to my own place until June 2009 due to financial restraints. We have 3 children. Child support/alimony is basically nonexistent as we share funds for the children more than send specific payments. He does cover my rent & utilities, however, since I moved out.
I worked for 1 month during 2009. My ex- worked for 10 mos then started receiving unemployment & attending school for which he gets VA benefits.
The final factor is that we own a home & a 2nd home which we rent out. Both of our names are on the mortgages to these homes, as we are still working through the refinance process with the lenders.
Last year we filed jointly, with him as head of household & claiming the children & myself. This year, I moved out right at the breaking point for being able to claim myself or for him to claim me.
In this situation, who should claim the children? Should I allow him to claim me or might I get a better return claiming myself & possibly the children? And how should we handle who claims to houses & rental income?
I could run 5 different scenarios using tax software, but am trying to save time by asking on Yahoo Answers. Thanks!
OK, seriously? There isn’t a single tax preparer on Yahoo Answers that can give me a basic overview on how to handle a divorce situation? Please don’t offer up corny websites or throw-in the towel answers. Thanks!
Also, my moving out can be dated either as before the 6 month mark or after. My apartment lease was signed in April ’08, but I didn’t officially move out until the end of June.
What if…..I claim the rental income/rental mortgage interest while he claims the house we own, as he still lives there?
In our divorce decree,. it says we alternate years as to who claims the kids. He took them last year, so I’ll take them this year.
In this situation, I’ll claim myself.
Splitting it like this, just black & white….does that sound reasonable?
Lois
Russell
This might be a FUBAR! Looks like you could have irremediably fouled this up by moving out at the wrong time. This time you need a professional to make sure you get it right – and I’m not talking about a Block temp, either. I mean a real tax professional – CPA. It is going to cost you one way or another here.
Comment by ibu guru — August 23, 2010 @ 12:38 am
Barry
This sounds like a tangled web. Go see tax professional, and NOT H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt. I mean a real tax professional.
Comment by Orange — August 25, 2010 @ 1:03 am
Corey
It’s impossible to file jointly with him as head of household. If you filed jointly for 2008 and were divorced in June 2008, you filed a fraudulent return. If you filed as single and he filed as head of household that might have been legal, would need more info to tell. If you moved out in 2009 and the kids are with you, then you might be able to file as head of household for 2009, but if he’s paying the bills for the household, probably not.
You can’t legally “allow” him to claim you. You are no longer married so are now unrelated, and didn’t live together ALL year, so without even looking at the other rules, he already can’t claim you since for an unrelated person to be claimed, the people must live together ALL year.
As to who claims the kids, you’d have to see who gets the most from claiming them. If you are the person they live with, you have first right to claim them, but you can sign over the right to claim them to your ex using form 8332. If they live with you, he can’t get EIC for them but you still can if you qualify even if he’s the one who claims them.
For the houses, the person actually paying the bills would get any deductions.
Good luck.
Comment by Judy — August 27, 2010 @ 10:53 am