donations and divorce

I had a ward member ask me if the charitable contribution could be split. In this instance one spouse made all donations under their name, and the other wants credit for at least half. They are divorced and filing individual returns for 2017. From everything I found on LDS.org there is no way to do this. From what I found online if a charitable donation in general is made from a joint account while still married it is split 50/50, unless otherwise specified in the divorce. Any help or insight on this one?

You should be able to change the donor on any given donation in MLS. I don't know if you can actually add an additional donor and split the transaction. But if there are a set of donations which comprise close to half the donations (and if both parties agree), you should be able to change them to other spouse.

Otherwise, to actually split each donations you'd probably have to contact local unit support and see if they can and will make the change.

Every donation is attached to a single membership record number – so if a husband and wife donate together, the donation will only be recorded on one of their membership records.

eblood66 wrote:I don't know if you can actually add an additional donor and split the transaction.

If it was cash, maybe. But can you record two donors with one check? That strikes me as "unlikely".

It doesn’t matter how many donors, whether cash or check, they can all be entered into MLS with one payment. I don’t know whether this option is available online, as we in the UK don’t have that option yet!

russellhltn wrote:If it was cash, maybe. But can you record two donors with one check? That strikes me as "unlikely".

I don't know if you can modify an existing donation to add a donor, but when you enter a donation you can certainly enter two donors with one check. I've done it multiple times.

Biggles wrote:It doesn’t matter how many donors, whether cash or check, they can all be entered into MLS with one payment. I don’t know whether this option is available online, as we in the UK don’t have that option yet!

No, online donations are tied to the MRN linked to the LDS Account used to make the donation. There is no way to make a donation in anyone else's behalf online.

eblood66 wrote:

Biggles wrote:It doesn’t matter how many donors, whether cash or check, they can all be entered into MLS with one payment. I don’t know whether this option is available online, as we in the UK don’t have that option yet!

No, online donations are tied to the MRN linked to the LDS Account used to make the donation. There is no way to make a donation in anyone else's behalf online.

To clarify as perhaps my statement wasn't entirely clear. I couldn't really comment on the online donations options, as at the moment we don't have that facility in the UK at all. I wish we did!

However, we are reimbursed electronically. No more taking cheques (checks) to the bank!