Make April 11 Your Tax Day

It isn't just the accountants who suffer in April. Not that they garner much sympathy but lawyers who do divorce work are also afflicted by a tsunami of telephone calls that begin a couple days before April 15. Most begin with: "My spouse is in the driveway demanding that I sign the returns he just picked up from the accountant. What should I do?"

The calls are menacing because you can feel the tension through the phone. You also know that you really cannot help. The lawyer doesn't know what the return says so we have no idea what to tell the client. So here are our tax tips for April, 2014.

If you sign the return that is being handed to you at the last second, know that you are stating under oath that the information is accurate on the return and that you agree that you owe any money due in connection with the return. It also means that you owe any money the IRS decides is due after they finish having their way with the return.

Scared? Well, you can tell your spouse that you will agree to jointly file for an extension. The extension runs to October 15 and to be valid must be accompanied by any payment due.

You can file separately. This actually may be best because a married separate return can be amended to a joint return after you have had a chance to review the return with a lawyer or accountant of your choosing. You can also file an extension separately. In that way you are not committing to a joint return until you have a chance to look.

The separate return or the extension...