OK... Does the father have the right to claim a child if he pays his childsupport... even if we do not live with him, but we stay with him on his days off. My parents are throwing a fit saying they are going to claim her because we live here. They both buy her things.They claimed her last year.

Usually this is covered in any child support paperwork at the time of a divorce. Are the child's parents divorced?

The tax rule is that whoever provides more than 50% of the chld's support gets the deduction. However, in a joint custody or where the parent pays child support, what constitutes 50% may be up to question. Often the divorce or support agreement wll specify this.

Merely paying child support is not enough to qualify you for claiming. The child custody agreement should specify. But if they have the child all year, and most likely paying most of the cost of the child, I don't see why they should not be claiming the child.

From all I have read, barring an address in the support agreement, the custodial parent claims the deduction.

From what I've read, unless there is a court order granting the NCP the exemption/credit, or ordering the custodial parent to sign over the 8332 form periodically, the custodial parent gets to the child every year.

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Originally Posted by Erickalynn

ok...Does the father have the right to claim a child if he pays his childsupport...even if we do not live with him, but we stay with him on his days off. My parents are throwing a fit saying they are gonna claim her because we live here. They both buy her things.They claimed her last year.

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Quite frankly I don't believe your parents have the right to claim your child on their taxes. That is your right to do so or not as the mother of the child. When you figured child support was this something you both agreed upon or was it through the courts and calculated based upon wages ? The calculation if done through the courts will show which parent was the one receiving the deduction so the outcome ended in a child support figure.
If Im reading this right your staying with your parents " most " of the time and with your ex on a part time basis. Unless you yourself are a minor then they aren't entitled to take it without having some form of custody of the child.

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Originally Posted by califdadof3

Quite frankly I dont believe your parents have the right to claim your child on thier taxes. That is your right to do so or not as the mother of the child. When you figured child support was this something you both agreed upon or was it through the courts and calculated based upon wages ? The calculation if done through the courts will show which parent was the one recieving the deduction so the outcome ended in a child support figure.
If Im reading this right your staying with your parents " most " of the time and with your ex on a part time basis. Unless you yourself are a minor then they arent entitled to take it without having some form of custody of the child.

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This is pretty clearly outlined by IRS guidelines on who can claim a dependency deduction. A non-custodial parent can claim the dependency exemption. "Generally, the dependency exemption for children of divorced taxpayers will go to the parent who has custody of the child for the greater part of the calendar year. When the child spends an equal amount of time with each parent, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income is allowed to claim the dependency exemption. This rule applies only if the child received over one-half of his or her support from parents who are divorced, legally separated, or have lived apart for the last six months of the calendar year. In addition, the child must have been in the custody of one or both of the parents for more than one-half of the calendar year (Code Sec. 152(e))." --U.S. Master Tax Guide

Hope this makes things more clear. Let me know if you need more information.

I think we need some clarity to answer this because Im not sure if this is a displaced mother that is living with her parents ( i.e. the child's grandparents ) or this could be a sibling writing in about their parents on behalf of someone.