income tax question?

Question

I have a court order which states my ex will have all benefits for dependency in years i dont make 5000 when i do make 5000 we alternate 2005 being his year 2006 being mine and so on..now i have since remarried and i didnt work in 2006 i have 3 children 2 of which are not my husbands.can we file a joint return and claim the children even though i didn't work?is his income my income too?the kids live with us and visit dads every other weekend.if i cant' can i get the order revised so in the event i didnt make 5000 my husbands income counts too.i have been told that as long as my ex pays child support and i dont make the 5000 we may never get to claim her.i just want someone elses opinion maybe a professional if one happens to see this thanks

Answer 1

You may file a joint return with your new husband. You can claim all of your children on your joint return. It does not matter that you have no income yourself, you can always file a joint return and you'll usually have the lowest tax that way.

As far as the IRS is concerned, your decree does not meet the requirements needed to override their standard rule that the parent with custody gets the exemption. Simply put, if your child spent the majority of the year with you, you get the exemption regardless of what the decree says. Since Federal law trumps State law and State courts, you are in a strong position to ignore the decree but you might want to be prepared for a fight.

You may, if you wish, grant your ex the exemption every other year under current IRS rules. You have to give him a statement that you will not claim the exemption in any year that you wish to let him have it. At least this would be in the spirit of the court decree and should keep your ex fairly content.