Thank you DMarkM1.
I have read the link and am not completely clear on the following three bullets that exclude payments as deductible. For me personally, I can interpret these three bullets in ways that would allow me to deduct and in ways that would prevent me from deducting. The bullets are below and my brief thoughts after each in parenthesis.
- Payments that are your spouse's part of community property income, (Is my income considered community property since we were married about 21 years and therefore, the payments I made to her are considered community property?)
- Payments to keep up the payer's property, (Since the property was in both of our names, would the IRS consider the payments I made to her "to keep up the payer's property"? I consider "to keep up" to mean to maintain the property, not pay the mortgage and utilities)
- Use of the payer's property, or (Does this mean that as the payer and since the property was in both of our names, that I was paying those amounts for her to use the property, or is this referring to if I were paying her for the use of the house?)
For the three different things I paid my ex, the amounts are as follows: Temporary Spousal Support of $1,200 X 5.5 = $6,600, Debts to Husband of $$3,340 X 5.5 = $18,370, and Court Ordered Maintenance of $7,200.. Based on your knowledge and experience, are all or some of these amounts deductible for me?
Thank You!
