Match on durable identifiers
- Property address and parcel identity.
- Institution plus last four digits for accounts and debts.
- Employer and plan name for retirement benefits.
- Year, make, model and plate or VIN fragment for vehicles.
- Entity name and ownership interest for businesses.
Keep three kinds of difference separate
- Scope: an item appears on only one schedule.
- Identity: the descriptions may refer to different property despite superficial similarity.
- Measurement: the same item carries different dates, values, encumbrances or characterizations.
Turn each gap into the next action
A reconciliation result should name the record that can resolve it: a statement for the common date, title record, appraisal, plan history, loan payoff or tracing record. Confidence matters. A fuzzy match should remain reviewable and never silently merge two entries.
Review pointMatching two rows is not a finding that either value or characterization is correct. It establishes that the rows likely describe the same thing.
Continue the workflow
FL-142 quality-control checklist
A practical California FL-142 checklist covering completeness, dates, secured debt, totals, documents and review.
Property-division document checklist
A source-document checklist for California real estate, bank, investment, retirement, business, vehicle, insurance, tax and debt entries.
What “equal division” means in a California property case
How California Family Code section 2550 relates to equal division, asset allocation and equalizing payments.