| name | tax-summary-spousal-support |
| title | Tax Summary for Spousal Support |
| description | Produces structured financial summaries from tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and business filings for spousal support proceedings. Trigger when preparing income analyses for alimony discovery, settlement negotiations, pre-trial, or court filings in family law matters. |
| author | CaseMark |
| author_url | https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/tax-summary-spousal-support |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | us |
| practice | family |
| language | en |
| tags | ["analysis","litigation","summarization","summary"] |
Tax Summary for Spousal Support
Extracts income sources, deductions, tax liabilities, and multi-year trends from tax records to assess financial capacity, ability to pay, or need for support.
Prerequisites
- Tax returns — Federal (1040) and state for 2–3 most recent years minimum
- Income documents — W-2s, 1099s (all types), K-1s, Schedules C/E/F
- Business returns — 1065, 1120-S, or 1120 if party owns business interests
- Party identification — Petitioner, respondent, or both
- Jurisdiction — State governing support calculation (affects income definitions)
Quick Start
- Collect all available tax documents and identify gaps
- Determine party and jurisdiction
- Follow the output structure below, citing form and line for every figure
- Flag support-relevant adjustments where tax income diverges from economic income
Output Structure
1. Executive Overview
Multi-year table with: gross income, AGI, taxable income, total tax liability (fed + state), effective tax rate, net after-tax income, and trend direction (↑/↓/→) for each metric.
2. Income Source Breakdown
Per year, itemize each source with amount, percentage of total, and form/line reference:
- Wages (W-2), self-employment (Sch C), business distributions (K-1), rental (Sch E), interest/dividends (Sch B), capital gains (Sch D), retirement distributions, other
3. Tax Liability Analysis
- Federal and state obligations separately
- Effective vs. marginal rates
- Significant credits (child tax, earned income, etc.)
- Withholding and estimated payment patterns
- AMT exposure if applicable
4. Deductions and Adjustments
Flag support-relevance for each deduction:
- Retirement contributions — reduces cash but builds assets
- Health insurance (self-employed) — mandatory expense
- Business expenses — review for personal benefit
- Mortgage interest — lifestyle indicator
- Charitable contributions — discretionary capacity
- Depreciation — not actual cash outflow; courts often add back
5. Business Income Reconciliation
If self-employed or business owner, reconcile reported taxable income vs. actual economic benefit:
