Though I recommend consulting a tax accountant for any specific questions you may have about filing taxes during or after divorce, I offer some basic tips and information regarding whether you should file separately or jointly, who gets the tax exemption on alimony and child support, and who should claim your kids as dependents on their tax returns.

If you are married as of Dec. 31 of any given year, you can file as jointly married, even if you were separated the whole year. You often get a lot of tax breaks by filing jointly, so I usually recommend filing jointly if you can. If you file separately, know that you will have to come to an agreement about who claims the kids for the year. If you don’t have an agreement, it’s basically a race to whoever files first and puts the kids’ social security number on their taxes. As of a few years ago, alimony and child support are not tax deductible for the person paying it.