Decided to start a new thread that might be helpful to all those in Plan B now that Tax season will be upon us.

I am not in Plan B yet. It hopefully will start at beginning of next month when WH moves out.

Plan B entails total darkness, correct? That shouldn't be too hard since he's already darked ME out of his life, however. . .

The dreaded taxman cometh...

How does one in Plan B handle taxes? We go have ours prepared, together. We file married filing jointly to maximize the return. If i file married filing seperate we (I) lose a LOT of money.

Also, the IRS only sends ONE check. Both parties must sign.

And then there is the child support issue. Domestic Relations in my state handles CS. When there is a CS filing, the IRS send the refund to DR, who in turn HOLDS the check for SIX MONTHS! They do this to make sure CS does not go into arears. At that time a check issued(one check, might be the origional from IRS, I don't know)in BOTH parties names that BOTH parties must sign AT bank to cash.

Is it best to just lose all the money paid to the government and file married/seperatly?

We have gotten some hefty tax returns in the past.

How have others handled this situation?

Help please.

Thanks

Most of this stuff can be handled through an intermediary. With the check, one BS had her WS come to the bank at 1:00 and sign the check with their bank officer and leave. The BS came in 10 min later and signed it.

You might go for the married filing jointly for one last hurrah, but I would plan on filing singly if you are still in Plan B next year.

I sent one of my brothers to attend with WH at the accountants officeand he took my pertinant paper work and wrote notes for me to know the deal and my bro was able to call me with any questions but didn't need to.

The accountant sent the filled in forms to me, I signed and had my IM give WH the forms to sign and send.

So what happens to the refund check that both parties have to sign? I don't trust him to give me half and I'm sure he doesn't trust me either.

If I am correct in beleiving this then: if one party goes to the bank and signs the check, the bank officer will give first party half the check and hold other half until that party comes in? Is that correct?

Well, we don't get refunds, we have to pay
but
if we did get one, there must be some way to stay in B.

Anyone know?

If you get it direct deposited and you have a legal arrangement about your finances, wouldn't that take care of it?

I think a woman going into Plan B should definitely see an attorney to get help using the law to set up the arrangement she needs. Especially regarding finances. He should not be able legally to run off with the money.

I would definitely see an attorney about all this. Don't go to him asking what's going to happen and how are things handled, go to him telling him what you want to achieve (no contact with your husband whatsoever other than issues involving child care or financies, and only through an intermediary) and then ask him how to use the law to achieve that.

She left the bank officer a check for half the amount of the IRS check to give to the WS when he signed. Really, its not rocket science.

Its always a good idea to file for divorce or a legal separation so you are legally protected. Stuff like IRS refunds can be negotiated in the divorce. If not, this is an easy thing to manage and coordinate. It doesn't have to go through a lawyer.

This kind of stuff is easy. What is not easy is managing child visitations. It is best to have that all ironed out before you go into plan B or your life will be hell. The ones who have the "flexible" visitations usually go through hell because there is constant, unrelenting contact. Even the contact that comes through an IM can be triggering and depressing.

So it is best to get everything ironed out beforehand.

And Mitzie, I APPLAUD you for asking this stuff before you go into plan B. There is nothing worse than getting into Plan B with an unorganized BS who is faced with continual problems becuase she didn't plan.

We had one BS who drove me NUTS once asking millions of questions. I really thought she was devising crazy questions to drag things out or to find an excuse to avoid Plan B. Well, silly me!! Once she got all her questions answered and her ducks right in a row, she went into the most flawless, well planned Plan B I have ever seen!! I learned so much from her..

Ha ha, I thought so, too. And once I saw her go into action, I was awestruck!

And since you were her IM, you know exactly who I mean! I learned so much from her...

Not necessarily. The first year I filed separately from WXH (we were separated, not yet divorced), I used H&R Block and they gave me my check on the spot. There were still some unresolved issues between us, but I ended up owing him some money out of it so I paid him immediately. I mistakenly assumed everything was done.

The following year I used H&R Block again, but I couldn't opt for the insta-check as I needed a form from my college-student son to claim his tuition. I could still file without the form but H&R Block wouldn't give me the money without the form and since it was the last day I just filed it directly. About a week later, I received a notice that my refund had been deposited directly in my account. I checked my bank and it wasn't there. I contacted CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) and it turned out they deposited into WXH's account, even though he filed jointly with OW!!!

You would think it would be a simple solution, but it was not. WXH stalled, made excuses and finally flat out refused to give me my money. CRA was even more unhelpful - apparently the first agent I spoke to made a grave error in letting me know what bank account my refund had been deposited in and I could get no more information from them. They said I had to take WXH to court to get it. They refused to correct the problem, and the refused to give me any written information so that I could prove in court that WXH had received my money (all I had was the account number written down). I actually had to write my MP (Member of Parliament) to get them to give me a letter I could use. I can't tell you what a nightmare it was dealing with them.

Anyway, I had to take WXH to small claims court which took approximately 4 months (on top of the 7 months to get to this point). The judge ruled in my favour and WXH paid me on the night of the deadline the court gave him. WXH probably bought something really nice for OW with my money in the meantime.

I suppose because I filed the first year through H&R block with no problems I didn't anticipate any future ones. This was not the only thing WXH had screwed me over on. He also changed one of my bills to electronic billing and had them emailed to him, even though he didn't live at my address and the bill was in my name. I ended up getting taken to collection over a $20 overdue water heater rental bill that I didn't even know about because he was receiving all the past-due notices.

Waywards are aweful, terrible people. Get your stuff separate from them as soon and as completely as possible. Don't leave anything to chance. It's not worth the extra tax refund especially when you don't even get it.

ML: Yes I do, and she was a pleasure to IM for! (Even though her now-XWH was one of the worst I've ever seen.)