Stimulus Payments

Tis_Of_Thee · 2020-09-01T22:34:00+00:00

I just finished a "Zoom" court date for this last week. Sued the Ex for contempt when she didn't share the stimulus check. We have joint custody.

Per our divorce agreement we alternate taking the kids as a deduction for taxes. I get even years, she gets odd years. Since the stimulus was issued in 2020 as a tax credit I thought I was on firm ground by filing for contempt to get not only half but 100% of the kids money.

"Court" lasted all of 5 minutes.....
Judge: "So there's nothing in your divorce agreement that specifically states that she has to give you any stimulus money sent to her, even if it was issued on behalf of the children".
Me: "Your Honor, when we made the divorce agreement there was no such thing as a stimulus check. Per our agreement I'm entitled to any tax benefits connected to the children in odd-numbered years..."
Judge: "Nothing here specifically entitles you to a 'stimulus check'. If the agreement said that you should share stimulus money issued on behalf of the kids you might have an argument. But you don't. Case dismissed"

i_need_a_username201 · 2020-09-01T22:40:13+00:00

Just a thought, i claim the oldest kid, my ex wife claims the youngest kid. It eliminates this kind of issue and keeps my taxes the same every year.

lemmingsrevenge · 2020-09-02T00:27:00+00:00

Yeah the cost of court vs $600. If I was already going to court for the $5400 that would be one thing, but it would look petty asF to go back for this.

4agreements · 2020-09-02T04:40:30+00:00

Let it go. You will always make more money

BroScrubYourBalls · 2020-09-02T19:56:24+00:00

It was an advanced refundable tax credit, so you'll potentially both get the money because when you fill out your taxes you will claim the dependents but also claim that you didn't get the stimulus refund.

Similar situations will happen for people who gave birth last year but filed 0 dependents in the prior tax year.

At least, that's the way I understand it. Don't take it as fact, but don't write it off entirely. Research advanced refundable tax credits and you'll see how they can be paid retroactively.

Advanced-Baker · 2020-09-06T01:32:25+00:00

I don’t recommend holding out hope for it. If you don’t have at least more than $5k in assets at stake, then it’s not worth a contested suit. Also, make sure you’ve tallied all your debt and assets as well as your ex’s. My ex is saying she wants to hire a lawyer because I used our stimulus on mutual debt. She’s not thinking about the $50k in student loan debt that I only incurred while we were married, so I told her to sign the paperwork or get stuck with half my student loan debt.

5k is a very conservative number BTW

Title	Stimulus Payments
Author	rmorlock
Upvotes	3
Comments	8
Date	September 1, 2020 10:08 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/iku3xa/stimulus_payments/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/stimulus-payments.817934 https://theredarchive.com/post/817934

Comments