Nine glossaries that translate the legal vocabulary of divorce into plain English, written for people in the middle of it. Every term includes what it actually means for your situation.
Divorce & Dissolution
The words used to end a marriage, and why states call the same thing by different names.
Dissolution of marriage
The formal legal name for divorce in many states, including California, Colorado, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington.
What this means for you: If your state calls it dissolution, that is simply divorce. Do not assume it is a different or lesser process.
Petitioner or plaintiff
The spouse who files first and opens the case.
What this means for you: Filing first carries almost no legal advantage in most states. It mainly means you pay the filing fee and set the initial schedule.
Respondent or defendant
The spouse who did not file, and who is served with the papers.
What this means for you: Being the respondent does not mean you are being blamed for anything. In a no-fault state it is just a label for who filed second.
No-fault divorce
Ending a marriage without proving anyone did anything wrong. The usual wording is irreconcilable differences or irretrievable breakdown.
What this means for you: Available in every state, but two states, Mississippi and South Dakota, require your spouse to agree before you can use it.
Fault grounds
Specific accusations such as adultery, cruelty, abandonment, or habitual drunkenness, used to justify the divorce.
What this means for you: In some states proving fault skips a waiting period or affects alimony. In others it changes nothing and only raises the cost and conflict.
Grounds for divorce
The legal reason you give the court for ending the marriage.
What this means for you: This goes on your petition. Choosing the wrong ground for your situation is a common reason paperwork gets rejected.
Irretrievable breakdown
A finding that the marriage cannot be repaired. The most common no-fault ground.
What this means for you: You generally do not have to prove this with evidence. Your sworn statement is usually enough.
Separation period
A required stretch of living apart before you can file or finalize.
What this means for you: Rules vary enormously. Some states require none, while others require six months, a year, or in Arkansas eighteen months. Reconciling usually restarts the clock.
Legal separation
A court case that divides property and sets support while leaving you legally married.
What this means for you: Sometimes used for religious reasons, immigration status, or to keep a spouse on health insurance. Not available in every state.
Covenant marriage
An optional stricter marriage available in Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana that is much harder to end.
What this means for you: If you signed one, ordinary no-fault divorce does not apply. You will face required counseling and either fault grounds or a longer separation.
Annulment
A ruling that the marriage was never legally valid, rather than ending a valid marriage.
What this means for you: Much narrower than most people expect. It generally requires bigamy, fraud, coercion, incapacity, or underage marriage.
Uncontested divorce
A case where both spouses agree on every issue.
What this means for you: Almost always faster and dramatically cheaper. The agreement, not the filing, is what makes it uncontested.
Contested divorce
A case with at least one unresolved disagreement.
What this means for you: A case can start contested and become uncontested the moment you settle. Most do settle before trial.
Default judgment
A ruling entered when the served spouse never responds in time.
What this means for you: Ignoring divorce papers does not stop the divorce. It usually means the other side gets what they asked for.
Decree or judgment of divorce
The signed court order that actually ends the marriage.
What this means for you: You are not divorced when you file, when you agree, or when the judge says so at a hearing. You are divorced when this document is signed and entered.
Nisi period
A waiting period after the judge grants the divorce but before it becomes final. Used in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
What this means for you: You are still legally married during it. Remarrying before it ends can be bigamy.
Residency requirement
How long you must have lived in a state, and sometimes a county, before you can file there.
What this means for you: This is jurisdictional. Filing before you qualify can get the case dismissed and the fee lost.
Venue
The specific county, parish, or district where your case must be filed.
What this means for you: Filing in the wrong place causes transfers or dismissal. In Louisiana, the wrong parish makes the judgment void.
Custody & Parenting
How courts describe decisions about children, and the language you will see in a parenting plan.
Legal custody
The right to make major decisions about a child: schooling, health care, and religion.
What this means for you: Joint legal custody is common even when the child lives mostly with one parent. It means you must consult each other on the big decisions.
Physical custody
Where the child actually lives day to day.
