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Post by AussieMeg on Oct 12, 2022 4:47:07 GMT
I have no idea how it words in the US. Here in Australia, it make no difference whether you are married or just living together - you have to report your spouse/partner's taxable income on your tax return, and your joint income is what determines whether you have to pay things like a Medicare levy etc. In fact, the tax return doesn't even mention the word "spouse". It simply says "Did you have a partner in the tax year 2021/2023?" and "What was your partner's taxable income?" That's interesting. Do you think people are honest about it? I don't think they would be honest about it here; especially if it meant you would pay more taxes. If it was flat tax, then no big deal. You don't have to pay more tax as such. I pay the same amount of tax whether I am single or married or de facto, as it is based solely on my income and deductions. The combined income is used to determine whether you get a private health insurance REBATE, or whether you are entitled to a REDUCTION to your Medicare levy, or you have to PAY a Medicare levy surcharge. I'm sure there are people who lie about all sorts of things on their tax return. Interestingly, it worked in our favour to be a couple when DSO was a SAHD to our son. We got a Family Tax Benefit payment each year, because our combined income was under the threshold. Whereas when I was a single mum previously, I didn't get anything. ETA: I tell a lie, I got a childcare rebate.
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Post by chances on Oct 12, 2022 6:44:44 GMT
Federal taxes are usually higher for a married couple because you combine two incomes together and could land in a higher tax bracket. I have no idea how it words in the US. Here in Australia, it make no difference whether you are married or just living together - you have to report your spouse/partner's taxable income on your tax return, and your joint income is what determines whether you have to pay things like a Medicare levy etc. In fact, the tax return doesn't even mention the word "spouse". It simply says "Did you have a partner in the tax year 2021/2023?" and "What was your partner's taxable income?" Interesting. Does the government provide a definition of “partner”? Does it mean you share bills or just space? Would a roommate or adult child count?
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Post by AussieMeg on Oct 12, 2022 9:45:26 GMT
I have no idea how it words in the US. Here in Australia, it make no difference whether you are married or just living together - you have to report your spouse/partner's taxable income on your tax return, and your joint income is what determines whether you have to pay things like a Medicare levy etc. In fact, the tax return doesn't even mention the word "spouse". It simply says "Did you have a partner in the tax year 2021/2023?" and "What was your partner's taxable income?" Interesting. Does the government provide a definition of “partner”? Does it mean you share bills or just space? Would a roommate or adult child count? Hmmmm, I might have been mistaken about the wording. I just did my tax return on the weekend, and I could have sworn it said "partner" rather than "spouse". But when I just looked up the wording on the ATO website in order to answer your question, it says "spouse". I assume it also says spouse on the actual tax return. This is the wording:
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Post by tampascrapper on Oct 12, 2022 15:34:31 GMT
I am not in favor of marriage because it took me 2 1/2 years and $42,000 to get a divorce because my ex decided to be an asshole about it. We didn’t have savings, retirement, etc to fight over. I had to refinance the house and put a majority of that on credit cards. His plan was to drag it out as long as possible. He wasn’t concerned with the costs because he never paid his lawyer. Whereas I did. It took over a decade but I finally paid all of that off. For me personally, I will never again be legally bound to someone where they can affect my life and finances once the relationship is over.
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Post by chances on Oct 12, 2022 17:07:59 GMT
I am not in favor of marriage because it took me 2 1/2 years and $42,000 to get a divorce because my ex decided to be an asshole about it. We didn’t have savings, retirement, etc to fight over. I had to refinance the house and put a majority of that on credit cards. His plan was to drag it out as long as possible. He wasn’t concerned with the costs because he never paid his lawyer. Whereas I did. It took over a decade but I finally paid all of that off. For me personally, I will never again be legally bound to someone where they can affect my life and finances once the relationship is over. I’m sorry that happened to you! If there are no assets to fight over, how could your ex hold things up? I guess it’s than just filing the paper work? I don’t know want to be legally responsible for someone else's bad behavior. Something to consider…
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Post by tampascrapper on Oct 12, 2022 17:24:03 GMT
I am not in favor of marriage because it took me 2 1/2 years and $42,000 to get a divorce because my ex decided to be an asshole about it. We didn’t have savings, retirement, etc to fight over. I had to refinance the house and put a majority of that on credit cards. His plan was to drag it out as long as possible. He wasn’t concerned with the costs because he never paid his lawyer. Whereas I did. It took over a decade but I finally paid all of that off. For me personally, I will never again be legally bound to someone where they can affect my life and finances once the relationship is over. I’m sorry that happened to you! If there are no assets to fight over, how could your ex hold things up? I guess it’s than just filing the paper work? I don’t know want to be legally responsible for someone else's bad behavior. Something to consider… He would have his lawyer send my lawyer a letter every single work fay for months. My lawyer charged to receive the letter, read the letter, respond to the letter, and send me a copy of the letter. I asked drug out the mandatory arbitration. Had his lawyer request extension after extension and we’d have to go to court to respond to those extension request. He basically did everything possible to drag it out and cost me as much money as possible. People change when you’re going through a divorce and sometimes it brings out the worst in people
