */}
Is there a fee to file FL-150?
No. There is no filing fee for the Income and Expense Declaration itself. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/FL-150 */}
What is the difference between FL-150 and FL-155?
FL-155, Financial Statement (Simplified), is a shorter alternative to FL-150. It cannot be used if either party is asking for spousal support or a change in spousal support, if either party is asking the other to pay attorney fees, if either party is self-employed, or if either party receives income from any source other than welfare, salary or wages, disability, unemployment, interest, workers' compensation, social security, or retirement. Anyone eligible for FL-155 can still choose to file FL-150 instead. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl155.pdf */}
What documents must be attached to FL-150?
Copies of pay stubs for the last two months, with Social Security numbers blacked out, are attached to the form. A profit and loss statement for the last two years, or a Schedule C from the most recent federal tax return, is attached for anyone with self-employment income. A copy of the most recent federal tax return is brought to the hearing rather than filed with the form. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
Do I need to fill out the child support section of FL-150?
The form itself instructs filers to complete that page only if the case involves child support. {/* source: https://courts.ca.gov/documents/fl150.pdf */}
How does FL-150 relate to financial disclosures in a divorce?
FL-150 is one of the required documents in California's preliminary declaration of disclosure, along with the Schedule of Assets and Debts and two years of tax returns. It is also filed separately whenever child support, spousal support, or attorney fees are requested, including in a Request for Order outside of the initial disclosure process. {/* source: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/divorce/financial-disclosures/gather-share */}
How Virdix Helps With FL-150
FL-150 asks for more financial detail than any other form in a California family law case, and small inconsistencies, a missing attachment, a mismatched income figure, are what trip most people up. Virdix helps keep it organized:
- Guided intake, that maps income, expenses, assets, and debts into the correct fields
- Consistency checks, so figures on FL-150 match what appears on the Schedule of Assets and Debts and other disclosure forms
- A clear attachment list, of exactly which pay stubs, statements, or schedules still need to be gathered
- FL-155 eligibility guidance, so the shorter form is used only when the case actually qualifies
Our child support calculator can help build a rough estimate once income figures from FL-150 are in hand, and every related form is available on our forms page.
Start Your California Financial Declaration →
Last updated: August 2026. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed California family law attorney.
Sources: Form FL-150, Income and Expense Declaration, FL-150 self-help page, Form FL-155, Financial Statement (Simplified), Ask for child support, Gather and share financial information