Newly married, but husband is in default of federal student loans. We have 3 kids. Will I get child credit?
My new husband of 2 months is in default of his federal student loans. We have 3 children and have been together for 6 years. Of the two of us, depending on how our separate work year went or our separate debts, we would always decide who would claim our 3 children, so that we could always get the most back. That is what has always worked for us, so that we could pay a little to all debts and have some left over. Now that I’m married, even if I file separately but married, will our child tax credit be affected by his student loans? Would it have been more beneficial to file single, before we got married? Hindsight is 20/20, so it doesn’t really matter, but I’m just curious to know. We usually can breathe around this time of the year, like many people, but I’m afraid that we’ll both be paying the lump sum of his debt, sooner than we wanted to. It’s never nice to be in default of anything, but it’s what worked for our family, right now. 3 kids, plus regular bills, equals tight living.
If you file as married filing separately, you can get the child tax credit. It’s the child CARE credit you can’t get – along with many other credits such as EIC and education credits.
If you file a joint return, you can file an injured spouse form and keep your portion of the refund from going toward his debt.
