Love & Marriage & Credit & Taxes

For all of you wonderful people who are seeking marital bliss in the great state of Texas -be warned. Community Property does not = Community Debts they say- WRONG! Tell that trash to the I freakin' RS! They don't give two craps about where they get the money as long as they get it. I know that many of my fellow Christians view marriage as only between the couple and God, but you might be singing a different tune when/if you become responsible for a debt that you neither created nor knew existed.

Take one of my clients for instance,she was a Stay-at-home mom for 10 years. She is going through a divorce. She has no job skills, her credit was ripped to shreds by her ruthless husband, and now she has to work at Super Cuts for $7 an hour and support 2 kids off an abbreviated schedule. The debt is a big hindrance to her that she didn't think anything of when she allowed her STBX to use her name for his business dealings. So, guess her marriage is now between them, God, and Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, because they aren't changing her credit report because she didn't create the debt. She is married to the person who did, so she is on the hook.

And don't have the IRS coming after you. If you owe them money, and one spouse has a W-2 job and the other does not, suck it up W-2 spouse, if the money isn't paid back, it will be garnished from your check. Furthermore, even if you are divorced/divorcing, as many of my poor clients find out, the IRS doesn't care about a sentence in the divorce decree that says who pays what taxes. If you filed "Married filing Jointly" and the person who is "suppose" to pay does not pay, you are still on the hook. Now, you can go back against the Ex for contempt of a court order, but that still will not let you off the hook for the debt.

So, how do you handle the laws of the land with The ultimate Law????

1. Don't get married in a community property state.

2. Don't allow your credit to be jeopardized, especially if you are a SAHM. There could come a day when you have to get a job and no one will hire you because your stuff is jacked up. Now, if you already have a job, you do what you think is best.

3. Another tip for SAHMs (especially those with husbands who are business owners), "Married filing Separately" is your friend (if you are not in a community state) or Head of Household- just in case. I know many shun the idea because it makes marriage more of a "contract" between men than a covenant with God, but don't be a donkey, because it is very much so more than a covenant with God. Take the rose colored glasses off, Honey. You gotta be on top of your financial and credit game at all times. That man can die, become disabled, be fiscally reckless, or leave your behind in the dust.

So, what does this have to do with filing status you ask? Glad you want to know. If you file MFS instead of MFJ, you are not on the hook for the other person's taxes. Furthermore, if you have absolutely no income, you can still be claimed on your spouse's return. The deduction won't be as much as it would if you were MFJ, but it will be better than a straight MFS where you don't let your spouse use you for a deduction period.

4. If something smells fishy in the water, you better check it out. A marriage is a partnership, not a dictatorship. Both spouses have the right to know everything about everything that affects the relationship. If that means going to the mailbox first to see why you keep getting thin, white envelopes from your mortgage company, well it's better to do that than to find yourself with a Sheriff's note on your door and your clothes on the street.

I'm just sayin...