Marion1E[at]comcast.net wrote:
- quote -

until entry of a decree of dissolutionment of marriage or the
income is designated as separate by a decree or judgment of a
court having jurisdiction or upon separating either of the
spouses petitioned district court for an order without filing for
disillusionment of marriage. In other words, in NM, just living
apart is generally not enough to end the community.

Once you determine when the community ended, income received
prior to that date is community and income received after that
date is separate.

The mortgage interest expense can be tricky because of 1. the
rule that requires the home in question be your main or second
home and 2. whether the community ended or not and 3. the
existence of court orders.

Assuming that the home in question meets the requirements of
being your main home (period in which you lived there) or your
second home (period after you vacated) then we only have to deal
with number 2 and 3.

If the interest payments were made when the community existed,
then the interest was paid out of the community and each spouse
gets half the deduction. If the interest payments were made by
you after the community ended while you still had an ownership
interest and were still liable for the loan payment, then that
interest expense is yours. If you made the interest payments
after the community ended and after you no longer had an
ownership interest because you were ordered to by the court, then
those payments may qualify as deductible alimony. Finally, if you
made the interest payments after you no longer had an ownership
interest and you were not ordered by a court to do so, then no
one gets a deduction for those interest payments.

Whew!

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A couple got legaly divorced in Oct 2007. One spouse made most of the
payments for the house. The other spouse non-paying spouse got the
house after the divorce. How can the spouse that made the payments
toward the house deduct the mortgage interest etc. ? The spouse that
ended up with the house is not willing to give an inch. Also how does
that effect the income since they were legally married last year and
in a community property state New Mexico things are 50/50? Are they
supposed to split everything till up to the divorce on the Federal and
State return? Thanks for your input
Marion

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >