Q: Is this technically an alimony payment?
I just was divorced a few weeks ago. I was given sole responsibility of the mortgage. We are in the process of moving the mortgage account over to just my name. However, he made a payment to the mortgage and he is claiming this is his first payment for the alimony. Our contract doesn't say he is to make the payments to the mortgage, just that he is to make payments on a biweekly schedule. Does this technically count as a payment or does he have to make the payment directly to me?
A: I cannot speak for the IRS, but I doubt if he would be able to deduct alimony paid in this fashion without it specifically saying so in your Judgment. It is allowable under certain circumstances, but I do not believe they apply in your case as you have described it.
A: I agree with Mr. Kulerski, by and large, but reasonable minds will differ on the answer to your question. Your ex-husband's made a payment on a mortgage on which he was still a debtor as far as the lender is concerned; in other words, he made a payment on a debt of his. To the extent your dissolution of marriage papers say it is now your debt, it's entirely possible (but not certain) a court would hold he effectively made you a gift of the money unless you agreed beforehand that his first alimony payment should be handled in this fashion. Your ex-husband has no right to tell you that you must apply the alimony payment to the mortgage or otherwise specify what you must spend it on, yet this is in what he did.
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