Alimony

Money paid to a separated or divorced spouse for support of any children, as required by a legal agreement or court order. For tax purposes, the individual paying alimony can count the payments as a deduction when calculating his or her Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), however, the recipient of the alimony must include the payments in his or her gross income.

According to the IRS, to qualify as alimony the payments must meet the following five conditions:
-the payment is a cash payment
-the payment is received by a "divorce or separation instrument"
-the instrument does not specify that the payments are not for alimony
-the payer and payee are not members of the same household when the payments are made
-there is no liability to make the payments for any period after the death or remarriage of the recipient