Divorce Alimony Child Support

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When couples seeking divorce begin negotiations for a settlement, the maximum anxiety is experienced when the issues like child support and alimony prop up. In fact, as less as just a mere 15% of women who are divorced are given some support by their spouses in the modern day world. Again, even among these a mere 15%, i.e., about one third of the women are not fortunate enough to get that form of money or spousal support. Besides, as less as fifty percent of these women given some form of child support ever get any child support. All this happens after the Internal Revenue Service accepts spousal support as taxable for both the recipient and a deduction for the giver. For that reason to avoid all of this menace, more and more women are joining the work force. Moreover, if in case one has been married for a minimum of ten years or more, chances of getting a better alimony or spousal support are more. But if in case, the recipient of alimony or spousal support has a law or MBA degree, chances of getting an alimony or spousal support are less. Besides, if the other partner also files for alimony or child support, chances of getting a big amount towards alimony becomes even less. In case the individual gets some support it will only be paid till one begins working again or till one remarries. It will be just enough for lending a support for learning new skills for a certain period of time.

The alimony amount differs with circumstances and there are various factors to be considered to determine the amount of alimony. For most families, the minimum amount needed for child support is very specific and simple for computation. The fears about divorce alimony child support are very unrealistic. It must be noted that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) treats the issues of alimony and child support very differently. When there is very less income or money that can be disbursed by one partner to the other, discussion of child support gets priority. In divorce law, there is an important principle that the best interests of the child must be attained. Accordingly, initially provisions are made to ascertain the fulfillment of the requirements of the children. Later, the topic of alimony is taken for discussion.

Let us assume that a parent is the custodian of a child and has to stay at home to take care of the child. In this case, such a parent is offered divorce alimony for a specific period of time.

Highlights of Divorce Alimony Child Support

• A spouse qualifies for alimony deduction only when it is paid separately from child support or any other sort of payment.
• Child support is not deducted as tax for the payer spouse, nor it is included as taxable income by the recipient.
• Divorce alimony amount is a tax deductible amount for the payer spouse and taxable income to the recipient.
• Due to the fact mentioned in the previous point, if the difference between the incomes of the spouses is considerable, the couple opts for a settlement. The explanation being the wealthy partner is benefited due to the tax deduction and the poor partner is benefited due to a reasonable income hike with minimal tax and,
• If a spouse aims to obtain child support as tax free income, then it must be distinctly labeled "child support" and should be paid separately from any other settlement amount

Example of Divorce Alimony Child Support

Let us consider the following 3 examples of divorce alimony and child support:

• Child Support of 500 USD and Monthly Alimony of 5,500 USD: Total 6,000 USD
• Child Support of 1,000 USD and Monthly Alimony of 4,500 USD: Total 5,500 USD
• Child Support of 2,500 USD and Monthly Alimony of 2,500 USD: Total 5,000 USD

Let us assume that the husband and the wife are in the combined federal and state tax bracket of 35 percent. It is implied that after taxes the recipient will have 100 percent of child support and 65 percent of monthly alimony.

Thus, the yields of the above examples after payment of taxes in that order are as follows:

• 4,075 USD
• 3,925 USD
• 4,125 USD

Thus, the recipient of this money would be at an advantage when accepting the last example (i.e. 4,125 USD), which surprisingly is the least total amount prior to tax deduction (The gross amount is 5,000 USD).

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