Divorce Advice for Men | Fathers Rights Divorce | Child Custody

By Jennifer M. Paine

Michigan Divorce Lawyer

It’s unlikely you can deduct your divorce attorney fees. However, some of the costs you incur as a result of your divorce may be deductible.

If you plan to itemize your deductions and your total miscellaneous deductions exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income, then you can deduct three types of fees.

Question:

In my divorce agreement, I am supposed to pay $700 per month in child support and have that amount garnished from my income.

However, I have three sources of income and each source is withholding $700 so I'm actually paying $2,100!

How can I get each source of income to withhold the proper amount of child support?

Question:

My child support order states that I am claim the children this year for taxes. The divorce judgment says my child support must be current to do so.

I have been paying both the current child support amount and the amount assesed for previous arrears. Does this constitute as being current?

Question:

In my divorce decree there is a provision that whichever parent has the greatest benefit to claiming the children on the taxes should claim them. That parent should then pay the other parent the amount that they would have received had they claimed the children.

In my situation, my ex-wife would have received a larger refund if she claimed them, but she already filed her taxes assuming that I would be claiming them. So when I filed them I got the refund though it is smaller than what she would have gotten if she claimed them.

Now she says she is entitled to that refund. Does she have a case?

By Jill A. Duffy

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

Divorce can bring some big changes to the way you file your taxes and which exemptions and deductions you can claim.

With tax season just beginning to ramp up, here is some information to get you started on your federal taxes in terms of how alimony and child support affect your taxes.