Articles Tagged with alimony

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Henry v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 201924, 2019 WL 1385242 (2019) 

 
(a) Facts: Husband and wife married in 1997 and divorced in 2013.  While the divorce case was pending, the parties filed a joint income tax return for tax year 2012.  The return did not report $14,650 in income earned by the husband from his second job as a church musician. 

 
The IRS assessed a deficiency, which neither party contested.  The IRS then seized funds from the wife’s 2014 tax return to satisfy the deficiency.  The wife moved for innocent spouse relief.  The IRS granted relief but denied the wife a refund.  The wife sought review in the Tax Court. 

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Lucas v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2018‑80, 2018 WL 2948427 (2018)

 

(a) Facts: The parties divorced in Florida in 2011.  While the divorce was pending, the husband was in the process of liquidating his business, Vicis Capital, LLC.  He received, while the action was pending, $4.7 million in distributions.

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Barry v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2017-237, 2017 WL 5899406 (2017)

 

(a) Facts: When the parties were divorced, the husband agreed to pay the wife $2,400 per month in alimony.  Twenty-four years later, the husband filed an action against the wife in federal court for breach of contract, arguing that he had overpaid alimony and that the wife was required to return the overpayment.  The action was dismissed quickly as time-barred.

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Davidson v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2018-38, 2018 WL 1611811 (2018)

 

(a) Facts: The parties were divorced by an Arkansas court, and the divorce decree divided the parties’ debt.  Within a few days after the decree was entered the judge sent the parties a letter, which stated:

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Dear Carolyn,

I have received spousal alimony since a 2003 court order until death. I would like to get an increase because of the economy. My ex-spouse receives three times my social security and retirement. His home is paid for and he owes three motor vehicles. His social security and retirement from a big local company is great. I received zero from this after 38 years of marriage. He was in Management. What are my chances of getting an increase?

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Dear Carolyn,

I work and make a good income.  During our marriage, my wife worked for a while, but stopped when we had children.  She has and maintains a CPA license.  We have a 15-year-old with some discipline problems and ADHD.  We are divorcing, and I think she should go back to work.  She wants alimony.  Who is right?  Does she need to work, or can she just continue to be a leech?

– Anti-Leech

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Dear Carolyn,

My ex is receiving alimony, which I obviously do not want to pay.  She has a son, by another marriage, who is a heroin addict.  My ex-wife began dating shortly after our divorce, and she seems quite entrenched with this guy.  He stays over at my ex’s on some weekends, but he does still have his own apartment.  I know he has a key to my ex’s house, and I know he stayed there four weeks when the heroin addict was in rehabilitation.   My court order for alimony says that the alimony terminates upon cohabitation or remarriage.  Will the court terminate my alimony?  Is my ex cohabiting?

                – Sorry to be paying alimony

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Dear Carolyn,

My ex is all over Facebook about what she did with the kids during Spring Break. She apparently took some young woman with her to babysit so she could spend more time with her boyfriend on the Florida beach. She posted my little boy “buck naked” on the beach on Facebook. She posted her “babysitter—young woman” drinking beer with at least a dozen empty beer cans in the background. She posted a picture of her boyfriend and her entwined on the beach on a blanket. And to top it all off, she posted a picture of her new engagement ring from him, and we are not even divorced. Continue reading →

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Dear Carolyn,

My wife had an affair, and because I wanted to save the marriage for the children, I forgave her. That was about ten years ago.  Now, it is really not working, and I want out.  The last child has finished high school.  She spends too much money and she will not find a job.  She says I owe her alimony if I leave.  She has the same college degree I do.  Can she get alimony?  What about her affair?

I tried, but….just can’t do it any more….

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Forget it!

Forget about the alimony deduction for all new decrees or instruments post-2019. (See Part I for modification of pre-2019 alimony orders and agreement, as modification has a separate set of rules.) The deduction is gone absent a congressional miracle. That means on December 31, 2018, or before you must have alimony that qualifies under IRC Section 71 before it is repealed. The alimony must meet the terms of Section 71, pre-TCJA and pre-2019, which are as follows: Continue reading →