North Carolina Divorce Lawyers Blog

Articles Tagged with Child support

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At the heart of many family law related disputes lie arguably the most difficult decisions regarding the children and their futures.  At times it may seem unlikely that individuals in the midst of a divorce will ever agree on anything; fortunately, ensuring that any children involved receive a quality education is usually a top priority for everyone.  Setting aside differences for what is in the children’s best interest saves not only time but may also preserve important financial resources that may be reallocated to ensuring the children’s futures are preserved. Continue reading →

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Dear Carolyn,

My daughter just graduated from high school, and she is college bound.  Her father and I divorced three years ago.  Her father paid child support, but I understand child support is ending now as she is already 18.  I thought her father would surely pay (or at least help) with college, and he told me last night that he was not helping with college.  What can I do?  Our divorce agreement says NOTHING about college.

~ College Help Needed

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Dear Carolyn,

I am thinking about separating from my wife of 10 years. She is a doctor and makes a lot more money than me. I am a school teacher and make extra money coaching, but she still makes a lot more than me.  Neither of us are having an affair, but I am pretty miserable. We are both thirty-three.  She works all the time and I take care of our two children.  I also worked for two years while she finished her medical degree.  I hate to ask, could I get alimony as a man?  Our lifestyle has been great, and I would like to maintain that lifestyle as best I can. Thanks Carolyn.

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Anderson v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2016-47, 2016 WL 976816 (2016)

Facts: An Alabama court entered a pretrial order in a divorce case, requiring both parties to “[m]aintain status quo as to payment of house note or rent, utilities, food, necessities, fixed credit obligations, ” 2016 WL 976816, at *1. After the order was entered, the husband transferred at least $1,000 each month to the wife “for her spending money and other things that I had previously paid for.” Id. Continue reading →

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By: Dana M. Horlick, Attorney, Woodruff Family Law Group
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McBride v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2015-6, 2015 WL 393011 (2015)

(a) Facts: The taxpayer, his grown son and daughter, and his daughter’s child all lived in the same household. On her federal tax return, the daughter claimed an exemption for her child. On his federal tax return, the taxpayer claimed dependency exemptions for the son, the daughter, and her child. The IRS disallowed all three of the taxpayer’s exemption, and assessed a deficiency. Continue reading →

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Watch out for those hurried, last minute North Carolina agreements that link alimony and child support termination; you could get an unintended tax consequence and the loss of the tax deduction.

While the Johnson case, discussed herein, is not a North Carolina case, it could be.  Guys and gals, you simply cannot link alimony reductions to a child-related event.  It doesn’t work; that is, if you want the deduction.

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It is tempting to lump child support and post separation support/alimony into a bucket of one dollar amount, sometimes referred to as “family support”.  This is particularly tempting in the early part of a case, but it is DANGEROUS.  A couple of tax rules will help:

Rule 1:  Don’t create family support as a way to get 100 percent of support as an alimony deduction as this really doesn’t work.

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by Carolyn J. Woodruff, JD, CPA, CVA
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Schilling v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2012‑256, 2012 WL 3848477 (2012)

(a) Facts: The parties settled their divorce case by signing a separation agreement. The agreement awarded the wife $2,450 per month on spousal support for six years.  It, further, provided that the wife’s spousal support would drop by specified amounts when each of their three remaining minor children reached age 18 or left home for college, whichever occurred first.  Finally, the agreement provided that the husband would pay no child support, justifying this downward deviation from the child support guidelines by pointing to the spousal support provision. The agreement was incorporated into an Ohio divorce decree. Continue reading →