cricket123

Trying not to borrow trouble but taxes are being done and I think the ex is going to cause me trouble. In our divorce paperwork I get to claim 17 year old son in the odd years(2015)and he has to get me the signed form by February 28th and if the ex claims him in the wrong year he will have to pay all the fines and fees. So far I have not got any forms. No suprise.

I told both son and daughter that they would be wise to use my income because they would get higher grants for college well daughter reports her dad claimed her. Humm he just screwed her out of grant money so when she says she needs a loan I will direct her to her dad. Hopefully it will be a teaching moment.

Sigh - just a vent very frustrating

Cricket

Hangnbyathread

While I can't share this same scenario, I can share a tax scenario that may help you navigate better.

My ex wife and I had a final divorce decree that stated we were both to be individually responsible for 50% of all tax burdens from the sale of homes.

4 years later I got a notice from the IRS that I owed taxes. Essentially they said I owed the 50% she didn't pay. I made an appointment with my tax office.

Brought my decree with me. The agent, as nicely as possible under the circumstances, said we are the IRS, not family court. As such we don't recognize divorce decrees. If taxes aren't being paid, we go to who was the legal owner of the asset and it is their burden to pay those taxes.

As it turned out my ex had simply stopped filing taxes, still owed taxes, skipped out on letting anyone know where she was then living.

The only saving grace I had was that the agent had been through a divorce, sympathized with me and said if I could steer them to where she was living, they would work with me.

I did, they did, and she now pays $160 a month for however many more years is left. They got her on this tax, plus unclaimed income, that she was making and not filing for.

Biotch.

ladyscribbler

My dad did the same thing, claiming us on his taxes so that we qualified for way less financial aid than we could have. Then he stole the money out of the college savings account he was supposed to maintain for me. My mom kind of just let it happen, put all of her trust in him doing the right thing when he had never previously demonstrated any willingness or ability to do the right thing.
I think you're right about this being a teachable moment for your daughter. That's a really smart, pragmatic view to take, as much as this whole thing must p!$$ you off. At least this is only going to be for another few years while your kids are students/dependents. Once they are on their own you won't have to keep dealing with this aggravation.

cricket123

if the ex has his way they will forever be dependent on him. (sigh)

dandylion

cricket....I am encouraged to see that you are beginning to stand up to the kids and their dad.....
This serves you so much better!!!!!!!!!!!!

dandylion

53500

>>if the ex claims him in the wrong year he will have to pay all the fines and fees<<

Cricket, unless you meant to say he'll have to pay all the TAXES this is a good deal for him. As long as you file and pay on time (with or without your kids) there should not be any additional charges. Now if your ex is supposed to pay you the *tax difference* it costs you to not claim your kids that is different.

In that case - and assuming this is calculated correctly and he pays - there is no harm done to you. On his side, he may or may not come out ahead.

Hopefully he'll just provide the form.

LexieCat

What's the agreement regarding claiming your daughter? To my knowledge (and I'm not an expert on this), an agreement as to who claims the child as a dependent for tax purposes isn't necessarily the same whose income is used for figuring financial aid for college. For financial aid purposes the parent with whom the child resided the majority of the time is supposed to fill out the form, but any support provided by the other parent has to be included. For tax purposes, the rule is that the custodial parent takes the exemption, unless there is an agreement/order that the noncustodial parent takes it.

Steve3929

Hangnbyathread,

Must have been a long time ago? These days there is not tax on gain on sale of residence (up to $500k gain that is)

cricket123

Daughter is pretty much living at college - when she comes home she is very fair about who she spends time with. 50-50 for the most part. Her twin refuses to stay with me, and I'm ok with that. (She has adopted her dad's attitude). We were given shared custody of our 17 year old and in 2015 we were in the same house for at least 1/2 the time.

The divorce decree says I claim him in odd years and the ex in even and if he claims him he pays all legal, irs fees etc

As for fasfa (student aid application) the less a parent makes the more grant money the kid will get.(parent contribution) Well this past year I had to get my daughter changed over because of special circumstances to get more money for her. I could not take out another loan for her and her dad will not take out a loan for her at all. So with my income for 2015 next to nothing I was hoping the 2 kids would see that it would be worth their while to have me claim them do they would not have to take out any loans.

So like I said a learning experience for them.

Hangnbyathread

It was 10 years ago. Gosh that is a decade now. And that exemption didn't apply to investment homes. In reality the divorce forced the short sale of all properties (6 of them). The shorted amount was to be taxed as income.