Back child support and tax refunds

[Momto2inFL]

My husband was court ordered to pay the state of FL for child support for his daughter. They put money into an account and the ex uses the debit card for whatever needed. But we pay the state directly.

Well back a few months ago, my husband lost his job. We didn't file for a modification because we had hoped it's be temporary. It ended up being 3 months.

Now we're fine, still behind, but we pay an extra $5-$10 a week if we can spare it. Just to show we're active in paying that balance back. We have our own child who is NOT accounted for in the court order and we chose not to modify it for him because we're okay with our dollar amount right now.

But then comes tax refund time. I'm scared that they might take our entire refund and give it to his ex. We have never received any notice that we're behind in child support. I just keep an Excel spreadsheet so I'm well aware of what payments were missed and how much extra has gone towards the balance owed. But the state of FL has never sent a letter stating we're behind.

Can the IRS still give our tax refund to the ex? Does she need to say that we're behind and does she need to file in order for that to happen? I read somewhere that the Child support enforcement division sends a list of names to the IRS and they hold refund checks from that list.

But I really want to make sure that we're okay or in the clear. I heard about the Injured Spouse so that I could file that way if need be. I also heard it takes about 8 weeks until you get a penny of that.

Does anyone know how this works? Again, we live in FL.

Thanks !

[wendl]

My hubby was behind in CS and they took our income tax return, I had to file the injured spouse form and yes it does take about 8 weeks to get your money back. If you are behind in CS it is best to also file your injured spouse form at the same time to speed up the process.

The cs office hold the tax refund (a portion of it to see if a injured spouse form was filed.)

Hope this helps.


**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[Ghost Shrimp]

Hello,

While my husband and I lived in Florida his support was ordered through Washington state (they had jurisdiction).
Be that as it may, our tax return was garnished while we were in Florida for the full amount of back support owed to the state of Washington. We didn't receive any indication from the state of Washington or from the IRS that it would be garnished.
If I were you, I would just count on it being garnished and file the injured spouse right now.
Better to be "safe" than "sorry".

[barefootengal]

You can phone the Treasury Offset Program at 1-800-304-3107.  You will need your husband's social security number.  It is an automated call and you don't actually speak to a human, but it will tell you if your husband's refund is going to be offset to pay a child support debt. If his SS number isn't in their system then you will receive your entire Income Tax Refund.  At least that has been my experience.

[KAT]

The state would have had to apply for that last year, I think it's before October.

KAT

[boilergal]

STBX was about $600 behind due to accounting issues...he pays through the state as well.  He was aware of the problem for a while, but the state only notified him last fall.  At that point he corrected the issue.

We had filed for several years prior and never had problems with our return.

Just our case and the IRS and FL could do many different things.

I'd be proactive if it's a potential issue for you.