# How family lawyers request a bank statement from clients

Source: https://dokutrak.com/requests/family-lawyers/bank-statement
Author: Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak
Published: 2026-11-12
Language: en-US

> Ask for complete monthly statements for every checking and savings account in the client’s name, alone or jointly, for the period your state’s disclosure rules require, often twelve months or more, including the statement that covers the date of separation. Statements show balances to divide and the spending that supports the expense side of the financial affidavit.

## Why family lawyers need a bank statement

Bank accounts are often the first marital assets listed on the disclosure, and their balances on key dates, such as the date of separation or the filing date, can matter for property division depending on the state. Monthly activity also documents the household’s living expenses, the deposits that reflect income, and transfers to accounts the client may not have mentioned yet.

## What exactly to ask for

Every page of each monthly statement, blank pages included, for every account the client holds alone or jointly, and any account held for the children. Cover the period required by your state’s rules or the discovery request, and make sure the statement that includes the date of separation is in the set. PDFs from online banking, not screenshots.

## What to check when it arrives

- The months are consecutive for each account, and the statement around the date of separation is included.
- Transfers to unfamiliar accounts are noted, since they may point to an account missing from the disclosure.
- The account holders printed on each statement match how the client listed the account: individual, joint, or for a child.

## Email to send your client

Subject: Your bank statements

```text
Hi [Client name],

For the financial disclosure, I need monthly statements for every bank account in your name, including joint accounts and any account you hold for the children. Please send the last twelve months, and make sure the month you separated is included.

The easiest way is to download the PDF statements from online banking, every page, even the ones that look blank.

Could you send them by [date]? If you no longer have access to a joint account, tell me and we will request the statements another way.

Thank you,
[Your name]
```

## Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.

- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a bank statement, an unreadable or blurry scan or a copy where one of these is missing or cut off: the account holder, the statement period. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.

14-day free trial, no card. Add one only to keep going.