No, he didn’t default. He is one of the most diligent bill payers I’ve ever seen. We are never late on payments and never bounce checks. This happened in the early 80s, and they were ruthless.
His ex-wife, on the other hand, has been paying business taxes in arrears for years and years. I think she’s working on 2001 or 2002 right now. She drives a limo and just can’t seem to get caught up.
If they filed Joint, and then she owed, that would be a 'default", under the old rules at least. Note that you could 'default" for many things other than just not paying a bill on time- like I said- filing another return with another balance due would make you default.
I’ve no experience of the U.S. IRS so I don’t know if this is relevant…
In general when dealing with debts etc., I would recommend calling them before they call you. Speak to someone, politely tell them your problem and give them an indication of when you think it can be resolved. Unless you’re unlucky and get the office asshole, you’ll be met with someone who can offer constructive advice… and often write a little note on your file mentioning that you’re making an effort to sort things out.
Like I say, I don’t know if this would work with the IRS but, IMO, it would be worth a try.