Household size question

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Agree with all except the bolded paragraph. If his earnings were under the threshold (it's $9350 for a single person in 2009), and there is no circumstance that would otherwise require him to file a return (certain special taxes owed, etc.), then he would not be required to file a return. However, if he earned any money at all, then he'd probably be eligible for the EIC, and he'd be giving up free cash by not filing.

Ok, it's devil's advocate time...

Something smells fishy about this guy. He's loaded with excuses for things, but many of them don't quite jive with reality. Either he is oblivious to the actual law, or he's not being completely honest.

He said his sick kids and relatives were the reason he didn't earn much, yet he now says that the children's mother won't allow him access to the kids. Did this latter scenario develop as the OP was planning a trip to the US, or after she arrived in the US? So, he had sick kids which prevented him from earning any money, and perhaps prevented him from leaving the country, but now that the OP is coming to the US he is not able to produce the sick kids. Anyone see where I'm going with this?

If the mother of his kids is collecting public assistance of any sort for the children, then she is COMPELLED to cooperate in support enforcement action against the father of her children, whether she wants to or not. I'm not aware of any state where this isn't true. If there is no support order in place, then the state's Child Protective Services (or whatever their state calls it) will seek an order on their own. I'm betting there probably IS a support in place, but he's not been paying it. If he did his "warrant check" at the DMV then a warrant for non-payment of child support might not show up - they often only check for traffic warrants (she did mention he had a parking ticket).

If the mother of the children is able to take care of the kids while simultaneously blocking their father from having access to them, why was he ever needed to care for the kids, and why is this a reason for his not being able to work? If there are two parents available to care for the children, then it seems like the most important thing one of them should be doing is earning some money to pay for their care.

I noticed that the OP mentioned she recently returned from the US. Has her fiance ever visited her in her home country? If not, did he use his ample collection of sick children and relatives as a reason for not leaving the US? I ask this because a parent who is in arrears on support payments cannot get a passport in most states - the state's Attorney General will block it.

Somehow, the pieces just don't seem to fit right. The OP should probably invest in a background check on her future husband.

Agreed, IF his income is below the threshold, which was not the stated "reason" he did not file tax returns. Also if his income is below the threshold then he needs to state this and cite the tax code exemption.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Agree with all except the bolded paragraph. If his earnings were under the threshold (it's $9350 for a single person in 2009), and there is no circumstance that would otherwise require him to file a return (certain special taxes owed, etc.), then he would not be required to file a return. However, if he earned any money at all, then he'd probably be eligible for the EIC, and he'd be giving up free cash by not filing.

Ok, it's devil's advocate time...

Something smells fishy about this guy. He's loaded with excuses for things, but many of them don't quite jive with reality. Either he is oblivious to the actual law, or he's not being completely honest.

He said his sick kids and relatives were the reason he didn't earn much, yet he now says that the children's mother won't allow him access to the kids. Did this latter scenario develop as the OP was planning a trip to the US, or after she arrived in the US? So, he had sick kids which prevented him from earning any money, and perhaps prevented him from leaving the country, but now that the OP is coming to the US he is not able to produce the sick kids. Anyone see where I'm going with this?

If the mother of his kids is collecting public assistance of any sort for the children, then she is COMPELLED to cooperate in support enforcement action against the father of her children, whether she wants to or not. I'm not aware of any state where this isn't true. If there is no support order in place, then the state's Child Protective Services (or whatever their state calls it) will seek an order on their own. I'm betting there probably IS a support in place, but he's not been paying it. If he did his "warrant check" at the DMV then a warrant for non-payment of child support might not show up - they often only check for traffic warrants (she did mention he had a parking ticket).

If the mother of the children is able to take care of the kids while simultaneously blocking their father from having access to them, why was he ever needed to care for the kids, and why is this a reason for his not being able to work? If there are two parents available to care for the children, then it seems like the most important thing one of them should be doing is earning some money to pay for their care.

I noticed that the OP mentioned she recently returned from the US. Has her fiance ever visited her in her home country? If not, did he use his ample collection of sick children and relatives as a reason for not leaving the US? I ask this because a parent who is in arrears on support payments cannot get a passport in most states - the state's Attorney General will block it.

Somehow, the pieces just don't seem to fit right. The OP should probably invest in a background check on her future husband.

Agreed, there are too many holes in this story. Really I do not judge people and what they do for themsleves as adults, I do not care if the man is 79 years old and his fiancee is 19 years old, as long as they both know this, why would I care?

