{"id":1367,"date":"2015-04-29T07:35:49","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T11:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=1367"},"modified":"2015-04-25T07:37:16","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T11:37:16","slug":"divorce-can-be-taxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=1367","title":{"rendered":"Divorce can be taxing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the April 15th tax deadline just behind us, there is no better time than the present to beging preparing for your 2015 tax filings.  Preparing your returns is never easy and if you are recently divorced, there are new  issues to be considered and accounted for.  The purpose of this post is not to give tax planning advice. Please rely on your accountant or tax preparer for guidance. I just want to idnetify a few areas that require special attention due to a divorce.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alimony<\/b>: Remember, alimony, if in a court order, is tax deductible by the payor and is to be included in the taxable income of the recipient.  However, child support has no tax consequences.  If you are the payor, you will need to identify the reicipient on your return and as the recipient, you identify (by their SSN) who you are receiving the alimoy from.  I have to believe that this simple cross cehcking exercise is routinley performed by the IRS.  If you are receiving alimony, it is critical that you develop a plan that prepares you to pay the tax that will be due on your alimony as there are no withholdings made from your payments.
\nOn a related note, I am often asked if the legal fees incurred in connection with the divorce are tax deductible.  The best answer I can offer is “maybe”.  Under the IRS guidelines it may be possible.  But again, please consult with a tax professional on this point.  I will assist your preparer in any way necessary, but I do not offer any opinions as to whether or not your fees are tax deductible.
\nWITHHOLDINGS: <\/b>Once your divorceis finalized, review the withholdings with your employer’s HR department.  You will need to make some adjustments to these going forward.
\nCLAIMING THE CHILDREN: <\/b>Post-divorce, you cannot both claim the children as exemptions each year.  Don’t get yourslef in trouble by making this mistake or thinking the IRS won’t notice.  Rely on the langauge in your settlment agreement.  In the agreements I draft for clients, I include specific language on this issue.  Parties can alternate making the claim on an annual basis or allow one party to claim the child(ren) each year.  Whatever arrnagemnts you make, adhere to them.
\nThese are just a few of the tax related issues that arise during and after a divorce.  Your attorney should be able to identify these issues and in working with your tax professional you can put the proper tax strategy in place that complies with the terms  of your agreeemnt and the tax code.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Sent from my iPad<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the April 15th tax deadline just behind us, there is no better time than the present to beging preparing for your 2015 tax filings.  Preparing your returns is never easy and if you are recently divorced, there are new … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-durstfirm-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6omM8-m3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1011,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=1011","url_meta":{"origin":1367,"position":0},"title":"Divorce and Taxes: What you need to know","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"February 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A divorce will surely impact your tax filing.\u00a0 The following points are based on my 14 years of experience as a NJ divorce attorney.\u00a0 You should consult with an accountant or qualified tax preparer to determine how to best prepare your returns.\u00a0 If you were divorced at any time in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Durst Firm News"","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2861","url_meta":{"origin":1367,"position":1},"title":"Understanding NJ Alimony Law","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"February 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Alimony is a major issue in many of the divorce cases we handle? Questions we often get deal with whether alimony is appropriate, how much can alimony be, and how long will alimony be paid? This post is intended to provide a basic overview of NJ alimony law. 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It is good to know that Air Jordan got supreme fame not very close among its fans but among several players\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Durst on Divorce"","block_context":{"text":"Durst on Divorce","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=1093","url_meta":{"origin":1367,"position":3},"title":"Increased lifestyle due to cohabitation can lead to alimony termination","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"May 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Once alimony has been awarded, NJ law allows for a modification upon a showing by the payor that the recipient is cohabitating and realizing an economic benefit from doing so.\u00a0 Prior decisions have focused on the economic impact of the recipient's new relationship and have not required actual cohabitation for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Durst on Divorce"","block_context":{"text":"Durst on Divorce","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2614,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2614","url_meta":{"origin":1367,"position":4},"title":"Do I still have to pay alimony if my Ex is living with someone?","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"January 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Alimony is often a bitter pill to swallow.\u00a0 The payor may feel as though they are paying too much for too long.\u00a0 The recipient may feel it's not enough.\u00a0 But once alimony has been set, what happens when circumstances change in the future and how should potential changes be handled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Durst Firm News"","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1151,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=1151","url_meta":{"origin":1367,"position":5},"title":"Continuing duty to exchange tax returns after NJ Divorce","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"August 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In a recent unpublished opinion the Appellate Division required a litigant paying alimony to provide tax returns to his former spouse for so long as alimony arrearages existed.\u00a0 After a history of failing to abide by agreements to pay alimony, the defendant claimed he was unable to pay due to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Durst Firm News"","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1368,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions\/1368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}