• 22
  • August
    2011

Any Denver resident who has tried to do his or her own taxes knows it is anything but simple. Now imagine what it is like when you go through a divorce and have all those changed financial matters to deal with. Now take it one step further and imagine you have a multi-million dollar estate to cope with and the IRS does not like the way you have handled it thus far.

That's the situation facing a Rhode Island woman who has been accused of trying to have her divorce judgment voided because her deceased ex-husband's estate owes $2.8 million in fines and fees. Specifically, federal investigators allege she tried to have her divorce judgment thrown out in a "collusive" attempt to claim a marital tax deduction for her ex-husband's estate, which totaled $17.7 million at the time of his death in 2006.

The woman claims her divorce was fraudulently obtained because she and her husband had a secret deal that he would pay her $2 for every $1 that was kept from her in the divorce. She said her husband only wanted a divorce so he could make it easier to leave property for his children from previous relationships.

The woman's next court date is Sept. 29.

Of course, most Denver residents do not have an estate worth $17 million and a majority of them are not likely to negotiate a back-room deal, the way the woman says her husband did. This story does a good job, however, of illustrating just how complex and tricky it can be to properly divide assets and property in a divorce. If you are getting a divorce, working with an attorney who has experience handling divorce cases, as well as working with a finance professional, might make the financial aspect easier to understand.

Source: The Boston Globe, "Feds: RI divorcee seeks $1.7M marital deduction," Laura Crimaldi, Aug. 18, 2011.