Question: My husband and I are completing a settlement that includes alimony and child support. He’s OK with paying me more money as alimony during the first three years until I get employed because he can deduct the payments and I have no taxable income. As part of my alimony, he wants to give me a note owed to him – meaning I will receive the payment directly from the man who owes my husband money. Then my husband wants to pay me less over the next four years and increase the child support. When I went to see my lawyer, he said he had met with my husband’s lawyer and they didn’t think it would work. It seems relatively simple to me and my husband. Are the lawyers just trying to make it more complicated than it really is?

Answer: Unfortunately, nothing is "simple" when it comes to the taxation aspects of marital settlements, and the advice your lawyers are giving you is accurate. Assuming payments qualify under the tax law, alimony is deductible by the payor in the year paid and includible in the income of the recipient in the year received. Child support payments, on the other hand, are neither deductible nor includible.

To qualify as alimony, each of the following requirements must be met: (1) Payments must be made according to a divorce decree or separation agreement signed by the husband and wife; (2) Payments must be in cash or cash equivalents; (3) Payments must terminate at the death of the recipient; (4) the husband and wife can't file joint income tax returns with each other; (5) Generally, husband and wife must live in separate residences; (6) Payments can't be designated as not being alimony; and (7) Payments may not be made from alimony trusts.

That said, there are rules that prevent "front-end loading" -- when the payor makes larger payments during the first few years after the separation or divorce -- which increases the deduction -- and then decreases or terminates the payments. Here, a part of the larger payment in the early years may later be treated as property settlement that isn’t deductible by the payor and isn’t taxable to the recipient. This means that if your husband deducted -- and you reported -- the larger payments, he might be required to "recapture" previously deducted amounts into his income and pay additional taxes, while you would receive a refund.

Moreover, since the assignment of a note from your husband’s creditor will most likely not qualify as a cash payment, the payments will probably not be deductible as alimony. And, if the note was assigned to you and you died before payments were completed, they would not be deductible.

While most of these problems described would affect your husband more than you, the results are not what you intend. So let the experienced matrimonial lawyers and certified public accountants “do the driving” here.

Question: My wife’s ex calls me constantly, cursing and threatening me. We also get “hang-up” calls at all hours. What can I do? He lives in another state.

Answer: Federal law prohibits obscene, harassing, or threatening telephone calls made in interstate or foreign communications. Penalties range from a fine of up to $50,000 to six months in prison, or both. We suggest you contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation or United States Attorney in your area, as repetitive threats should not be taken lightly.