What this means for you: Some states call this residential custody, primary residence, or placement. The label matters less than the schedule attached to it.
Joint custody
Both parents share the role, either legally, physically, or both.
What this means for you: Joint legal custody does not automatically mean equal time. Several states now start from a presumption of joint custody.
Sole custody
One parent holds decision-making authority, physical placement, or both.
What this means for you: Usually reserved for situations involving abuse, absence, addiction, or serious instability.
Parenting time or visitation
The schedule setting when each parent has the children.
What this means for you: Vague schedules cause conflict later. Courts increasingly want specific dates, times, and exchange locations rather than reasonable and liberal visitation.
Parenting plan
The written document laying out custody, schedules, holidays, transportation, and how you will make decisions.
What this means for you: Even when parents agree, a judge must independently find the plan serves the child's best interests before approving it.
Best interests of the child
The legal standard courts use for every custody decision.
What this means for you: This is the judge's only real question. Arguments about fairness between parents matter far less than what the evidence shows is good for the child.
Guardian ad litem
A person, often an attorney, appointed to represent the child's interests in the case.
What this means for you: They are not your advocate or your spouse's. Treat every interaction as part of the record.
Custody evaluation
A professional assessment, often by a psychologist, recommending a custody arrangement.
What this means for you: Expensive and time consuming, often thousands of dollars and several months. Judges usually give the recommendation significant weight.
Parenting coordinator
A neutral professional who helps high-conflict parents resolve day-to-day disputes without returning to court.
What this means for you: Useful when the parenting plan is sound but communication keeps breaking down.
Right of first refusal
A term requiring a parent who needs childcare for a set period to offer that time to the other parent first.
What this means for you: Sounds fair but can create friction. Define the trigger clearly, for example more than four hours.
Relocation or move-away
A parent's request to move a significant distance with the child.
What this means for you: One of the most heavily litigated issues in family law. Most states require formal notice and often court permission.
UCCJEA
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which decides which state can rule on custody.
What this means for you: Generally the child's home state is where they have lived for the past six months. You may be able to divorce in one state but have custody decided in another.
Child support guidelines
The formula your state uses to calculate support, usually based on both incomes and parenting time.
What this means for you: The guideline number is presumed correct. Judges deviate only with written reasons.
Income shares model
The most common support formula, estimating what parents would have spent together and dividing it by income share.
What this means for you: Used by most states. More parenting time often, but not always, lowers the payment.
Imputed income
Income a court assigns to a parent who is unemployed or underemployed by choice.
What this means for you: Quitting or reducing work to lower support usually backfires. Courts can calculate support on what you could earn.
Parent education class
A court-required course on how divorce affects children.
What this means for you: Required in most states when minors are involved. Many courts will not finalize the divorce until both parents file certificates.
Modification
A request to change custody, parenting time, or support after the divorce is final.
What this means for you: Generally requires showing a substantial change in circumstances. Parenting terms can be modified; property division usually cannot.
Financial & Property Division
The vocabulary of dividing what you own and what you owe.
Marital property
Property and debt acquired during the marriage, regardless of whose name is on it.
What this means for you: The default assumption in most states. The burden usually falls on the spouse claiming something is separate.
Separate property
Assets owned before the marriage, or received during it by gift or inheritance.
What this means for you: Protection is not automatic everywhere. Several states, including Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, and Vermont, can divide separate property too.
Community property
A system where most assets and debts acquired during the marriage are owned equally and split roughly 50/50.
What this means for you: Used in nine states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Equitable distribution
The majority system, dividing marital property fairly rather than automatically equally.
What this means for you: Fair does not mean half. A judge can award 60/40 or another split based on statutory factors.
Commingling
Mixing separate property with marital property until it loses its separate character.
What this means for you: Depositing an inheritance into a joint account is the classic example. Documentation is what preserves a separate-property claim.
Tracing
Following an asset's paper trail to prove it started as separate property.
What this means for you: Bank records, deeds, and account statements do this work. Memory does not.
Dissipation of assets
Spending, hiding, or destroying marital property for a purpose unrelated to the marriage.
