We're in the process of a custody battle. In the meantime he refuses to help. I sure know how to pick 'em.

I'm not a tax expert and I understand that money is tight, but I think in this instance it may be worth your while to consult a professional. In a situation like yours, given the small amount of the estate, it seems unlikely the inheritance proceeds would be taxable or even reportable. Pay someone a hundred bucks to verify; could be worth thousands in tax refunds.

Just because you're in a custody battle doesn't mean he shouldn't be forced if necessary to help support his daughter.

I assume you already have SNAP benefits because your income is within the guidelines.

I think there are some mistakes to fix.

When
property is inherited, the recipient has a tax basis equal to the lesser
of the decedent's basis or fair market value at the date of death.
Which means, if you received property and then sold it, there's likely
no gain to report. Put another way, the gain is likely 0. You have proceeds, but not taxable gain.

You should get help from someone who's more knowledgeable than you are.

You should still be able to get child support while you are in a custody dispute. The amount of child support could then possibly change based on the outcome of the dispute, but it doesn't mean you need to forgo child support during the dispute.

A couple things.

First, who did your tax return? You can always call a place like HR Block to review it and possibly file an amended return if you're due additional money.

You mention "climbing the ladder" in a job. Doing what? Right now you need a job that pays more money. That's your immediate goal. But you're at the age where you have the opportunity to follow your passion in a career. You just have to figure out what that passion is. You find that when you say "I would do this even if I didn't get paid."

This may not be for you, but here's a story about an old friend of mine. She was in a very similar predicament as you. But she loved her son so much she didn't like giving him up for daycare, so she started a small daycare of her own for the neighborhood moms. She was making "enough to pay the bills".

One evening when a Mom was picking up her kid, she casually mentioned she wished the daycare was closer to her job. She worked in an office park, a place where there are numerous companies like light manufacturing, warehouses, and offices in a campus setting. She looked into it and found a 50x50 space for lease and moved her daycare into that space. And as they say the rest is history.

There are Moms who love to make baby clothes and apparel who sell on Etsy and make extra money.

These are just two tiny examples of people who found their passion.

I also found my passion in what I wanted to do for a living and have been self employed and loving what I do for over 30 years now.

"Just because you're in a custody battle doesn't mean he shouldn't be forced if necessary to help support his daughter."

The OP should haul the father in front of Judge Judy - she'd eat him alive!

Ain't that the truth! She was a Family Court Judge and dealt with guys like that every day.

And just because he has a court order doesn't mean he will pay either. :/

I think your biggest problem is your income. You need a better job now. Following your passion is good advice to someone with no responsibilities, but that ship has sailed. Time to worry about the dollars. Babies get more expensive as they get older, not the other way around.

Vivian, I wholeheartedly disagree.

A majority of people work at a job they dislike because of the money. That's not living, that's existing. The OP may have to get a job to pay the bills, but that should never mean she can't follow her passion.

When somebody finds what they love doing, the money can be there to make a decent living. And people who have found their passion are happier overall.

I followed my passion and have been self employed for 35 years now. I do what I love and love what I do. And by doing so I make a nice middle class living.

That's fine. We can disagree. I'm practical in that way. There are more hours a day then working hours, but not many for single working moms. You want to chase your passion? Fine, start small in your off-work hours. I just believe that paying your rent and feeding your kid needs to be the priority here and that takes bigger money than the OP is making right now.

Child support is great, but I'm betting that every one of us here knows a single/divorced mother (or father) who is not receiving their child support even if it is court ordered. It happens. A lot.

Building a business takes time and a ton of work. Been there done that myself. I'm just not sure it's the answer for someone who needs money now and has a limited support system.

No, it's not the sole answer.

She needs a job. But here's the catch 22. If the only job available is a minimum wage one, child care eats up her entire salary. We don't know how old the OP is or how much education she has in order to even get a good paying job.

One question comes to mind here. Where's the OP's family?

A few comments and then some of my personal advice to anyone reading this:

• To the OP, it sounds like someone did your taxes wrong. Sales of stuff you own is not counted in your AGI, certain gains are - but as you would have inherited the basis you really don't have any gains even if they would be counted (as Snidely pointed out). Many places give free tax assistance to low income individuals, call your state revenue department and ask. They will be happy to get you help.
• I am sorry, I don't like the whole follow your passion thing (pretend to be surprised) it is a great motto and works well on coffee cups, but it really should be about making smart decisions. If you are self motivating, a hard worker, and a decent planner then being self employed may be a great option for you. But on the other hand if you need the structured environment of a boss, then don't. I will come back to smart decisions.

