Can I claim child tax deduction if my soc. sec. disability benefits are paying for 90% of child support?

Question

I'm on disability and my children are receiving benefits, these benefits are be used to pay 90% of my required child support. I have three children. The divorce decree states I can claim 1 child on even, 2 children on odd yrs. as long as I'm current on the child support...which I am. I'm being told by ex-wife that her account is stating that because the soc secuity benefits are paying for the support, I should not be able to claim the children on my taxes because soc. sec. is paying the child support amount. Is this true? She wants me to allow her to claim ALL 3 kids on her taxes or she will take me to court for this and other issues!

Answer 1

BullS... - that's YOUR social security that's paying your child support. Would she try the same argument if you were still working, that the money was coming from your employer so it wasn't coming from you?

Since you don't say what the "other issues" are, it's impossible to tell if you are hanging out far enough on them to make it worth your while to just let her claim them, but on the payment from disability benefits, you are solid.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Actually, you're all wrong, including the "accountant."

First off, as to the divorce decree. For the IRS to honor the decree it MUST conform to strict Federal guidelines. One of those guidelines is that NO preconditions are permitted such as being current on child support. Since your decree has such a precondition the IRS is required by law to ignore the decree. That law is now over 20 years old so I question that "accountant's" competency.

Next issue. When it comes to support, the ONLY qualifier is that the chidren do not provide more than half of their OWN support. The Social Security benefits do not figure into the support issue unless they are paid to the child and the child uses it for their own support. Strike 2 for the "accountant."

Since your decree will be ignored by the IRS since it does not conform to Federal law, the custodial parent gets the exemption unless they voluntarily relinquish it by executing a Form 8332 or similar written statement and give it to the other parent who then attaches it to their return. The law defines the custodial parent as the one that the children spend the most amount of time with throughout the year. If your ex is the custodial parent then she gets the exemptions unless she cuts the Form 8332. You don't get to "allow" her to do anything since if there is a dispute on this issue, the IRS will award the exemption to her. And if the "accountant" didn't explain all of this, it's Strike 3.

Answer 4

I find it amazing that divorce attorneys routinely fail to word divorce papers correctly when it comes to who can claim a dependent; to me its malpractice. In addition to containing all of the information provided on Form 8332, the decree must not tie the exemption to other conditions (such as paying child support timely). Many divorce lawyers seem to think they can make agreements which contravene the Internal Revenue Code, which of course they cannot.

As pointed out in the first 2 answers, unless your ex-wife signs Form 8332 you cannot claim any of the children as dependents. I'm afraid you would have to go back to court if you want to correct the error in the papers, but I'm not sure that's a good idea if there are other issues.

Answer 5

Your agreement is nullified because it ties the tax exemption to child support. The mother can take the exemptions for the children that live with her. If one or more of the children live with you for a longer period than they live with the mother, you may take the exemption(s) for those child(ren.

If the mother wants to waive an exemption for one or more children that are her dependents, she will fill out Form 8332 and give it to you.

No court action is needed in this case because the IRS is very clear that an agreement such as yours is void.

Answer 6

relies upon on your courtroom papers. the only way a non-residential discern can declare a new child that would not stay with them 6 months out of the year, is that if the courtroom scientific docs say so. some courts scientific docs will award the two mum and dad the exemption, and that they're going to commerce years. different courtroom scientific docs, will purely enable one discern to declare the youngster each year. So it definitely relies upon on those courtroom scientific docs. speedy occasion....My husbands will pay cs to 2 diverse females, for 2 diverse little ones. For one he gets to declare the youngster in all atypical years, as long as his help is modern-day. the different he never gets to declare, the mum gets to declare the youngster each year regardless of his help. So, back, you are able to purely pass by potential of what the courtroom scientific docs say. If there is no longer something interior the courtroom scientific docs, (or you do not have them yet in view which you're interior the process the seperation), asserting who gets to declare the youngster, then it reverts decrease back to the IRS regulations. And the tie-breaker with the IRS regulations is, whichever discern the youngster lived with the final public of the year gets to declare the youngster, whether they did no longer furnish better than 0.5 the help.