<prompt> Human: Ill save you the backstory of how bad my Moms ex-husband was but just believe me. Hes the worst.A few years ago they divorced and had a big tax bill on their jointly filed taxes at the time. As a part of the divorce settlement, he took responsibility for the tax bill and my mom took responsibility for their credit card debt. Jump to the past few years. My mom has had a lot of medical bills and even through that has been working two hourly jobs after being laid off. This was the year she was finally going to get her head above water with a 5k tax refund. And... The IRS automatically applied the 5k to the tax debt which is supposed to be his responsibility now. Big punch to the gut and I feel horrible for her. We talked to the IRS, they say the divorce agreement was at the state level but the taxes are at a federal level and we can write a certified letter pleading they give us the return. Im not feeling overly confident someone is even going to read the letter. Is there any other recourse? Ideas?Thank you in advance for commenting with suggestions.  <response>: While that money is gone, she needs to change her withholdings so she doesnt get a refund at the end of the year. Had she done that before last year she would have the 5k right now and the IRS couldnt have taken it.As for the 5k, she is going to probably have to recover it from the ex and if he refuses, court will cost more money. If he has a job, she could eventually garnish his wages to get the 5k back. 