Now to anyone who is in the same position as the OP - my advice.

• Important vs. Urgent - Important decisions have a future effect on your life, while urgent decisions have an immediacy to them. As a species we are very good at focusing on urgent decisions, sociologist believe this is a survival instinct. However, rarely are urgent decisions - important decisions. Unfortunately, you seem to be faced with the most urgent decisions when you are in the worst shape to deal with them. For example, taking the time to really work hard at getting a better job is important. Picking a child with a cold up from school is an urgent decision. There are many others, even things like I have to find something to cook for dinner tonight. You have to deal with urgent decisions but you need to work hard to keep urgent decisions from drowning out important decisions.
• Smart decisions - Smart decisions are about honest self evaluation. Probably one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life is be honest with yourself. But once you are honest with yourself you can design strategies to get you to a better place. Many people are tempted to take that time and make a list of changes they need to make in themselves. Don't do that, design coping strategies. The coping strategies will change you.
• Be proud of your work, even if not where you work - One major pitfall I have seen too many people fall into, is the idea that a crappy jobs get crappy effort. If you work at Walmart then be the best damned Walmart worker they have ever seen. The quickest way out of a crappy job is not really to find a better job, it is to perform the hell out of the job you have. Before long someone will notice, and once someone notices other people will too.

To wrap this up - Find out how you can make your life livable (even if barely) for the near future and better in the end. Find a realistic way of getting there. You don't have to be a doctor, every city has garbage collectors leading happy lives, putting back money for their kids' education, and cherishing their extra family time.

One question comes to mind here. Where's the OP's family?

Better question - where is the OP? She hasn't been back since the day she posted this.

Bry, I have an honest question for you.

Do you love what you do for a living? Are you happy in your career? My guess is the answer to those questions is a resounding yes. I say that because you want to impart your knowledge to others. So didn't you in essence follow your passion?

Following your passion does not necessarily mean becoming self employed, it means being wiling to get up in the morning and going to a job you actually like doing. For many, many people that means working for yourself. For others it may mean advancing up the corporate ladder with the goal of becoming CEO. It could be becoming a Park Ranger, or a deckhand on a fishing boat. But isn't that a lot better than working your whole life at a job you dread getting up in the morning for?

I don't know about you, but I would rather make $50K doing what I love, than $100K doing working at a job I hate.

We get it, christopher, you were able to pursue your muses, find something you like better, and be successful doing it. Others aren't able to do so because of limitations with their "-bilities".

A-bility
Banka-bility
Flexi-bility
Marketa-bility
Mo-bility
Proba-bility

Without these, muse chasing may not be possible, or may lead down a rat hole to a worse situation. People often find themselves in limited circumstances that simply need to be dealt with. Like golf, in their lives they may need to play the ball as it lies. Some don't have the desire, the skills, or the education to do better than they have. For them, aspiring for more may not be reasonable.

On the other hand, some stop their job explorations prematurely. If you find a $50K job you love, that doesn't mean that there isn't also a $100K job, or a job at a higher rate that you wouldn't like more.

Once every few years Forbes, Esquire, GQ, etc., will publish an article telling people to quit their jobs and follow their passion. Almost immediately after that sociology and psychology journals start responding how it is not exactly correct.

First, good and bad is not so simple - every job has parts you like and parts you don't. When you break down the time spent on pleasant tasks vs. unpleasant tasks by people who like vs. dislike their jobs, I bet you the results are not that far apart. Next, most people would prefer a job they hate with people the like over a job they like with people they hate. Finally, people who don't enjoy their work can have completely happy lives. Some people actually thrive "working for the weekend."

When I was younger I loved to travel, so I found a job following my passion of traveling. Before long I hated it. Over a few years I wracked up enough Skymiles to fly to the moon and back, but at the moment I would rather slam my privates in my desk drawer than get on an airplane. It is great that you have managed to turn your passion into a career, I can't. I prefer my passions separate from my finances.

I have no problem with most of what you say, other than the idea that the complexity of people can be guided by any single piece of printable wisdom.

As for my job, continuing Snidely's theme, it is a lot like my golf game, lots of frustration that gets erased in that one moment when I hit a perfect shot. I dislike parts of my job, parts are OK, occasionally though, there are moments of such profound power that make it more than worthwhile.