Spouse and I signed a sep agreement on 7/27/16. she gets 761.34 of my mil pension. Is that considered alimony that I can deduct or is that income she has too claim.

[youseltorres]

My spouse and i are not divorced yet but we both signed a separation agreement on 7/27/16.  I was wondering if we have to file separate?  I give her $1000 alimony and $761.34 from my mil pension.  Is the $761.34 considered alimony because the divorce not final or income.  I get the whole pension then give her what we agreed upon.  Divorce will be filed 1/2017 in Virginia.  Thanks for the assistance.

[bwa · Accepted solution]

How she reports it depends on how it's paid.

• If she gets a separate Form 1099-R for her share of the pension she would report it as pension income.
• If not, she would report it as alimony.

I was wondering if we have to file separate?

If you are still legally married on the last day of the year, though separated, you can still file a joint return.  If you did, it would report the entire pension income with no deduction for alimony paid by you.  The $1,000 alimony also would not be reported as income on a joint return.

[Critter]

Once the divorce is final you should alert DFAS so that her portion is sent directly to her and she will be issued a 1099-R form for her taxes.

[youseltorres]

That's the plan my lawyer is going to file the divorce for me on Jan. 2, 2017 so I wouldn't have to deal with this next year.  Thanks