What this means for you: Spending on an affair, gambling, or a sudden spree can lead the court to charge that amount against your share.
Financial affidavit or disclosure
A sworn statement listing your income, expenses, assets, and debts.
What this means for you: Signed under oath. Errors are fixable, but concealment can reopen the judgment, trigger sanctions, or in Ohio cost you three times the hidden value.
Alimony, maintenance, or spousal support
Payments from one spouse to the other after divorce.
What this means for you: The name varies by state. Some states cap the duration, some rarely award it at all, and in a few, adultery can bar it entirely.
Rehabilitative alimony
Time-limited support meant to let a spouse gain education or job skills.
What this means for you: The most common modern form. Often tied to a specific plan and end date.
Permanent alimony
Support with no set end date, usually after a long marriage.
What this means for you: Increasingly rare. Some states, such as North Dakota, do not allow it at all.
QDRO
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order, the separate court order needed to divide a retirement plan.
What this means for you: Your decree alone does not move retirement money. Without a QDRO the plan administrator cannot pay your share, and people lose real money by skipping it.
Marital home
The residence the couple shared, often the largest asset in the divorce.
What this means for you: The three usual paths are sell and split, one spouse buys the other out, or one stays temporarily. Each has very different tax and lending consequences.
Buyout
One spouse paying the other for their share of an asset, usually the house.
What this means for you: Refinancing is normally required to remove the other spouse from the mortgage. Qualifying alone is the step people underestimate.
Valuation date
The date used to set what an asset is worth.
What this means for you: Matters enormously with volatile assets. A retirement account or business can change value substantially between separation and trial.
Marital debt
Debt taken on during the marriage, even when it is in one name.
What this means for you: A divorce decree binds you and your spouse. It does not bind creditors, who can still pursue whoever signed.
Temporary or pendente lite orders
Orders that govern support, bills, and the house while the case is pending.
What this means for you: Latin for while the litigation is pending. These often quietly become the template for the final arrangement.
Automatic temporary restraining order
An order that takes effect on filing, freezing major financial moves by both spouses.
What this means for you: Called ATROs in California, an Automatic Economic Restraining Order in Montana, and automatic orders in Connecticut. Violating it early damages your credibility for the whole case.
The Court Process
What actually happens procedurally, and the words on the documents you will receive.
Petition or complaint
The document that opens the case and states what you are asking the court to decide.
What this means for you: The court generally cannot award something you did not request. Be complete here.
Summons
The formal notice telling your spouse a case has been filed and how long they have to respond.
What this means for you: In many states the summons itself carries the automatic restraining orders that freeze finances.
Service of process
The formal legal delivery of the papers to your spouse.
What this means for you: You almost never can serve your own spouse. Deadlines are real: Michigan dismisses a case if service is not completed within 91 days.
Waiver or acceptance of service
A signed form where your spouse acknowledges receiving the papers, avoiding a process server.
What this means for you: The cheapest and fastest route when your spouse cooperates. Oklahoma bars signing it until 24 hours after filing, specifically to prevent pressure.
Answer or response
Your spouse's formal written reply admitting or denying what the petition says.
What this means for you: A letter saying you agree is not an Answer. Missing the deadline risks a default judgment.
Counterclaim
The responding spouse's own request for relief, essentially countersuing.
What this means for you: Used when your spouse wants different terms rather than simply agreeing or disagreeing.
Discovery
The formal process of exchanging information and documents.
What this means for you: Includes interrogatories, requests for production, and depositions. It is usually the most expensive phase of a contested divorce.
Interrogatories
Written questions the other side must answer under oath.
What this means for you: Answers are sworn and can be used against you later, so accuracy matters more than speed.
Deposition
Sworn out-of-court testimony taken by an attorney with a court reporter present.
What this means for you: Everything you say is on the record and can be quoted at trial.
Subpoena
A court order compelling someone to produce documents or appear and testify.
What this means for you: Often used to obtain bank, employment, or phone records directly from the source.
Mediation
A neutral third party helping you reach agreement without a judge deciding.
