Filing 1099-S after divorce

[user17757874622]

My ex-husband and I sold our house last year, closing in February after our divorce was finalized in September 2024. The title was not in my name, nor was the mortgage, but per our divorce decree, I got half of the equity from the sale. A check was cut to me directly from the title company, but I had to get him to give the okay to the title company to release the sale settlement to me for my records. I am having an extremely difficult time figuring out whether I truly need to file a 1099-S form for my portion of the equity. I was not involved in the closing, I was never sent a copy of the form, and I have been told several different things by different sources. The IRS page is, as is to be expected, extremely convoluted and difficult to discern. Does anyone have any insight into this? I realize I'm down to the wire here, but the continuous confusion around this has been terrible. Thanks in advance.

[DavidD66]

You don't file a Form 1099-S.  When you sell a house (or other real estate) a 1099-S is a form that is sometimes issued, usually by the closing attorney.  If you sell your primary residence and you don't have a taxable gain, you don't have to report the sale if you do not receive a Form 1099-S.  When you sell your primary residence, if you lived in the house for 2 of the last 5 years you can exclude up to $500,000 of gain, if MFJ, $250,000 if filing single.  

So, the question is, did you receive a Form 1099-S for half the sales proceeds of the house?  If you did not, you don't need to report anything.  If you did receive a Form 1099-S you need to report the sale.  Also, if you received a 1099-S, does it only report your half of the sales proceeds?  Does your divorce decree say anything about you paying tax on any gain on the sale of the house?