Alimony cases come with their complications, and the Alimony Reform Act raised may questions for people who already had alimony orders prior to 2012. As with any other element of domestic law, it truly runs on a case by case basis. To give you an idea, we will dive into two alimony cases that resulted in significant decisions for the parties involved. But before you head in full force, why don’t we take a moment to go over The Alimony Reform Act of 2011; it’s important to the story trust me. Though the act did not alter the definition of alimony, it did make adjustments to specific aspects such as the durational limits. In the act, it was decided that if a marriage lasted less than 20 years, there may be an option to terminate payments at a certain point. Now, let’s give some background on the couples shall we? Our first case, featuring Joanne M. Popp and Robert L. Popp , centers around a change in alimony payment due to cut wages. A huge factor in this case is the duration of th...

Guest Post from Julie Tolek * Divorces are difficult, over all, but add to them the stress of trying to understand tax law, and the road ahead looks even darker. One bright spot in the tax laws (pre 2018) was that a tax benefit existed in cases involving alimony. Under the IRS tax rules before 2018, alimony was tax deductible the payor, while being taxable to the recipient. But this has changed under the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 . Alimony and Taxes The issue of alimony is more common in divorces where there is a significant difference in income as opposed to where the parties’ incomes are similar. Where a high income earner is paying alimony they are usually in a higher tax bracket, so the tax deductibility of the alimony can save the payor - and even the family unit as a whole - a significant amount of money. This savings is sometimes so important that parties with potential alimony payments will build all other financial aspects of the divorce around alimony, and ca...