What this means for you: Many courts require it before trial. The mediator does not rule; they help you settle. Nothing is binding until it is written, signed, and approved.
Settlement agreement
The written contract resolving your issues, called a marital settlement agreement, separation agreement, or stipulation.
What this means for you: Once the court incorporates it into the decree, it becomes an enforceable order, not just a private promise.
Stipulation
A written agreement between the parties submitted for the judge to approve.
What this means for you: In several states, filing with a complete stipulation lowers the filing fee and can eliminate the final hearing.
Prove-up or nominal hearing
A short final hearing where you confirm under oath that the facts and agreement are accurate.
What this means for you: Usually 10 to 30 minutes. Some states let you skip it entirely with affidavits.
Motion
A formal request asking the judge to order something while the case is open.
What this means for you: Common examples are temporary support, exclusive use of the home, or compelling discovery.
Contempt of court
A finding that someone willfully violated a court order.
What this means for you: The enforcement tool behind support, custody, and property orders. Consequences can include fees, make-up parenting time, or jail.
Pro se or self-represented
Representing yourself without an attorney.
What this means for you: Perfectly legal everywhere. Courts hold you to the same rules as a lawyer, and clerks are barred from giving legal advice or checking your forms.
Fee waiver
A request to proceed without paying court fees, based on income.
What this means for you: Called in forma pauperis, an affidavit of indigency, or a poverty affidavit. Usually available around 125% of federal poverty guidelines, though a denial can mean paying quickly or having the case dismissed.
Protective Orders & Safety
Terms that matter when safety is part of the picture. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Protective order or restraining order
A court order limiting one person's contact with another.
What this means for you: Names vary by state: order of protection, domestic violence restraining order, injunction against harassment. They are typically free to file.
Ex parte order
An emergency order issued without the other person present, based on your testimony alone.
What this means for you: Often granted the same day when there is immediate danger, then followed by a full hearing within one to three weeks.
Temporary versus permanent order
The short emergency order, versus the longer one entered after both sides are heard.
What this means for you: Permanent rarely means forever. It usually means a set term such as one, two, or five years, and is often renewable.
Petitioner and respondent
The person requesting protection, and the person it is sought against.
What this means for you: Different meaning from the divorce case. You can be a divorce respondent and a protective order petitioner at the same time.
Stay-away provision
A term requiring a specific distance from your home, work, school, or children.
What this means for you: Enforceable by police without a new court hearing. Keep a copy with you.
Kick-out or exclusive use provision
A term removing someone from a shared residence, even if their name is on the lease or deed.
What this means for you: Ownership does not override a safety order.
Civil versus criminal
A protective order is a civil matter, separate from any criminal charges.
What this means for you: You can obtain one without pressing charges, and it can exist whether or not police were ever involved.
Mutual restraining order
An order restraining both parties.
What this means for you: Worth understanding carefully. Some advocates warn these can obscure who was actually endangered and complicate later enforcement.
Firearms surrender
A requirement that a restrained person turn over firearms.
What this means for you: Required under federal law and in many states once certain orders are entered.
Full faith and credit
The rule that a valid protective order from one state must be honored in every other state.
What this means for you: Your order does not stop working when you cross a state line.
Safety planning
Practical preparation for leaving or staying safe, usually with an advocate.
What this means for you: Includes documents, funds, a bag, a code word, and a destination. Advocates are free and confidential in most areas.
Domestic violence advocate
A trained, usually free professional who helps with safety planning and court paperwork.
What this means for you: They are not lawyers, but they know the local process intimately and often accompany people to hearings.
Address confidentiality program
A state program giving survivors a substitute legal address.
What this means for you: Available in most states. It keeps your real address off public court and agency records.
Waiver of waiting periods
Some states shorten or waive a divorce waiting period in documented abuse cases.
What this means for you: Not universal. Arkansas, for example, allows no exception to its 30-day wait.
Coercive control
A pattern of intimidation, isolation, monitoring, or financial control, with or without physical violence.
