" She has somewhat limited accounting skills and told me this year that the paper that I gave her last year detailing how to arrange the payments was too small, to which I said that I had meant it as a guide as she set up her account book. " I'm afraid I LOL at this one! Not that I haven't misunderstood some equally commonsense things at times. Of course common sense often depends heavily on knowledge, so if the knowledge isn't there, neither is the sense.

As someone who takes care of her 78 yr. old mother, let me assure you TODAY is the time to put together a thoughtful, cohesive estate plan! Trust me, nothing is harder than trying to get one in place following a major "failure" on the part of a surviving parent. And now that Social Security is about to go belly up, the "rules" surrounding estate planning and gifting change yearly. MOVE NOW! Your mother is legally entitled to gift up to 11k/yr. to any and everyone she so pleases! Once she gifts the money, it's no longer her's... it's a GIFT. But if you are willing to abide by promises you still have the money at your discretion to fund her long term care should it become necessary. A big "but"... ! I see no problem with your mother borrowing money to fund a MIL apartment. BUT, the reality is, whatever she funds will be your's at such time as she either dies or requires care in a facility. That's not such a bad idea... it locks her assets away... safe from the requirements of "long term care". DO NOT PERMIT HER NAME TO APPEAR ON THE DEED TO YOUR HOME! If it appears there the government will swoop in and attach that portion of your home when her assets run out and her long term care requires funding. Don't even go there. So much of this has to do with your mother's frame of mind. My late FIL was bound and determined to die "broke". And he did! when his stepchildren contested his will there were NO assets left... they'd all be "gifted away"! His kids understood and were willing to fund his life with his savings... we had a FIL apartment ready for him. He died of a heart attack before requiring it. Do you have siblings? are you "all on the same page" with respect to your mother? This is key. My husband and BIL were OK with the agreement, my brother and I are OK with Mum and how we're handling things. But, Man! do we ever wish we'd insisted our names were on the deed to Mum's home years ago when the opportunity presented itself... See a lawyer and get it done, NOW. You'll be glad you did... playing "catch up" is not much fun. Trust me, I know.

I am not a tax consultant, but I would think that if you had the child for 9 months last year, you should be able to claim him on your taxes. Mom must have claimed him on last years taxes in order to get the child tax credit. My Ex and I each claim 1 of the boys each year. When my oldest turns 18, I will claim the youngest every other year. I also agree wtih lazygardens, you need to contact a professional about this. Good Luck

Another reason to work things so that there are no refunds, especially large ones ... ... originally, to avoid making interest-free loans to the government(s), via the IRS, needy though they are, being darn near broke. More recently, it appears ... to avoid scammers being able to make off with a substantial bundle ... of *your* money! There seems to be somewhat of an epidemic of the "Integitry-being-obscured-by-Dollar-signs"disease (and it's O.K. to substitute any other currency of your choice). What's this of being required to report refunds as income ... it was your income in the first place, that was reported last year, and too much of it forwarded to the IRS, back then, no? So it's actually your income that was previously reported and included in tax calculations earlier, right? Surely you shouldn't be required to pay tax again on the same dollar of income! ole joyfuelled ... who hopes to be able to pay no, or only a smidgeon, of income tax