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Providing essential divorce, alimony, custody and support information and resources to men at any stage of divorce.
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By Corrine Bylund
When you are divorced, or in the process of divorce, your filing status and your deductions aren’t as sure as death and taxes.
In this article, we'll address the three most common questions facing divorced, or divorcing, couples when it comes to taxes:
- What is my filing status?
- Who gets to claim the children as dependents?
- Is child support tax deductible?
 By Barry Finkel
It’s tax time. As if taxes weren’t perplexing enough, divorcees have numerous considerations when calculating income and expenses – and filing tax returns.
Year-end tax time requires special attention. When handled by an experienced family law attorney and a tax professional, returns can meet both the letter and spirit of federal or state filing guidelines. Since state law governs how divorce is handled, it’s important to hire a local divorce attorney.
Whether paying or receiving alimony, child support or mortgage costs, or settling real estate investments, the tax implications can be significant. Filing and reporting can be as simple as a line on a tax return, or as complicated as federal forms to be filed.
 by Milandria King, JD, LL.M, of Cordell & Cordell, PC
Being certain that the dependent claim requirements are met is critical because dependents can reduce your tax bill. In many cases, you can claim certain tax-cutting deductions and credits related to a dependent. Even if these added tax breaks do not apply to your situation, a dependent named on your tax return may still assist in realized tax savings. Every dependent directly translates into an exemption-a specific dollar amount deducted from your adjusted gross income.
Question: My ex-wife has retained an attorney to negotiate an increase in child support. While I understand the motivation for its increase, I believe that two factors should be taken into account. I should note that I've always provided child support, including during a 4-year period where I was the custodial parent. First, she has the potential to earn much more (nearly double) than what she has claimed on her last tax return. Although her current spouse's income from his own business (also her current employment) should not be taken into account, it is clear that it contributes to her not earning to her potential. Secondly, based solely on her income and mine (excluding current spouses), it is clear that I would benefit more from claiming the tax exemption for our child. She is willing to negotiate a child support amount based on her earning potential but unwilling to allow me to claim the exemption, even though I've offered to offset her increased tax liability. Her unwillingness seems to be either an emotional response or based on her filing status (married filing jointly - including her spouse's income) making the exemption value greater for her. My Question: Some of this has now become a matter of principle. If I were to pursue this into court, would I have a reasonable chance of making a case on both factors described above? Answer: I cannot answer your question specifically to the laws of CT as I am not licensed in that State. In my jurisdiction, it is assumed by the rules relating to the calculation of child support that the parent receiving support is getting the tax deductions on the children. This issue is negotiable between the parties, but if the matter is put to the court and the custodial parent has any income, they will receive the tax deduction. In my jurisdiction you are allowed to consider the income of the current spouse, but there is not a place to include the income in the form calculation. Many attorneys therefore believe that provision to consider the spousal income is meaningless. They are wrong. Your situation is exactly why such a law can be effective. I would argue that if your ex wife and her new spouse work for the same self employed business that they are in an equal partnership regardless how they decide to divide the company income for tax purposes. Therefore, I believe it would be a valid argument to take the total income and retain earnings (if applicable) and divide by two to arrive at her child support income.
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