It’s common that clients getting divorced have uncertain taxes. While it’s a good practice to try and estimate these for the trial court it’s not a requirement. Below is an excerpt from a brief our office filed on this issue.
A trial court can make a just and right division of a community estate without establishing values for tax returns. Quijano v. Quijano, 347 S.W.3d 346, 352 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011). In Quijano, the Court stated that “our research has not revealed any, wherein a court has held that a community estate could not be divided where sums certain were not established for tax liabilities”. Id. The Court in Quijano goes on to state “there are Texas cases in which courts appropriately assigned tax liability to one party or the other without knowing the exact amount of that liability.” Id.; See also Kimsey v. Kimsey, 965 S.W.2d 690, 695-96 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1998, pet. denied) (finding no manifest abuse of discretion where trial court divided tax liability equally between parties despite no evidence of amount of potential tax liability, but remanding in part because the court failed to specify whether parties were to file jointly or separately); Mullins v. Mullins, 785 S.W.2d 5, 7-8 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1009, no writ) (holding trial court acted within its discretion in holding husband responsible for potential income tax incurred during marriage); Young v. Young, 168 S.W.3d 276,286 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2005, no pet.) (holding trial court did not err in assigning responsibility of couples’ income tax liability to husband where evidence indicated he had failed to report certain income); Benedict v. Benedict, 542 S.W.2d 692, 698 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1976, writ dism’d) (finding trial court acted within its authority in ordering husband responsible for entire estimated tax liability where he had failed to file tax returns for several years).