What this means for you: A growing number of states now recognize this in custody and protective order decisions.
Financial abuse
Controlling money, sabotaging employment, hiding assets, or building debt in a partner's name.
What this means for you: Often the least visible form, and frequently the reason someone cannot afford to leave. Raise it early, since it affects support and property.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
A free, confidential, 24/7 national resource.
What this means for you: 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. They can connect you to local shelters and advocates.
Bankruptcy & Debt
Where divorce and debt collide, and why the order of operations matters.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Liquidation bankruptcy that wipes out most unsecured debt in roughly three to six months.
What this means for you: Requires passing a means test based on income. The fastest reset, but it can put non-exempt assets at risk.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy
A three to five year court-supervised repayment plan.
What this means for you: Often used to stop a foreclosure and catch up on a mortgage while keeping the house.
Automatic stay
A freeze on collection activity that starts the moment a bankruptcy is filed.
What this means for you: It can also pause parts of a divorce case involving property division, though support obligations are generally not stayed.
Discharge
The court order erasing personal liability for qualifying debts.
What this means for you: Child support and alimony are never dischargeable. Property settlement obligations to an ex-spouse are usually not dischargeable in Chapter 7.
Domestic support obligation
The bankruptcy term for child support and alimony.
What this means for you: Given the highest priority in bankruptcy and cannot be wiped out. Do not plan around erasing it.
Hold harmless clause
A divorce term where one spouse agrees to pay a debt and protect the other from it.
What this means for you: Powerful between you two, but it does not bind the creditor. If your ex stops paying a joint account, the lender can still come after you.
Joint and several liability
Each borrower is fully responsible for the entire debt, not just half.
What this means for you: This is why a decree assigning a debt does not protect your credit. The only real fixes are refinancing, closing, or paying off the account.
Secured versus unsecured debt
Secured debt is backed by collateral such as a house or car. Unsecured debt is not, like credit cards and medical bills.
What this means for you: Secured debt survives bankruptcy if you keep the asset. Unsecured debt is usually what gets discharged.
Timing: file bankruptcy before or after divorce
Whether to file jointly before the divorce or separately afterward.
What this means for you: Filing jointly first can clear joint debt and simplify the property split. Filing after may be better if incomes differ sharply. This decision has lasting consequences and is worth professional advice.
Means test
The income calculation that determines Chapter 7 eligibility.
What this means for you: Based on your household size and state median income. Separating can change the outcome.
Exemptions
The property you are allowed to keep in bankruptcy.
What this means for you: Vary widely by state and often cover home equity, a vehicle, retirement accounts, and tools of your trade.
Charge-off
A creditor writing the debt off their books as a loss.
What this means for you: The debt is not forgiven. It is usually sold to a collector who can still sue you.
Debt validation
Your right to demand written proof that a collector owns the debt and the amount is correct.
What this means for you: Request it in writing within 30 days of first contact. Many collection accounts fail this test.
Credit reporting after divorce
How divorce affects your credit file.
What this means for you: Divorce itself does not appear on your credit report and does not lower your score. Missed payments on accounts still in your name do.
Authorized user versus joint account
An authorized user can charge but is not liable. A joint account holder is fully liable.
What this means for you: Removing yourself as an authorized user is easy. Removing yourself from a joint account usually requires closing or refinancing it.
Credit freeze
Restricting access to your credit file so new accounts cannot be opened.
What this means for you: Free at all three bureaus, and a sensible protection if you are worried about a spouse opening credit in your name.
Estate & Probate After Divorce
The documents most people forget to update, and the ones that ignore your divorce decree entirely.
Beneficiary designation
The person named to receive a life insurance policy or retirement account.
What this means for you: This is the single most commonly missed step in divorce. The designation controls, not your will and usually not your decree. Naming an ex and never updating it means they may legally receive the money.
Will
The document directing who receives your property when you die.
What this means for you: Most states automatically revoke gifts to an ex-spouse on divorce, but not in every situation, and not while the divorce is still pending. Rewrite it rather than relying on the default.
