Alimony or Separate Maintenance — In General A payment is alimony or separate maintenance only if all the following requirements are met: The spouses don't file a joint return with each other; The payment is in cash including checks or money orders ; The payment is to or for a spouse or a former spouse made under a divorce or separation instrument; The spouses aren't members of the same household when the payment is made This requirement applies only if the spouses are legally separated under a decree of divorce or of separate maintenance.
Payments Not Alimony or Separate Maintenance Not all payments under a divorce or separation instrument are alimony or separate maintenance. Reporting Taxable Alimony or Separate Maintenance If you paid amounts that are considered taxable alimony or separate maintenance, you may deduct from income the amount of alimony or separate maintenance you paid whether or not you itemize your deductions.
Additional Information For more detailed information on the requirements for alimony and separate maintenance and instances in which you may need to recapture an amount that was reported or deducted recapture of alimony , see Publication , Divorced or Separated Individuals.
Page Last Reviewed or Updated: Nov But doing it as a veiled threat—"If that is all you are going to leave me, I might as well quit my job and move to Brazil" —would be a mistake. Most judges don't take kindly to those sorts of threats. Instead, try being a little subtle about it, such as: "The amount my spouse is asking for leaves me with less than half of my paycheck each month.
As noted, alimony is generally based largely on what each of the divorcing spouses "reasonably earn. When facts such as these occur, the person who has changed jobs will usually be expected to present evidence on why personal factors such as stress made the change necessary. Sometimes a psychologist is called as a witness to back up the need for the change.
The person opposing a reduction in support may succeed by showing that the lifestyles of those who are being supported will be severely affected by the loss of substantial alimony payments. Court decisions in this area will often depend on the precise wording of the state law on alimony and the court's appraisal of the good faith of the supporting spouse.
The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. For spouses who worked in the home, they might not have the skills, education, or experience to find a job that supports them or maintains their current standard of living.
Spousal support or alimony is a payment from one spouse to another spouse. It is intended to assist a spouse who did not work during the marriage or earns much less than the other spouse in providing for their financial needs after the divorce. No, there is no difference between the terms. They are synonymous and mean the same thing. Alimony is an older, outdated term that is often associated with men supporting women.
However, spousal support has nothing to do with gender. Spousal support focuses on income and earning potential instead of gender roles. In some states, alimony was also tied to fault.
You do, however, have a choice, and for some couples, the tax consequences are more favorable if they make payments nondeductible and nontaxable because of the tax consequences. A tax expert can tell you which course is right for you.
However, not all alimony payments qualify as deductions. The IRS imposes seven requirements on taxpayers seeking to deduct alimony payments:. You can deduct the amount of alimony payments even if you don't itemize deductions on your income tax return.
Use the standard income tax return, IRS Form , to claim the deduction. You'll need to provide your former spouse's social security number. The TCJA ended the tax deduction benefit and reporting requirements for support until at least or, after until Congress changes the law. The IRS now treats all alimony payments the same as child support—meaning, there's no deduction or credit for the paying spouse and no income reporting requirement for the recipient.
Divorce is an adversarial process already, and the new tax changes are likely to cause more issues moving forward. In the past, paying spouses were less likely to fight over spousal support payments because that spouse would receive a credit for any money paid to the recipient, and the recipient would pay taxes on the income. Now, however, paying spouses often feel as though the new law rewards the recipient spouse with a financial windfall—large, monthly payments that don't count as income.
As a result of the new tax law, paying spouses will likely negotiate to pay less in spousal support to make up for the loss of the tax deduction and "windfall" for the recipient not reporting the income. If you're going through a divorce and alimony is an issue, it's important to speak with an experienced family law or tax law attorney before you settle or ask the court to decide the alimony issue for you. Paying spouses must evaluate the impact of paying spousal support on their annual income and how the payments will impact the recipient.
The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state.
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