Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce - Emily Doskow [24]
The second reason for putting your support agreement in writing is that you want the payments to be treated appropriately for tax purposes. Child support is neither taxable to the recipient nor deductible to the payor-in other words, it's tax-neutral. But to get this tax treatment, you must identify the payments as child support. Spousal support payments, on the other hand, are taxable income to the recipient and deductible for the payor-as long as they are made under a written agreement.
A sample agreement for temporary support is below.
Get Temporary Court-Ordered Support If You Need It
If you and your spouse separate and you don't have a job or other source of income, you might soon find yourself in dire financial straits. If your spouse has been supporting your family (either entirely, or by paying more than you do into the family coffers), you're entitled to continued support. If your spouse isn't paying support voluntarily, you can ask a court to order your spouse to make support payments during the divorce proceeding. It's called temporary or "pendente lite" (during the pending action) support. The court can issue a permanent support order later.
If you want to get the papers filed right away or you think you're in for a battle, you may want a lawyer's help to get this request done quickly and get some money coming in. You'll have to rustle up some cash to pay the lawyer, but it's possible the court will order your spouse to pay part of your lawyer's fees right away. Chapter 15 can help you find and work with a lawyer; Chapter 3 has information about doing it yourself.
Agreement Between Carey Jameson and Susan Jameson
Getting a Job
If you've been a stay-at-home parent or homemaker, it's likely that divorce will require you to reenter the workforce-a daunting thought when it's been a while. Your first step is to assess your skills and experience and polish up your resume. Career counselors generally advise that you prepare a resume that doesn't use a traditional chronological format, so that the gap in time won't be so prominent. Instead, use a "functional resume" organized around your job skills and training. Prospective employers are not allowed legally to ask you about your marital status or whether you have kids. Still, employers are going to want to know what you've been doing, and there's certainly no shame in having stayed home to care for your children. You might want to address that issue in your cover letter instead of your resume.
Next, consider what contacts you have that might be useful to you in finding work-either something to tide you over until you get settled, or a job that you might want to stay in for a while. If your job skills are simply out of date, look into getting some retraining. Community colleges, adult schools, and private training programs all offer programs that may help.
Sources of help when you're reentering the workforce:
• state employment development departments
• private career counselors
• job websites
• placement services from a college or professional school you attended, and
• college programs for "reentry" students.
Some websites that might be helpful include www.careerpIanner.com, www.careerbuilder.com, and www.jobhuntersbible.com, which is related to the classic career counseling book What Color is Your Parachute?, by Richard Bolles (Ten Speed Press).
Getting Legal and Other Professional Help Early
At some point during your divorce, you're very likely to need some professional help. Even if you intend to handle the paperwork yourself and are sure the divorce won't be contested, it's often a good idea to talk to a lawyer somewhere along the way to make sure that you aren't giving up any important legal rights unknowingly. You may also need help from other experts, like actuaries, accountants, or real estate appraisers.
Don't delay getting advice-the sooner