Revocable living trust
A trust you control during your life that passes assets without probate.
What this means for you: Often names a spouse as successor trustee. Divorce does not always remove them automatically.
Probate
The court process of settling a deceased person's estate.
What this means for you: Assets with a valid beneficiary designation or joint ownership usually pass outside probate entirely, which is exactly why those designations matter so much.
Payable on death and transfer on death
Designations that pass a bank or investment account directly to a named person.
What this means for you: Same trap as beneficiary designations. They operate independently of your will.
Durable power of attorney
Authority for someone to handle your finances if you cannot.
What this means for you: If your spouse holds yours, revoke it in writing and notify your bank. It does not lapse on its own during separation.
Health care proxy or medical power of attorney
Authority for someone to make medical decisions for you.
What this means for you: Update this early. Many people are stunned to learn an estranged spouse still holds this authority.
Advance directive or living will
Your written instructions about end-of-life care.
What this means for you: Separate from the proxy. Both should be reviewed when a marriage ends.
Guardian nomination
Your designation of who would raise your minor children if both parents died.
What this means for you: Coordinate this with your co-parent where possible. Conflicting nominations create litigation at the worst possible time.
Elective share
A surviving spouse's statutory right to claim a portion of the estate regardless of the will.
What this means for you: Still applies while you are legally married, including during the divorce and any nisi or waiting period.
Testamentary trust for minors
A trust created by your will to hold assets for children until a set age.
What this means for you: Common after divorce when a parent wants assets managed for the children rather than handed to an ex.
Life insurance as security
A decree term requiring the paying spouse to maintain life insurance covering support obligations.
What this means for you: Ask for proof of coverage and the right to verify it, not just a promise. A policy that lapses defeats the purpose.
Retirement account beneficiary and federal law
Employer retirement plans are governed by federal ERISA rules.
What this means for you: Federal law can override a state divorce decree. A signed decree does not change a 401(k) beneficiary; only the plan paperwork does.
Digital assets
Online accounts, photos, cryptocurrency, domains, and loyalty points.
What this means for you: Increasingly part of both divorce and estate planning. Inventory them and update the recovery contacts.
Real Estate & Housing
The vocabulary of the house, usually the largest and most emotional asset.
Deed
The document showing legal ownership of real property.
What this means for you: Being on the deed and being on the mortgage are separate. You can be on one and not the other, and each has different consequences.
Quitclaim deed
A deed transferring whatever ownership interest you have, with no warranties.
What this means for you: The standard tool for removing a spouse from title. Critically, it does not remove them from the mortgage, so signing one without refinancing can leave you liable for a loan on a house you no longer own.
Mortgage versus title
The mortgage is the loan. Title is ownership.
What this means for you: Divorce decrees assign both, but only lenders can release loan liability. Refinancing is the usual mechanism.
Refinance
Replacing the existing mortgage with a new loan in one spouse's name alone.
What this means for you: Requires qualifying on one income. This is the step that most often decides whether keeping the house is realistic.
Assumption
Taking over the existing mortgage rather than refinancing.
What this means for you: Not all loans allow it, but many FHA and VA loans do. It can preserve a low interest rate that refinancing would lose.
Home equity
The market value of the home minus what is owed.
What this means for you: The number that actually gets divided. Get a real appraisal rather than relying on an online estimate.
Buyout
One spouse paying the other for their share of the equity.
What this means for you: Often funded by refinancing, trading other assets, or offsetting retirement funds. Account for selling costs when valuing it.
Exclusive use and possession
A court order letting one spouse live in the home while the case is pending.
What this means for you: Temporary occupancy, not a change in ownership. Being awarded use does not mean being awarded the house.
Deferred sale
An agreement to sell the home later, often when the youngest child finishes school.
What this means for you: Keeps children in place but ties both spouses financially for years. Spell out who pays the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs, and how appreciation is split.
Homestead exemption
A state protection for some home equity from creditors, and in some states a property tax reduction.
What this means for you: Filing status changes after divorce may affect eligibility.
Right of survivorship
A joint ownership form where the survivor automatically inherits the whole property.
