Dallas Divorce Law Blog by Michelle O'Neil

Well, we survived another tax year.  Hopefully everyone got their returns in on time and the process was relatively painless.   For our readers who were recently divorced, its important to ensure the name on your tax return matches the name registered with the Social Security Administration (“SSA”).

After a divorce, it is important for the taxpayer to contact the SSA to change their last name.  Although standing in line at the SSA is never a pleasant experience, you can reduce your time in line by downloading and completing the appropriate form to change your last name here.  Once the taxpayer turns in the form, the SSA it takes about two weeks for the the change to be completed.  If a taxpayer submits a return with a name that does not match the SSA records, the return will be rejected.

For a good overview of divorce tax tips, check out Sharon Drew and Gregg Herman’s Ten Divorce Tax Tips.

Finally, check out Cary & Lipponcott’s blog post on tax issues presented on spousal maintenance ordered by a Texas court.

A growing number of Tarrant County residents are choosing to see their divorces through without the aid of an attorney, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports. According to the newspaper, the number of pro se filers in divorce cases is up eight percent from 2004 to 2008. Attorneys say that while do-it-yourself litigants may cost them some business initially, they often make up the difference in correcting faulty pro se forms.  Steve Campbell, Ft. Worth Star Telegram  04/20/2009

During tax time, clients inevitably ask about collection of child support from an obligor’s tax refund. There are two methods available to enforce child support payments from delinquent child support obligors through federal tax collection. The first procedure allows collection of past-due child support by offsetting the support arrearages amount against a federal tax refund due to the delinquent payor. See I.R.C. §6402(c). The second method is an assessment and collection procedure where the U. S. Treasury Department is authorized to collect the certified amount of unpaid child support by levying against essentially any property of the delinquent child support obligor that would be subject to levy when collecting federal taxes. See I.R.C. §6334(c). The regulations for these two procedures may be found in the Treasury Regulations. See Treas. Reg. §301.6402-5(a)(1).