Q: My husband filed taxes under married filing jointly. He did it electronically. He signed my signature and had the money
put into an account in which I have no access to. He refuses to share any of the refund with me. I am not working outside of the home. I care for our five children because of that he says I am not entitled to any of the refund. Can you please tell me is this true and am I entitled to a portion or half of the refund?
A:
If you truly filed jointly (meaning it was filed with your consent), then you are each entitled to 100% of the refund. No, that is not a typo, you are jointly entitled to the entire refund and the allocation of the refund between the two of you is up to you. If he fraudulently filed a return jointly, without your consent, technically the tax return is not a married filing joint return and is, instead, a married filing separate return. If you were to challenge this with the IRS (usually by filing a separate return in your own name and then providing proof of the situation to the IRS), his tax return would be converted to a married filing separate return and he would have to repay some or all of the refund.
This all being said, it seems as if there are more serious issues than a tax refund happening in your relationship. This tax refund is minor in comparison with your spouse authorizing liability (i.e. tax return liability) in your name, without your consent, and restricting access to your joint property. Assuming this is correct, I would strongly suggest marital counseling to try to address these issues.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