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Post by tampascrapper on Oct 12, 2022 17:25:13 GMT
I am not in favor of marriage because it took me 2 1/2 years and $42,000 to get a divorce because my ex decided to be an asshole about it. We didn’t have savings, retirement, etc to fight over. I had to refinance the house and put a majority of that on credit cards. His plan was to drag it out as long as possible. He wasn’t concerned with the costs because he never paid his lawyer. Whereas I did. It took over a decade but I finally paid all of that off. For me personally, I will never again be legally bound to someone where they can affect my life and finances once the relationship is over. I’m sorry that happened to you! If there are no assets to fight over, how could your ex hold things up? I guess it’s than just filing the paper work? I don’t know want to be legally responsible for someone else's bad behavior. Something to consider… He would have his lawyer send my lawyer a letter every single work fay for months. My lawyer charged to receive the letter, read the letter, respond to the letter, and send me a copy of the letter. I asked drug out the mandatory arbitration. Had his lawyer request extension after extension and we’d have to go to court to respond to those extension request. He basically did everything possible to drag it out and cost me as much money as possible. People change when you’re going through a divorce and sometimes it brings out the worst in people
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DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,355
Aug 9, 2014 23:13:22 GMT
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Post by DEX on Oct 12, 2022 18:54:21 GMT
One of my good friends got married for second time about 5 years ago (we went to the wedding in Kauai) - she has 3 kids and he has 3 kids (all in college). He is a lawyer and makes good money, has a fancy house etc. However - he also has a spending problem. His kids are all in private schools (one even at Harvard) and he constantly buys very expensive things - motorcycles, horses etc. so basically is spending more than he makes. She actually would like to leave him but half his debt he acquired during the marriage will now be hers! She hasn’t even been living with him. It is such a messy unfortunate situation. I mean I’ve always thought about assets acquired during marriage being split in half - but never really thought about the debt. I haven't read all of the responses so I hope this hasn't been mentioned before. My late husband liked to spend money. When we got married (for the second time) I kept all of my finances separate. I was not a signator on any of his credit cards. When he passed away I notified all of his credit cards and was told that since I didn't have signatory rights, I was not responsible for his debts. I never heard anything from the credit card companies after that.
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Post by Lexica on Oct 13, 2022 2:18:53 GMT
I am not in favor of marriage because it took me 2 1/2 years and $42,000 to get a divorce because my ex decided to be an asshole about it. We didn’t have savings, retirement, etc to fight over. I had to refinance the house and put a majority of that on credit cards. His plan was to drag it out as long as possible. He wasn’t concerned with the costs because he never paid his lawyer. Whereas I did. It took over a decade but I finally paid all of that off. For me personally, I will never again be legally bound to someone where they can affect my life and finances once the relationship is over. My ex did similar things. Five years after I filed, I still wasn't divorced because he kept cancelling any meeting or court date we had. He admitted to me that he was hoping that I would change my mind and remain married to him. Yeah, being an a-hold is a sure way to make me want to remain married to him. Finally after five years, I begged my attorney to request a bifurcation where the marriage was legally ended and we still had to deal with support and custody. He didn't think they would grant it, but the judge said five years was enough and I was entitled to move on. I cried all the way home because I felt so free. Several years later I got engaged. Even as I was saying "yes" I was wondering if it was the right thing for me. We were great dating, never argued, and had a lot of fun together. I adored his three kids too. But once he proposed, I started really looking at things that were not important to me when we were dating. Mainly the way he handled money. Not too much after he proposed, he suggested we plan a fun honeymoon - using the line of credit on MY house to pay for the wedding and honeymoon! He didn't own a home and had been living in an apartment. He also had a lot of debt that I discovered he was hoping to pay off using my line of credit too! Obviously, I didn't marry him. I probably will not ever marry again either. I have no problem living with someone, its just the legal bit that scares me. Tying my finances to someone else can be risky, especially at my age.
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rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,123
Jul 1, 2014 20:20:18 GMT
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Post by rickmer on Oct 14, 2022 23:11:29 GMT
in my case you could say marrying caused me problems when we split and technically would have cost me money in terms of house asset. we had 9 years in a common law legally recognized relationship before marrying. the property that i had 50% interest in before we married was then considered his alone because marriage "reset the clock" for us.
it was WAAYY more complicated than that and since it was in the 90s, i had no documentation to *prove* anything. suffice to say, i encourage folks to *always* have a legal agreement on paper and signed prior to any type of home ownership, regardless of what is agreed upon. my daughter will not get caught in the same mistakes i did.
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