Question on Taxes...Should I File Married filing Separate
This year I inherited a great deal of money from a relative (which my husband and I are planning on using to buy our first home). My husband has a daughter and I am just worried that if we file our taxes jointly this year...the bio mom could come back and try to get some of my inheritance.
My step-daughter is in my will...so its not a matter of excluding her from this money...I just don't want to be forced to give bio mom the money that she isn't entitled to.
Even though filing separately is usually not the best option....should I go this route?
By the way...my husband is in the military (of coarse), I am a full time student (no loans) and child support was never done through the courts (so no parenting plan or court orders etc)
Any thoughts?
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I would definitely consult a
I would definitely consult a tax professonial well versed in these types of family issues.
No CS through the courts?
How would she even know about this "income" then?
"The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change, So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger, but in wisdom, understanding, and love." -Jennifer Edwards
You should check with the
You should check with the laws in your state, because in my state, any money that comes to me and that I make is not able to be included in child support calculations now or ever. It is a good idea to keep that money out of a joint bank account however, just for ease of tracking by courts and so that there isn't any allegations of comingled marital funds. But honestly, if your state is the same as mine you have nothing to worry about.
do you know where I can
do you know where I can check that? Also would it be the state that we are in or what state our step-daughter is in?
Usually it's the state where
Usually it's the state where the divorce happened and/or where the child resides in primary residence. I know there are some caveats to that in some cases though.
In our state, the court website publishes public information on filling court cases of every type, you can even print off legal forms and it has a child support calculator. In the child support guidelines in our state, it says spousal income cannot be included in the calculations.
Thank yall...I figured I
Thank yall...I figured I needed to talk to an accountant. Im not sure how expensive that might be because we usually do our taxes through the military (which is awful and not on a personal level at all...but free)
The bio mom knows that I did inherit some money because I also inherited a house and a car that I sold, that she does know about. My concern was just that she might get greedy...even though we have always been able to handle our situation outside of the courts.
You can get a pretty good
You can get a pretty good accountant for $20-$100 per personal tax return, usually. BF pays $99 to get his personal taxes done every year and $200 for his corporation's taxes.
Gifts and inheritances are usually considered seperate property even after being married. You could always draw up a postnuptial agreement which explains the division of property if you wanted to have good solid proof. I am pretty sure she wouldn't be able to claim it as income for him, but of course lawyers and accountants would know better than me
*~So sayeth Nymh~*
I always file separate but
I always file separate but that is because of our situation. The thing about your situation that would bother me is the fact that you dh has no child support agreement in place. If the ex goes to court and says that he didn't pay blah, blah, blah. The court could look at your guys tax return just as a point of ref and they could withhold any tax refund you would be entitled to and send it to the BM.
Yeah...I really wish there
Yeah...I really wish there was a child agreement. Every year we do get bm to sign a paper saying we have been paying her child support for the year and get her to sign it with a witness. Not sure how legal that is but it is some form of documentation. The reason its this way is that they had my sd very very young. My DH was 14 when my SD was born. They just went the out of court route...which I know could screw us one day.
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True, they can not figure
True, they can not figure your assets into the child support equation but the judge can look at them and use his own discretion. When my dh went to get child support lowered because his company had a 20% company wide paycut the judge agreed to only 15% and his reasoning: you have moved into a nice new house you have a new wife while your ex wife has not remarried and sill in the same situation. This is such bs considering that my dh and I do not share any bank accounts or property or anything financial. What I have or make is mine. He is 20,000 in debt and if I was helping him as the judge inferred why would he be in debt? Stupid but it's what happens.
Very good point. Is'nt it
Very good point. Is'nt it amazing that these women even want to be supported by another woman? The BM in my situation told my DH "Well you are married, you have two incomes and can afford to give me more money." So now it's my fault that she is psycho and can't get a man to marry her and I need to contribute to her standard of living too? Whatever!
BM tried to tell me that she
BM tried to tell me that she "wanted me to be aware" that any life insurance that I had on myself would be given to her and SS if I died even though he is not a beneficiary. WTF? She's also claimed that she had the right to put leins on MY property and if BF and I get married, his CS payments will go up because of my income.
BF and I are honestly thinking about having a commitment ceremony and living as married with me changing my name, but not legally becoming married because of all the BS that comes along with it. Plus we will both benefit from staying single with schools and taxes.
*~So sayeth Nymh~*
Did it occur to you that she
Did it occur to you that she is just saying everything she can to keep her worst nightmare from coming true? Your SS would never get your life insurance and she can't do anything to YOUR property, and depending on the state, most of them do not take spousal income into consideration.
Don't let her keep you from doing what you want in your relationship. She is a nasty miserable person, don't give her that control over you.
If anything, consult a lawyer, you can pay little to no money for some advice.
Oh honey I know that's
Oh honey I know that's exactly what she was doing! I'm just saying that she has said all of those things to scare me out of marrying BF by trying to convince me that she would be entitled to my money and assets if I did. I know she's not! We are thinking about not getting legally married for other reasons entirely.
*~So sayeth Nymh~*