Claiming Legal Fees (Case Law) For Tax Deduction in Child Support Matters

[mememe]

Are there any similar case law for spousal support only and claiming legal fees?

[torontonian]

It should be deducted (saying "should" 'coz mine is being audited) given Technical News #24 of Oct 10 2002 allowing it.

[mememe]

Tax deduction And legal fees

Are there any cases to support tax deduction for legal for spousal support only. There are no kids.

[Canadaguy]

I was under the impression that you cannot claim legal fees you paid to establish custody of a child. Is the outcome of this case saying otherwise?

[hadenough]

Thx Tayken. I will definitely be needing to look into this.

[sahibjee]

awesome link! thanks

[Tayken]

Hi All,

I know this question comes up often on the forum so I thought this case law and following articles regarding claiming legal fees on line 221 was important. A parent on April 19, 2010 won the right to claim legal fees in an appeal setting forth the case law for tax deductions for a payer of child support to deduct legal fees from their taxes.

The case law is as follows:

Trignani v. The Queen, 2010 TCC 209 (CanLII)
Date: 2010-04-19
Docket: 2008-3989(IT)I
URL: CanLII - 2010 TCC 209 (CanLII)
Citation: Trignani v. The Queen, 2010 TCC 209 (CanLII)

Article in the Lawyers Weekly on the subject:

"Child support payer can deduct legal fees spent on child support bid"
- "Father can deduct even though he has paid, not received, support"

The Lawyers Weekly - May 7, 2010

Another article on the topic:

Child Support Payer can Deduct Legal Fees spent on Child Support Bid
Cristin Schmitz for The Lawyers Weekly
May 7, 2010

The Tax Court has ruled that a father with joint custody of his son is entitled to deduct the legal fees he spent to pursue child support, even though the father has always paid, rather than received, child support.

Child Support Payer can Deduct Legal Fees spent on Child Support Bid - Canadian-Lawyers.ca

Good Luck!
Tayken