But there seems to be a lot of loose ends in this story being told to a foreign benficiary without much knowlegde of US laws. Besides the fact that there appears to be a vindictive mother in the picture...this is WAY fishy and the OP needs to be fully aware of everything before jumping into this pool.

[mystic 11]

I have read and re read the rules on household size and unfortunately it does not matter who has custody of the kids or where they live, as long as they are not married and under the age of majority he HAS to claim them as part of his household size because even if he is not paying support he does still have his parental rights which therefore makes him legally responsible for his children.

[CaMic 0]

I know that the whole thing sounds fishy and to be honest my fiance isn't perfect but we can't choose who we fall in love with. I've met his kids and yes that's all genuine, the two older kids (twins) have a degenerative disease and need lots of help and support, one is now exclusively home schooled. The younger boy had a form of leukaemia and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant out of state, complications meant that he had to go back to hospital for several months the following summer, his mother was with him all of this time and couldn't work either. I've seen the photos of him in hospital and on steriods - his little body swollen out of all proportion and him still smiling through it all, seen the "care-pages" he had on the hospital website, he's now back home, doing okay but still has to be home schooled because they can't risk him picking up any infections. In the last 2 and half years, he spent over 12 months in Cincinnatti childrens hospital and still has regular treatments at a local hospital as well as check-ups in Cincinnatti. My fiance worked part-time on a casual basis as and when he could, he didn't do things right as far as income tax goes, he didn't earn much but I understand that he should still either have filed or gotten a waiver.

That's really trying to simplify things, its all way more complicated than that, and believe me if I hadn't witnessed it all I'd be having a hard time believing it myself.

[jundp 191]

His ex-wife cannot stop YOU from seeing his children either, whether he pays child support or not. Once married you will be, legally, their step mother and not only have the SAME privileges as he to see them, you have the legal right to make any decisions needed on behalf of the children. Their mother does not have to like it.

This is not entirely correct. Depending on the state in which they reside the step-parent does not have any legal recourse to make decisions on behalf of the children, nor does the step-parent have any rights to or privileges to see the children. The biological parent, yes, but the step-parent, no.

I have recently dealt with this in Washington state.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

I know that the whole thing sounds fishy and to be honest my fiance isn't perfect but we can't choose who we fall in love with. I've met his kids and yes that's all genuine, the two older kids (twins) have a degenerative disease and need lots of help and support, one is now exclusively home schooled. The younger boy had a form of leukaemia and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant out of state, complications meant that he had to go back to hospital for several months the following summer, his mother was with him all of this time and couldn't work either. I've seen the photos of him in hospital and on steriods - his little body swollen out of all proportion and him still smiling through it all, seen the "care-pages" he had on the hospital website, he's now back home, doing okay but still has to be home schooled because they can't risk him picking up any infections. In the last 2 and half years, he spent over 12 months in Cincinnatti childrens hospital and still has regular treatments at a local hospital as well as check-ups in Cincinnatti. My fiance worked part-time on a casual basis as and when he could, he didn't do things right as far as income tax goes, he didn't earn much but I understand that he should still either have filed or gotten a waiver.

That's really trying to simplify things, its all way more complicated than that, and believe me if I hadn't witnessed it all I'd be having a hard time believing it myself.

hey you are a big girl. as long as you are informed and making informed decisions...good luck.

As far as his taxes go, there is no big problem to file late. It sounds like he isn't going to owe taxes anyway, so no harm done and he would just be getting his papers in order for later. I would suggest he go ahead and file even if he doesn't have to. It is just so much easier to submit a tax return than to explain why he didn't and hope they grant the waiver. Google 1040/2007, 1040/2008 to get the needed forms. agin, if no tax is owed, there is no penalty for filing late

You will need to be careful about this mother of the children and protect your assets from her. You sound like you have an established life and some property in the UK, do not let this woman take it from you because of "who you fall in love with" Fortunately our states have come up with hundreds of ways to protect your assets from other people having a claim to them and an attorney can help you out if you do not know how. Until that protection is in place, do NOT move any assets from the UK here. Actually you may jst wish to leave your assets in the UK, it is for you and your future husband (or you alone) to decide. I would not leave this to your fiance. Clearly he is not always conscientious and a small mistake or a delay in doing something could cost you bitg time when someone is lurking in the shadows to hurt you any way they can find. (it is not paranoid if someone really IS out to get you!)