What this means for you: Usually should be severed during divorce, otherwise your ex may inherit the house if you die before the transfer is finished.
Lis pendens
A public notice recorded against property indicating pending litigation.
What this means for you: Prevents a spouse from quietly selling or refinancing real estate during the divorce.
Landlord tenant issues
Rental questions when a couple separates.
What this means for you: Both names on a lease usually means both are fully liable for rent, regardless of who moved out. Ask the landlord about a formal lease release.
Capital gains exclusion on a home
The tax rule allowing you to exclude gain from selling a primary residence.
What this means for you: Up to $250,000 for a single filer and $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Timing your sale around the divorce can be worth a great deal of money.
Appraisal versus market analysis
A licensed appraisal is a formal valuation. A market analysis is an agent's estimate.
What this means for you: Courts generally expect an appraisal when equity is disputed.
Taxes After Divorce
Where the biggest avoidable money mistakes happen. General information only, not tax advice.
Filing status
Whether you file as married or single for a given tax year.
What this means for you: Determined by your status on December 31. Divorced on December 30 means you file as single for that entire year.
Married filing jointly versus separately
The two options while you are still legally married.
What this means for you: Joint filing usually costs less overall, but it makes both spouses liable for the entire tax bill, including any errors or unreported income.
Head of household
A more favorable status for a single person maintaining a home for a qualifying child.
What this means for you: Requires paying more than half the household costs and having the child live with you more than half the year. Both parents cannot claim it for the same child.
Innocent spouse relief
IRS relief from tax liability caused by your spouse's errors or omissions on a joint return.
What this means for you: Real but limited, with strict deadlines. Worth investigating if you signed joint returns you did not understand.
Injured spouse allocation
A claim to recover your share of a joint refund seized for your spouse's separate debt.
What this means for you: Different from innocent spouse relief. Used when your refund was taken for their student loans, child support, or back taxes.
Alimony and the 2019 change
How spousal support is taxed.
What this means for you: For agreements executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient. Older agreements often keep the old treatment, so the date of your agreement matters enormously.
Child support is not taxable
Support paid for children.
What this means for you: Never deductible by the payer, never taxable to the recipient. This has not changed.
Dependency exemption and child tax credit
Which parent claims the child on their return.
What this means for you: Generally the custodial parent, unless they release the claim with IRS Form 8332. Many decrees alternate years, but the IRS follows the form, not the decree.
Form 8332
The IRS form releasing the claim to a child to the noncustodial parent.
What this means for you: Without it, the IRS will side with the custodial parent regardless of what your divorce decree says.
Property transfers between spouses
Transfers of property as part of a divorce.
What this means for you: Generally not taxable events at the time of transfer under Section 1041. The tax comes later when the receiving spouse sells.
Basis
What you originally paid for an asset, used to calculate taxable gain.
What this means for you: Basis carries over in a divorce transfer. A $100,000 investment account with a low basis is worth less after tax than $100,000 in cash, which is why equal-looking splits often are not equal.
After-tax value
What an asset is actually worth once taxes are accounted for.
What this means for you: The single most useful concept in divorce finance. Comparing a Roth IRA, a traditional 401(k), and home equity at face value will mislead you.
QDRO and early withdrawal
Dividing retirement accounts without penalty.
What this means for you: A properly drafted QDRO allows the transfer without the usual 10% early withdrawal penalty. Cashing out incorrectly can trigger both tax and penalty.
Capital gains on the marital home
Tax on profit from selling your home.
What this means for you: The $500,000 married exclusion drops to $250,000 once you file single. Sale timing relative to the divorce can be a significant financial decision.
Estimated tax payments
Quarterly payments for income without withholding.
What this means for you: If you begin receiving alimony or self-employment income after divorce, you may need to start paying quarterly to avoid penalties.
Withholding update
Adjusting your W-4 after the divorce.
What this means for you: Easy to forget and costly to ignore. Your withholding was likely set for a two-income married household.
No terms match that search. Try a shorter word.