CEO 78-19 -- April 20, 1978

FULL AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS OWNED BY PARENT NOT REQUIRED BY SUNSHINE AMENDMENT

To: (Name withheld at the person's request.)

Prepared by: Phil Claypool

SUMMARY:

Section 8, Art. II, State Const., commonly known as the Sunshine Amendment, requires all elected constitutional officers to file full and public disclosure of their financial interests, which includes, in part, the filing of a "sworn statement showing net worth and identifying each asset and liability in excess of $1,000 and its value." It is the opinion of the Commission on Ethics that the amendment requires disclosure of an officer's personal net worth, assets, and liabilities, and that disclosure of assets which may be owned by a member of the officer's family but in which the officer holds no property interest is not required. Therefore, where an officer is in line to inherit certain assets owned by his father, but where the father presently has ownership, custody, and control over such assets, they need not be disclosed as assets or included in the officer's net worth calculation when filing full and public disclosure of financial interests.

QUESTION:

In filing full and public disclosure of my financial interests pursuant to s. 8, Art. II, State Const., is it necessary to disclose assets which are owned solely by my parent but which will be inherited following the death of that parent?

Your question is answered in the negative.

In your letter of inquiry you advise that you are a Judge of the County Court for ____ County. You also advise that you and your brother will divide equally all property presently owned by your father upon his death.

The Sunshine Amendment requires all elected constitutional officers to file full and public disclosure of their financial interests. Section 8(a), Art. II, State Const. The amendment then defines full and public disclosure of financial interests to mean, in part,

filing . . . a sworn statement showing net worth and identifying each asset and liability in excess of $1,000 and its value . . . . [Section 8(h)(1), Art. II, State Const.]

We are of the opinion that the amendment requires disclosure of an officer's personal net worth, assets, and liabilities, and that disclosure of assets which may be owned by a member of the officer's family but in which the officer holds no property interest is not required. While you may be said to have a "financial interest" in your father's property, it is possible that you may never personally own the property since you may predecease him or he may change the provisions of his will.

Accordingly, inasmuch as you state that your father presently has ownership, custody, and control over his assets and that you cannot use them and have no access to them at this point in time, we are of the opinion that you need not disclose these assets or include them in your net worth when filing full and public disclosure of your financial interests, despite the fact that you stand to inherit half of them upon your father's death.