Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of months, you are likely aware of the GOP’s new tax bill. The tax bill does impact court-ordered spousal maintenance obligations. Payments of alimony/spousal maintenance which were once deductible by the obligor are no longer deductible. And, the recipient of spousal maintenance no longer has to pay income taxes on the payment they receive.
However, this new law does not impact payments under existing divorce decrees; any payments based on a decree that is entered or modified by the Court after December 31, 2018 will be impacted by the new law. This means people going through a pending dissolution action and people considering a motion for court-ordered modification of any existing payment obligation should be particularly aware of and sensitive to the date the law takes effect. Nothing in this article or post is intended as legal advice. Those of you with questions about your particular situation should contact legal counsel.
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