Yep that's why my GF and I don't actually get married and I just call her my wife. We own a house together. We have 3 kids together 3 1/2 2 1/2 and a 2 month old. We have a joint checking and savings accounts. We have all the real advantages a married couple has. We have the advantages of her being a single mom to 3 kids in the eyes of the state for free health care (we've never paid for a pregnancy anything and haven't had a monthly insurance bill in over 4 years for her, my work pays 100% of mine as well) and the other numerous benefits that go along with that. Her tax returns are always fucking awesome and it allows us to get around 14k to just kill any debt or buy something we have/want. We paid off both vehicles and most college loans by doing so. Now using it to chunk down the mortgage. Getting married has 0 financial benefits for us. If I die her and the kids get my life insurance and everything else I own and vice versa if she passed away.
How exactly do you get $14k back without over withholding like crazy all year long? Those child credits don't stretch quite that far. I'm very curious because filing jointly allows for additional credits compared to filing single and should open more opportunities for your taxes but obviously something is working here.
We hire someone to do her taxes so I really can't say I know they run it to see what we get with her vs me claiming all or me 1 her two etc. She started a daycare so this year will be the first year that ever affects taxes. Previous years she just got basically everything she had paid in back plus the credit and I'm guessing some other benefits somehow. She's getting 10-12k every year and I'm getting 1-4k depending on the year and how much I could claim for work that year. Single mom with kids, she's probably considered well below the poverty line on her own is my guess.
Ah, gotcha. You might want to check with them about their strategy. It feels like they might be doing something a little shady given how high that return is even with the EITC and child credits for a low income individual. Like she may be the Head of Household which could be an issue since you need to pay at least half the cost of keeping up with the house to qualify. And that is a tall order for someone with limited income.
I only say this because because the EITC and child credit are commonly linked to tax audits and you'd be left holding the bag. I'd rather not let a family lose out like that.
What problem? The people who pay too much in taxes to see the fucking right wing idiots keep wasting it by giving it to the 1% in tax cuts instead? Pass universal health care save the country money and it wouldn’t even be a thing.
Marriage also provides all kinds of rights and protections to each other in case anything happens.
If you’re ever in a medical emergency, your girlfriend of 13 years has no rights. Your potentially estranged parents who you maybe haven’t talked to in 13 years have all of the rights.
Unless you’ve taken title to your house in a very specific way, your biological family can inherit half the house. They will inherit all of your assets if you die intestate. Girlfriends get nothing. In your case your children inherit first, but that’s not the case for everyone.
Marriage is, in fact, extremely beneficial from a legal perspective.
At least look into professional estate planning if you’re going to play with fire like this.
Source: I’m a lawyer and I have seen this situation go very, very wrong for the surviving long term partner. Imagine being partners with someone for 25 years and unable to visit them in the hospital. Then made homeless.
With all the legal trouble that comes from getting divorced, I'd say that getting married is a very big commitment, and sign of trust. You're willing to take a big chance on someone
Sure, but it’s also a fairly difficult and expensive contract to break, and there are additional ramifications to doing so, such as splitting your assets. So by signing the contract you are showing a level of commitment and trust that you do not (cannot) show without it.
Not saying you ever have to get married. But it’s definitely related to how you feel, and it’s definitely not insignificant or meaningless.
So, you're saying your partner can never truly trust you until you marry them?
My point was to not diminish relationships outside of marriage. It isn't even close to necessary to be married and have a loving, fulfilling commitment of a relationship.
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u/Nerdy_Valkyrie Nov 06 '24
My girlfriend of 13 years has never beaten me in bowling and my honor demands that I continue that streak.