if you're in legal negotiations...

[Shenjall]

to try and collect and/or determine child support, You may be able to deduct your legal fees. Well, in canada anyway. Check it out!

Our previous lawyer didnt tell us at all but our second (and much better) lawyer let us know and wrote up a letter to send in with our taxes.

Just wanted to pass the info on!

[Seasons]

Thanks for the tip! I found support for your thesis at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individ...2/legal-e.html & http://www.gkap.com/doc_07.pdf & http://www.bcfamilylaw.ca/NL/ed:200207/an:2

-You also may be able to deduct costs of increasing alimony or getting back alimony, in both US & Canada. http://www.howlandtax.com/articles/02_15_2.htm & http://www.aldridge-borden.com/Articles/CNB-ACS1.htm
Note that a person trying to reduce his alimony burden CAN'T deduct his legal fees.

I couldn't find anything about deducting, from US taxes, legal fees for collecting child support. My opinion is that they probably aren't deductible because only legal fees incurred or paid for the production or collection of taxable income may be deductible. (You may deduct legal fees for collecting alimony because alimony is taxable income. These deductions are taken on line 22 of Form 1040, Schedule A, Itemized Deductions.) Child support isn't taxable, so the IRS apparently isn't going to give deductions for someone's efforts to increase those amounts.

--Seasons (not in a blended family, but this info is relevant to me as a single parent)

[Shenjall]

Thanks seasons!

I should have posted some links.... :