Married filing seperately

[Texas_P1]

What is the name of your state?TX

I also posted this in the TAX forum - but there doesn't seem to be as much activity there, so I will post here as well.

We have temporary order in place with me being the pri******* and we both have joint conservatorship. My STBX moved out of the house in June and left the 3 girls and her son with me. She took her son down to her parents in August. She now has standard visitation wehere she gets them 1st/3rd/5th weekend each month. My question is how do we (I) go about filing taxes this year. My wife doesn't make much normally around 10K and she has no federal taxes taken out of her checks as it comes out of mine and we normally get a refund of about 2k-3k. Can I file as married filing separately? I want to do this as she wants half of any refund we get. I think she should not as since she pays in no federal taxes she should not get half of what I am paying in. And can I claim her son as we (I) have done the past 10 years? And are there any other issues that might arise that I do not know about?

Thanks

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Texas_P1

What is the name of your state?TX

I also posted this in the TAX forum - but there doesn't seem to be as much activity there, so I will post here as well.

We have temporary order in place with me being the pri******* and we both have joint conservatorship. My STBX moved out of the house in June and left the 3 girls and her son with me. She took her son down to her parents in August. She now has standard visitation wehere she gets them 1st/3rd/5th weekend each month. My question is how do we (I) go about filing taxes this year. My wife doesn't make much normally around 10K and she has no federal taxes taken out of her checks as it comes out of mine and we normally get a refund of about 2k-3k. Can I file as married filing separately? I want to do this as she wants half of any refund we get. I think she should not as since she pays in no federal taxes she should not get half of what I am paying in. And can I claim her son as we (I) have done the past 10 years? And are there any other issues that might arise that I do not know about?

Thanks

Depending on your income bracket, filing married filing separately would probably cost you more than it would to file jointly and give her half the refund.

However, because you have been separated since June neither one of you has to do that. Being separated for at least the last six months of the calendar year entitles you to file as unmarried.

You can file head of household and claim your children (unless the judge ruled that you had to split the exemptions). You cannot claim her son at all. You can only claim a non-related dependent if that person has lived with you for the entire year.

Mom can file and claim her son, (he hasn't lived with her parents long enough for them to be able to claim him) she will likely receive a bigger refund than you will, as she will be eligible for Earned Income Credit.

[Texas_P1]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

Depending on your income bracket, filing married filing separately would probably cost you more than it would to file jointly and give her half the refund.

However, because you have been separated since June neither one of you has to do that. Being separated for at least the last six months of the calendar year entitles you to file as unmarried.

You can file head of household and claim your children (unless the judge ruled that you had to split the exemptions). You cannot claim her son at all. You can only claim a non-related dependent if that person has lived with you for the entire year.

Mom can file and claim her son, (he hasn't lived with her parents long enough for them to be able to claim him) she will likely receive a bigger refund than you will, as she will be eligible for Earned Income Credit.

I will make about 74k this year. Ok, so I can filed as unmarried (HOH)? The order does not talk about any exemption issues at this point as they are only temp. So, does that mean that no one will be able to claim her son this year as he has not lived with anyone for the whole year. Me for 8 months and with mom as well while she was still in home for about 6 months (so how can she file with him) and then with grandparents for 4.5 months now. Does it matter that I have him on my heath insurance for this whole year? Or as you say they have to live with someone a whole year.

[Texas_P1]

and I just found this:

(1)To be eligible to file under "Married filing jointly" status, you and your spouse must be legally still married (even if you are living apart) as of the last day of the tax year, December 31. - WE ARE
(2)To qualify for "Married filing separately" status, you must still be legally married as of the last day of the tax year. - WE ARE
(3)Finally, to file under "Single" status, you must be legally unmarried or legally separated as of December 31 and not eligible for "Head of Household" status. - IN TEXAS WE DO NOT HAVE A LEGAL SEPERATION, AND SINCE THE FIANL DECREE HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED WE ARE STILL LEGALLY MARRIED
(4)Head of Household would be defined as either a single person who provided more than half of the household maintenance costs AND whose household is the principal residence (defined as being more than one half of a year) of at least one dependent. If you are married but have lived physically apart on or prior to July I of the tax year, you must employ "Married filing separately" status.

So, according to this from divorcesource.com I will HAVE to file "Married filing separately" unless both spouse and I can agree to file together.

I was reading further aNd when filing sep**** you have to split the tax liabilites and tax assests. Even though I pay for all the property taxes and payments, insurance, etc.. It sounds like It would be best to try and file together and come to some sort of agreement. That will suck!

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Texas_P1

I will make about 74k this year. Ok, so I can filed as unmarried (HOH)? The order does not talk about any exemption issues at this point as they are only temp. So, does that mean that no one will be able to claim her son this year as he has not lived with anyone for the whole year. Me for 8 months and with mom as well while she was still in home for about 6 months (so how can she file with him) and then with grandparents for 4.5 months now. Does it matter that I have him on my heath insurance for this whole year? Or as you say they have to live with someone a whole year.

Yes, you can file as head of household. Mom CAN claim her son because he is her child....and because he did live with her for 6 months of the year. it doesn't matter whether he lived with her for the rest of the year or not. You can't claim her son because he is not related to you and hasn't lived with you for an entire year. The grandparent's can't claim him because he hasn't lived with them long enough for them to be able to prove that they provided 50% of his support. The rules are different for each of the different parties...you, the grandparents and mom.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Texas_P1

and I just found this:

(1)To be eligible to file under "Married filing jointly" status, you and your spouse must be legally still married (even if you are living apart) as of the last day of the tax year, December 31. - WE ARE
(2)To qualify for "Married filing separately" status, you must still be legally married as of the last day of the tax year. - WE ARE
(3)Finally, to file under "Single" status, you must be legally unmarried or legally separated as of December 31 and not eligible for "Head of Household" status. - IN TEXAS WE DO NOT HAVE A LEGAL SEPERATION, AND SINCE THE FIANL DECREE HAS NOT BEEN FINISHED WE ARE STILL LEGALLY MARRIED
(4)Head of Household would be defined as either a single person who provided more than half of the household maintenance costs AND whose household is the principal residence (defined as being more than one half of a year) of at least one dependent. If you are married but have lived physically apart on or prior to July I of the tax year, you must employ "Married filing separately" status.

So, according to this from divorcesource.com I will HAVE to file "Married filing separately" unless both spouse and I can agree to file together.

I was reading further aNd when filing sep**** you have to split the tax liabilites and tax assests. Even though I pay for all the property taxes and payments, insurance, etc.. It sounds like It would be best to try and file together and come to some sort of agreement. That will suck!

Are you going to believe divorcesource.com (much of whose information is outdated) or are you going to believe an accountant and professional tax preparer (ie - me)? A legal separation is not required.

[Texas_P1]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

Are you going to believe divorcesource.com (much of whose information is outdated) or are you going to believe an accountant and professional tax preparer (ie - me)? A legal separation is not required.

Alright then, how much are you going to charge me to file/preperation? And to what extent do your CPAs have in liability for what they submit for you tax statements

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Texas_P1

Alright then, how much are you going to charge me to file/preperation? And to what extent do your CPAs have in liability for what they submit for you tax statements

How much I would charge you depends on the level of complication of your individual taxes....

We take full liability for any penalties or interest generated by our firm's errors....as does any reputable firm.

Preparers are liable for penalities also for individual tax returns that they prepare...so the reputables ones are VERY careful. You can get hurt on a single year's tax returns, we can lose our right to practice.