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Separation maintenance, taxes and still married....

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miraspeace

Junior Member
State/ ny

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ny

My husband and I are separated since 2003 when we signed a separation maintenance agreement. it was never signed by a judge; it was only given to a clerk and signed by her as receiving it.

(A year later, i had to take my husband to family court for child support. The judge said she would uphold the child support stated in our agreement but advised me to go to court for the agreement to be designated legal).

I have not done this to date. Neither has my husband.

I have been filing as head of household and married; my husband does not file as hoh. He was filing 'married filing separately' until the irs said he had to file as 'single'.
But we are still married!

I think the problem is with the actual agreement.

I sent the irs a copy of my agreement which states the child support and who it is for and it also has an article which states
....once any child goes past the age for that child to be eligible for child support then the amount given for said child will 'roll over' and be included into spousal support--so that the total amount given to the spouse never changes....'

Anyhow, the irs says that is too confusing and wants me to lable ALL of the child support and the spousal support given to me by my husband, ALL 'alimony'.

The irs told me i would have to file as single and it calls my spousal support 'alimony'. They said i could go ahead and file as hoh but must file as single too.

And this year taxes are raised and my child support and spousal income is most of what is now called my adjusted gross income and I have to pay taxes on it all now.

I don't get it.
I don't believe in divorce; I am still married, and my husband is still giving me child support---- unless the irs suddenly has the power to invalidate my marriage and my child support...?

I think I should get another agreement made which is more specific.
But if I do, will it hold up in court if I am challenged on it by the irs.
We were married for 31 years before having this agreement made.

I believe we are 'married but living apart'.
For my own income, I have a small home business making pastries for a small store in my area which brings in after taxes about .
We have nine children together. Two of our children are still eligible for child support for another 2 1/2 years and 3 1/2 years, respectively. I am still a stay at home mom up to this point.

If I do get another agreement made, what is the best return status for me to file?

I am 62 now and need to go back to school to try to get some kind of career.
For most of our marriage I have been a stay at home mom, raising our large family. I was trained in food service but I don't have the speed it takes to do that kind of work now.

I don't work out of the home, so I don't get a w-2.
My home business doesn't help me that way, but i do pay self employment tax.
The bulk of my income is child support and spousal support (now called alimony by the irs), which also hurts when I try to help our children get student loans/grants because the entire amount is now called 'income'.

What is an article 11 (or charter 11??); someone mentioned i should file my agreement under that, but I forgot what he meant or what it would mean for my agreement. I don't want a legal separation.
Any advice is appreciated.
miraWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
State/ ny

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ny

My husband and I are separated since 2003 when we signed a separation maintenance agreement. it was never signed by a judge; it was only given to a clerk and signed by her as receiving it.

(A year later, i had to take my husband to family court for child support. The judge said she would uphold the child support stated in our agreement but advised me to go to court for the agreement to be designated legal).

I have not done this to date. Neither has my husband.

I have been filing as head of household and married; my husband does not file as hoh. He was filing 'married filing separately' until the irs said he had to file as 'single'.
But we are still married!

I think the problem is with the actual agreement.

I sent the irs a copy of my agreement which states the child support and who it is for and it also has an article which states
....once any child goes past the age for that child to be eligible for child support then the amount given for said child will 'roll over' and be included into spousal support--so that the total amount given to the spouse never changes....'

Anyhow, the irs says that is too confusing and wants me to lable ALL of the child support and the spousal support given to me by my husband, ALL 'alimony'.

The irs told me i would have to file as single and it calls my spousal support 'alimony'. They said i could go ahead and file as hoh but must file as single too.

And this year taxes are raised and my child support and spousal income is most of what is now called my adjusted gross income and I have to pay taxes on it all now.

I don't get it.
I don't believe in divorce; I am still married, and my husband is still giving me child support---- unless the irs suddenly has the power to invalidate my marriage and my child support...?

I think I should get another agreement made which is more specific.
But if I do, will it hold up in court if I am challenged on it by the irs.
We were married for 31 years before having this agreement made.

I believe we are 'married but living apart'.
For my own income, I have a small home business making pastries for a small store in my area which brings in after taxes about .
We have nine children together. Two of our children are still eligible for child support for another 2 1/2 years and 3 1/2 years, respectively. I am still a stay at home mom up to this point.

If I do get another agreement made, what is the best return status for me to file?

I am 62 now and need to go back to school to try to get some kind of career.
For most of our marriage I have been a stay at home mom, raising our large family. I was trained in food service but I don't have the speed it takes to do that kind of work now.

I don't work out of the home, so I don't get a w-2.
My home business doesn't help me that way, but i do pay self employment tax.
The bulk of my income is child support and spousal support (now called alimony by the irs), which also hurts when I try to help our children get student loans/grants because the entire amount is now called 'income'.

What is an article 11 (or charter 11??); someone mentioned i should file my agreement under that, but I forgot what he meant or what it would mean for my agreement. I don't want a legal separation.
Any advice is appreciated.
miraWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
You are making this more complicated that you should for tax purposes.

People who are married have two choices as to how to file taxes. Married filing jointly or married filing separately.

However, if the parties are separated for at least the last 6 months of the calendar year (which you are) then they have the ability to file as either Head of Household (if they have qualifying children at home) or single.

This is actually a GOOD thing taxwise, because married filing separately has higher tax brackets and cannot claim many tax credits. There is no such thing as "Head of household, married". Its simply Head of Household.

As far as the alimony/spousal support is concerned, you messed up by sending the IRS a copy of that agreement. As you stated, that agreement has not been signed off on by a judge. Now the IRS has decided that the whole thing is alimony/spousal support.

You need a tax attorney at this point.
 

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