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Matthew Coleman Quoted in NJ.com Article, “Some stimulus payments wrongly withheld for back child support, taxpayers say.”

April 28, 2020

As seen on NJ.com, April 28, 2020
By Karin Price Mueller

For those who are married to and file a joint return with a spouse who has past due child support arrears from a previous relationship, any joint tax refund owing to the couple is likely to be seized by the IRS and redirected towards the outstanding support obligation, said Matthew Coleman, an attorney in the matrimonial and family law group at Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost & Botwinick in Denville.

However, he said, the non-owing spouse is not legally responsible for the support arrears, and but for filing a joint return, would receive their refund in full.

Coleman said the injured spouse allocation should still apply to the stimulus payments.

“If they filed their joint tax return for 2019 this year and filed this form already, they should not need to file an additional form in order to recoup the stimulus money,” Coleman said. “Unfortunately, injured spouse determinations can take upwards to three months for the IRS to make a determination and release funds to the unobligated spouse.”

Click here to read the full article on the NJ.com website.

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