Am I in the wrong by claiming my daughter on my taxes?

Question

My ex husband and I both claimed our daughter on our 06 taxes. Our divorce papers state that the father can claim her as long as his support is current. Kansas law requires that support be paid until the child turns 18 which she turned 18 in February. He continued to pay support until the end of June. She resided with me the whole year until going to college in the fall. Am I in the wrong for claiming her on my taxes?

I do realize that the order said he gets to claim her but the way I see it is....he chose to continue paying until June which he did not have to do by KS law. He did "help" support her for those 6 months and I supported her 100% from that point on. He gave her $200 to get started in school but I supplied the majority of her support...food, gas, car, car insurance, car repair etc....

A form 8332 was mentioned...could that have been signed with the original divorce papers or is that something that must be filed every year?

Thank you all for your input in this matter. Most of you have put my mind at ease! (while a few others have scared me to death!!) Your help is greatly appreciated

Answer 1

nope because she was still a dependant.

Answer 2

If the divorce decree or separation agreement went into effect after 1984, the noncustodial parent can attach certain pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. To be able to do this, the decree or agreement must state all three of the following.

1. The noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent without regard to any condition, such as payment of support.
2. The custodial parent will not claim the child as a dependent for the year.
3. The years for which the noncustodial parent, rather than the custodial parent, can claim the child as a dependent.

Go through the divorce papers to check the above statements.

Answer 3

The father will lose.

Once the mother shows that she was the custodial parent, the father was only eligible to claim her if he attached a form 8332 or similar document to the tax return.

The form 8332 is signed by the custodial parent (so the poster would know if she signed it!) and states that he/she won't claim the child the same year. The similar document *could* be a divorce decree, but as Bostonian pointed out, it's contains a conditional statement about being current on support which means the IRS won't accept it in lieu of the form 8332.

No 8332, no exemption. Even if the mom agrees to sign such a form after the fact, the IRS doesn't have to accept it unless it was attached to the original return.

New Data--The current version of the form allows you specificy multiple years (as opposed to one or all years). The form highly recommends that the custodial parent only fill out one year at a time. The non-custodial parent would attach the original to the first tax return and a copy in each future year that it applies to.

Answer 4

If the divorce decree gives him the exemption conditioned upon the support being current, it is NOT in compliance with Federal law if it is dated after 1984. The IRS will ignore the decree as they are required to comply with Federal law.

The exemption goes to the custodial parent, i.e. the one that the child spends the most time with during the year. From what you say, you have ALWAYS been the only one legally entitled to claim your daughter.

Addendum: Again, you can safely disregard the order. It does NOT meet the very strict requirements laid out in Federal law and is therefore null and void as far as the IRS is concerned. Therefore how long he continued to pay support is meaningless.

The 8332 can be filed for one year, multiple years or forever. But if you never signed one then he get's nothing as far as exemption claims are concerned. All you need to provide the IRS with is proof that your daughter lived with you more than half of the year, temp absences for school or medical care excepted. He would need to have filed the 8332 or a similar statement with his return to get the exemption; the IRS can ignore 8332s file after the return is filed. A copy of the divorce decree will be ignored as it doesn't meed Federal guidelines.

Answer 5

Child support is completely unrelated to who gets to take the tax exemption. Moreover, if the divorce document connects the tax exemption to the payment of child support, it is disregarded by the IRS.

You were correct to claim your child on your tax return. If there is a dispute, you will win.

Moreover, you could have been claiming her all along. I don't know if you want to open that can of worms.

Answer 6

Well, your divorce decree states your ex gets to claim her. I know for a fact that you will both be getting a letter from the IRS stating someone else has claimed the child and they need a response stating who is RIGHT. Because he has court ordered documents giving HIM that right, I bet he wins.
Is it right? NO but you should have gotten an attorney involved once the situation changed.

Answer 7

Technically, a child has to be living with a parent who claims them on their taxes for a minimum of 6 months out of the year. Your divorce might override that with its stipulations, but it also sounds like your ex is aware of this, since he just so happened to have continued paying his support through June...exactly 6mo's...I think he is more in the wrong than you.

Answer 8

the father is actually entitled to claim her by Court Order. You probably gave her more than 50% of her support though, but the IRS may give favor to the Court Order.

Answer 9

Hell no'll...but if he is providing support you should take turns because she is going to college....just a thought but you should claim her

Answer 10

If the decree said that he was to claim her then yes. By claiming her you committed tax fraud.