A friend is divorcing and paying child support; working two jobs to get this done. Wife is custodial parent in joint custody with husband and works occasionally while living with another man. She is claiming the two kids on her IRS statement and my friend, who has the burden of cost plus the income which needs a deduction cannot use them. Any answers? Thanks

Usually who can claim the kids as dependents is an issue worked out in the divorce agreement. Its common to alternate years. If its not spelled out in the divorce, then the parent that provides more than 50% of support can claim the deduction.

Hi marymaud! In case you need additional agreements to be sure, ScottGem is correct.

Thank you ScottGem; I'll pass this info along. This will calm him down until he speaks to his ever-elusive attorney re: the divorce. I've taken down your phone info for future ref.

Thanks Ruby PB for your endorsement.

Marymaud1

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Usually who can claim the kids as dependents is an issue worked out in the divorce agreement. Its common to alternate years. If its not spelled out in the divorce, then the parent that provides more than 50% of support can claim the deduction.

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I have a similar situation but I've been told I can't claim anything

Here's the deal

My welfare junkie ex-wife claimed my two children this year as head of house and only worked for 2 months last year earning only like 2000 dollars while I paid over 7500 in support payments, we are not leagaly separated or divorced, and only the support order exists...

Questions is?

Is there a way I can fight this if she's already filed, got her return back but clearly didn't provide over half of the children's support obligation?

It just seems criminal if she gets away with this.

Claim them and let the IRS sort it out.

Unfortunately there are no answers to this dilemma. The custodial parents gets to claim the children as dependents but the non-custodial paying parent does not. Also the custodial parent does not claim the child support as income and the paying parent cannot deduct it from his/her taxable income.

The parent who physically cares for the children the majority of them time is the parent with the legal right to claim the child. If the child is with both of you 50% of the time, you may find yourself out of luck anyway. In cases of joint custody, at least in PA, the parent who files first has the legal right to file every year thereafter. The other parent can only file the next tax year if the parent to file the year before signs a form stating that they give up their right to claim the child. This is the case with several people I know, who have joint custody and an agreement in their divorce stating that they will alternate tax years. They still have to sign the form in front of a tax preparer. Also, if you don't get the formed signed you can not claim the child, even if it is "your year".