{"id":1828,"date":"2016-12-17T22:46:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T22:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2018-07-11T06:02:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T06:02:02","slug":"quickie-wedding-get-married-instantly-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/quickie-wedding-get-married-instantly-in-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"Quickie Wedding – Get Married Instantly in Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is that time of year when couples who intend to eventually marry are thinking that it might be a great idea to elope<\/strong><\/a> or get a quickie weddin<\/strong>g<\/a> to save on their income taxes next year. You see, if you get married any time in this year, the IRS considers you married for the entire year and any tax benefits for marriage would apply. From HR Block: here is a great post for ten ways that getting married affects your taxes:<\/p>\n

\n

10 Ways Getting Married Affects Your Taxes in 2018<\/h1>\n

Filing status<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you get married<\/strong><\/a>, the only filing statuses that can be used on your tax return are\u00a0married filing jointly (MFJ)<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0married filing separately (MFS)<\/em>. Your filing status is determined on December 31 of each year, so even if you were not married for most of the tax year, you do not have the option of filing as single if you are married on that date. Generally,\u00a0married filing jointly\u00a0provides the most beneficial tax outcome for most couples because \u00a0some deductions and credits are reduced or not available to married couples filing separate returns.<\/p>\n

Tax brackets<\/strong><\/p>\n

These brackets will determine the highest rate of tax imposed on your income.\u00a0 Tax brackets are different for each filing status, so your income may no longer be taxed at the same rate as when you were single. When you are married and file a joint return, your income is combined \u2014 which, in turn, may bump one or both of you into a higher tax bracket.<\/p>\n

Additional exemptions and increased standard deduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Married couples filing a joint return get to claim two personal exemptions (one for each of you) on the tax return instead of the one exemption allowed when you filed as a single individual. Additionally, the standard deduction allowed on the tax return is highest for married couples filing a joint return. (See\u00a0exemptions and deductions explained.)\u00a0For 2017, single taxpayers are allowed a standard deduction of $6,350, while married couples filing a joint return are allowed a deduction of $12,700.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a dependent exemption is allowed for each child claimed as a dependent on the tax return. This amount is generally $4,050 per child (for 2017).<\/p>\n

Changing your W-4<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the additional exemption and higher standard deduction you are allowed to claim on a joint tax return, it may be wise to\u00a0change your Form W-4\u00a0with your employer to reflect these changes.\u00a0 Claiming an additional allowance and\/or changing withholding to the \u201cmarried\u201d rate on your Form W-4 means that less taxes are withheld from your pay.<\/p>\n

Buying or selling your first home<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you get married, your combined incomes may allow you to purchase your first home or you may choose to sell individual homes owned before the marriage. When you own a home, interest you pay on your mortgage is deductible on your tax return as an itemized deduction. If you are selling a home, the amount of gain that can be excluded from income doubles from $250,000 to $500,000. Be cautious, though: if only one of you owned the home before the marriage, the $500,000 exclusion applies only if you\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0lived in the home as your main home for at least two years.<\/p>\n

Itemizing vs. claiming the standard deduction\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you file your return each year, you have to determine if it is more beneficial for you to itemize as opposed to claiming the standard deduction. Once you are married and own a home, many people find that it is more advantageous to itemize their deductions \u2014 typically because deductions such as mortgage interest result in a higher total deductible amount than the standard deduction.<\/p>\n

Gift taxes and estate planning<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spouses are allowed to give unlimited gifts of cash or other property to one another free of\u00a0gift taxes. This provision has important implications for estate planning purposes, so be sure to revisit your estate plan once you get married.<\/p>\n

Name change with Social Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because your return is filed under your Social Security number (SSN), it is important to ensure that the\u00a0Social Security Administration (SSA) has been notified of any name changes that take place. The SSA must process the change in the system and relay that information to the IRS before filing your return. You should wait to file your return until after the name change process has been completed to avoid any complications that could arise if the name on the return does not match the SSN on file with the SSA.<\/p>\n

Marriage penalty<\/strong><\/p>\n

A marriage penalty exists when two individuals filing a joint return pay more tax than the sum of their individual tax liabilities calculated as if they were filing as single taxpayers. One reason this occurs is because the MFJ income tax brackets and standard deduction are not always equal to twice the single income tax bracket and standard deduction. Under current law, the marriage penalty is partly alleviated because the lower income tax bracket (10% and 15%) and the standard deduction for MFJ are exactly double that of single individuals.<\/p>\n

Affordable Care Act premium tax credit<\/strong><\/p>\n

If either or both of you receive advance payments of the\u00a0premium tax credit\u00a0for health insurance purchased through a federal or state Marketplace, you should report your marriage (as well as any associated changes, such as a move to a different state, change in income, or change in family size) to the Marketplace.\u00a0 This will allow the Marketplace to adjust your advance credit payments if necessary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"quickie<\/a>
This couple were big hockey fans and decided to get married just outside the Staples Center where their favorite team, the LA Kings, play in Downtown Los Angeles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I get many calls at this time of year for couples who want an instant wedding. Considering that I am a specialized notary who can issue a California confidential marriage license<\/strong><\/a> to you, that can be done anytime and anywhere in California on a moment’s notice. I pre-purchase marriage licenses from the Los Angeles County Registrar (though I can issue them anywhere in CA). I always keep many on hand, especially at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\"quickie<\/a>
This was a Malibu beach wedding with just the bride and groom and I. It was very romantic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s great about the CA confidential marriage license<\/strong><\/a> is that your personal information, including the date of your wedding, is sealed from public view so NOBODY has to know that you got married in 2016 when your actually big wedding (or not) is planned for 2017. I often marry couples in a legal marriage before their official wedding ceremony<\/a> for tax and insurance reasons. And your quickie wedding can be as short and sweet, as casual, as you want. I’ve even married people while they were sitting in their hot tub. Hey, this is California. We go with the flow here.<\/p>\n

\"quickie<\/a>
This bride and groom called recently and a few days later\u00a0they said “I do” on a Malibu beach in a very early sunrise\u00a0wedding. I took a nap afterwards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

So give me a call to get married<\/strong> before the New Year. I am always available to talk or email. Seriously, it’s possible for you to call me and be married an hour later. But best to call soon because time is ticking away and the New Year 2017 is fast approaching.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"quickie<\/a>
These wonderful ladies were married in a very impromptu, no-fuss wedding ceremony at their home. I often wear a suit to my weddings, even if it is a quickie wedding, but many couples beg me not to wear one. That’s fine with me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is that time of year when couples who intend to eventually marry are thinking that it might be a great idea to elope or get a quickie wedding to save on their income taxes next year. You see, if you get married any time in this year, the IRS considers you married for the …Click Here to Read More…<\/strong><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,171,6,9],"tags":[93,14,344,22,21,342,12],"class_list":["post-1828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-easy-weddings","category-destination-weddings","category-marriage-ceremonies","category-marriage-license","category-wedding-officiants-california-1","tag-ca","tag-elope","tag-irs","tag-license","tag-marriage","tag-new-year","tag-wedding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2152,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions\/2152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officiantguy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}