My friend just got married in October, her husband does not work, did not pay child support for his two children. These are not her children, she gets back alot from taxes, is she responsible for his back child support, even thou they are not her children, and if she is, is there anything she can do so she can keep her money since she earned it. She is going to get a divorce from him, but thinks she has to wait til they file taxes.
2007-01-06 14:24:15 · 9 answers · asked by lynnette m 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Depending on the state your friend lives in, she can be held responsible for the spouse's back child support. She should keep all her financial accounts separate from his and not acquire any joint assets.
If a spouse owes back child support and the other spouse files jointly with him, it is likely that the joint refund will be intercepted and used to pay the child support.
One way to avoid this is to file Married Filing Separately.
A second way is to file jointly but attach Form 8379 Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation. This is a request to have her part of the refund sent to her. This approach may preserve credits that they would not get filing separately.
The third solution which is more long term your friend has already figured out.
2007-01-06 14:36:47 · answer #1 · answered by ninasgramma 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So long as he has back support, they can take his tax refund. It does not matter if he paid everything for the current year. It also does not matter where the tax refund came from, so long as he was the one who made the money that was reported on the tax return they can take it. Since you live in a community property state, you may have some recourse even though you did not work. You will need to file and injured spouse form 8379 with the IRS, within 3 months of filing your tax return. If you do not, you have basically given up anything that may have been considered your share. Just because part of the refund was for children that are not part of the support order does not matter, the children aren't recieving the tax refund your husband is. If you did not live in a community property state you could not file the injured spouse form since you did not work. But Arizona & California are community property states so you can file this form. This is the only way that you are going to get at least part of the refund back. The child support office did not act outside of the law.
2016-05-23 01:34:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
she needs to file an injured spouse form when they file their taxes. Tell your friend not to file seperately, they will lose a lot of credits they may normally receive. When she files a injured spouse form, she will get the portion of the refund that she is entitled to and child support will take the rest.
2007-01-06 15:31:32 · answer #3 · answered by wyrick228 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She may be eligible to file an injured spouse claim. See the links below for more details.
2007-01-06 14:35:06 · answer #4 · answered by Mr. Zimmer 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
she needs to file as an injured spouse which basically shows his child support is not her responsibility
2007-01-06 14:30:11 · answer #5 · answered by starla 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As long as they file a separate return, she should be OK. And if he doesn't work, then I doubt he would file. However if for some reason they did file a joint return, she can kiss her return goodbye.
2007-01-06 14:34:20 · answer #6 · answered by gypsygrl1973 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
she can file something i cant remember what it is to protect her cuz they will take all of it.they did it to me and they weren't my kids either i was so pissed.H&R block was awesome in helping me but tell her once her money is gone they cant get it back so do it right the first time.dont wait go as soon as she gets her w2 form-good luck.
2007-01-06 14:37:11 · answer #7 · answered by pookie 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do not file a joint return. File as single.
2007-01-06 14:28:13 · answer #8 · answered by October 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
She can file seperately. His tax refund, if any, would be confiscated.
2007-01-06 14:27:58 · answer #9 · answered by Stuart 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