Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Ex-husband wants me to repay him for income taxes he paid

Income taxes are personal debts owed the government. You were responsible to pay for

your tax liability. From your question I presume the filing status was married filing joint rather than

married filing separate (the latter being a joint return also). You signed the return, and in doing so accepted the benefit of

his paying the liability. If you had no agreement to the contrary, from the perspective of an equitable claim, you have the obligation to pay your fair share. Additionally, he could potentially assert quasi-contract or oral contract.

What is a fair share may vary considerably since there are several ways to look at this matter.

On the other hand, the settlement of this matter

may be subject to negotiation and the outcome would then hinge on your ability to negotiate. In order for him to bring a claim against you he would need to be able to

trace the with holdings and apportion the respective tax liability as well as segregate credits and deductions (this is not always a clear cut issue).

In answer to your direct question, YES he can legally ask that you re-pay him, and you can settle with him or, if he is within the statute of limitation for his claim, he could decide to bring suit against you. There are other matters such as how your divorce was granted and terms therein, none of these matters are addressed herein and such may change the outcome As with your divorce, there

are legal avenues to address matters and then there are practical restraints, you need to decide how you want to address this.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing herein should be construed as legal advice but rather this is general information about the law. In order to provide legal advice, an attorney must have an opportunity to ask questions about your situation and thereby become knowledgegable of your circumstance. BBS or other general internet advice is NOT a substitute for legal advice that is specific to your legal needs. No attorney-client relationship has formed as a result

of this communication and no inference thereof should be made by any reader of its contents.

G. Joseph Holthaus

(410) 799-9002