Alimony no longer deductible: what now?

How will alimony be calculated in Massachusetts, now that for orders entered after 12/31/18 it is not deductible to the person paying? There is no definite answer to that question, unfortunately. Massachusetts statutory law provides that in most situations alimony will not exceed the lesser of 30-35% of the difference in the parties’ incomes or the recipient’s need. However, when that law was adopted in 2012, the assumption was that alimony would continue to be taxed to the recipient and deducted by the payor, neither of which is true for new alimony judgments entered after 12/31/18. The state legislature has made no progress in revising the statute, leaving the issue for the Probate and Family Court to resolve.

With this in mind, in cases calling for alimony, the best approach will be to negotiate an amount of alimony that reflects what would have been the tax treatment pre-2019. Those calculations are more complicated that they may appear, because of the variety of tax brackets that may apply to each party. Attorney Sullivan is prepared to represent either party relative to alimony issues, negotiate and calculate the options, and, if needed, obtain the analysis of a tax professional.