Defensive Divorce

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Chapter 1

• Specify the factors used to determine federal filing status and the effects of filing as married or unmarried.
• Identify the requirements for filing a joint return and how to avoid being penalized.
• Determine the key elements of filing separate returns including what items to report and identify whether or not married taxpayers should file separate returns.
• Cite the requirements for filing as head of household and the tax advantages and disadvantages of this filing status.
• Recognize the repeal of personal & dependency exemptions, their former phaseout, availability, and reporting requirements.
• Differentiate custodian and noncustodian parent, identify the dependency determination impact, determine the current “qualified child” standard using residency, and identify requirements that must be met for parents to treat a child as a qualifying child of a non-custodial parent.
• Identify deductible and nondeductible divorce expenditures specifying which spouse is subject to tax imposed upon withheld wages, and recognize the effects of making separate estimated tax payments or joint declarations of estimated tax.
• Determine community property and the community property states, identify the effects of conversion and commingling of property, and how to avoid such marital property issues.
• Identify community income earned by married couples for reporting purposes by:
• Specifying reporting guidelines, recognizing the allocation of income and what income and property belongs to which spouse when they have different residency statuses;
• Recalling the requirements for the special community income allocation rules of §66(a), determining what constitutes community property termination and specifying the treatment of alimony payments versus community share; and
• Recognizing the use of statements and records to provide estimates of a former spouse’s income and identifying conditions for greater tax relief.
• Identify the effect of living together on filing statuses and dependency, determine differences between the married tax rate and other tax rates, recognize the tax consequences of having a living together contract to avoid tax traps, and specify the results of Marvin v. Marvin.

Chapter 2

• Identify types of marital property and their likely division in marital property settlements and specify the legal principles used in dividing assets and providing support on divorce or separation.
• Determine the benefits of premarital agreements and the requirements and permissible provisions for a valid and comprehensive agreement under the Uniform Premarital Act.
• Specify the position of U.S. v. Davis on interspousal transfers and the changes made by §1041, and identify the requirements of §1041 and the scope of its application.
• Select factors that determine whether a property transfer is incident to divorce and identify how to meet these factors or avoid §1041 altogether when desired.
• Determine the application of §1041 to transfers in trust under §1041(e) and to third-party transfers on behalf of a spouse or former spouse.
• Recognize deferred tax liability by identifying property basis for the transferor spouse and transferee spouse under §1041 after a property settlement.
• Specify the application of §1041 to property transfers where the transferee assumes liabilities encumbering the property, and the obligation to supply basis information.
• Recognize the dangers of purchasing a former spouse’s interest in property, particularly a marital residence and its tendency to create deferred tax liability.
• Determine tax effects of purchasing an interest in personal or real property used in a business or held for investment, recognize potential recapture and identify the use of a §1031 exchange to dispose of low-basis property received in a §1041 transfer.
• Specify common disposition alternatives available on divorce and identify the home sale exclusion requirements and the tax treatment and use of installment obligations under §453 in divorce.
• Recognize sale, redemption, recapitalization, liquidation, and third-party transfers as methods of dividing a business in a marital settlement citing unique provisions under §302, §736, and §754.
• Identify whether gain or loss on a sale of real or personal property is capital or ordinary and, recognize the tax treatment of such gain or loss and the role and tax treatment of life insurance in property settlements.
• Specify popular methods of dividing private and military retirement benefits in a divorce or separation action identifying the requirements and tax consequences of a “qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).

Chapter 3

• Recognize how the tax treatment of spousal support payments has dramatically changed under the TCJA, identify the §71 requirements for pre-2019 decree alimony, and differentiate the tax treatment with current law.
• Identify the tax treatment of child support and circumstances where a payment will be fixed as child support, and specify events that determine whether a contingency is clearly child-related and how to rebut this presumption of child support.
• Recognize the COBRA and qualified medical child support order rules by:
• Identifying whether COBRA rules apply to different plans including notice & deadline requirements and specifying situations that may result in a termination of continuing coverage; and
• Determining what constitutes “qualified medical child support orders” recognizing differences with other similar orders and identifying the procedures, requirements, and jurisdiction of QMCSOs.

Chapter 4

• Identify the marriage penalty and marriage bonus associated with filing a joint return by recognizing how standard deductions and tax brackets have differed over time.
• Determine the tax treatment of spousal travel including additional cost limitations and identify the benefits of husband and wife partnerships, particularly with regards to Social Security qualification.
• Recognize the application of federal estate tax on couples and where estate planning may be necessary as a result of marital status.
• Specify the treatment of co-tenancies with or without a right of survivorship identifying qualified joint interests, recognize the impact on the value of a general power of appointment, determine what insurance proceeds are included in the gross estate because of incidents of ownership, and cite the community property issue involved with ownership of life insurance.
• Determine the impact of the marital deduction on the gross estate recognizing outright transfer methods and specify the use of a “marital deduction (QTIP) trust” and a “qualified terminable interest trust.”
• Identify marital deduction variables including deduction limitations and specify the federal income tax treatment and gift tax treatment of non-citizen spouses.
• Recognize the effect common transactions and community property have on §1014 property basis and the benefits of a bypass trust specifying its effect on the marital deduction.
• Determine the purposes of the federal gift tax identifying its computational methods and applicable exclusions, specify the advantages of splitting gifts and the gift tax marital deduction recognizing dangers as to “excess” gifts and terminable trusts, and identify Social Security eligibility for family members of a system participant.