Divorce and Tax Ramifications

When you are contemplating divorce it is imperative to understand the tax ramifications of your decision. To begin, you may opt to ask for or pay out alimony. This means that you will get or pay payments that are equal for a period of at least ten years. This is beneficial to the payer as it is tax-deductible; the payee is subject to taxation on alimony.

For couples with children, child support will now become an issue in many ways. For taxation purposes, it is neither taxable to the payee nor deductible by the payer or payee.

In some cases an ex-spouse will still be eligible for Social Security benefits. If the marriage lasted for a minimum of ten years, the beneficiary spouse is at least 62 years of age and unmarried, the ex-spouse is eligible for continued benefits.

For couples that have joint custody, the parent that pays more than half of the cost of maintaining a household and their child lives with them for more than half of the year, he or she can claim head-of-household status. That parent does not even need to claim that child as a dependant to have this special filing status.

Contact us to learn how your divorce could impact your taxes by speaking with a Jacksonville family law attorney.