Claiming children in divorce

[lsabin]

I need an answer to this question: I have two children. My divorce agreement says that each of us can claim one child as a dependent. So I followed the directions in TurboTax, and filed as Head of Household. I claimed one child as a dependent, and the other as a nondependent. But then when my ex husband tried to file his taxes, they got rejected when he tried to claim the other child. Was I not supposed to claim my second child as a nondependent? Or was I not supposed to file as Head Of Household? The children live primarily with me, but spend two nights a week with him.

Please help! He is very angry and breathing down my neck. I want to get this right so moving forward I have no headaches.

Thank you!

[xmasbaby0]

Are you the custodial parent?  Do you have an agreement with the other parent to allow the other parent to claim them--due to divorce or that you live apart and share custody?  Did one of you sign a Form 8332?

If there is a signed 8332 then the custodial parent retains the right to file as Head of Household, get earned income credit and the childcare credit + education credits if the child is a full-time college student.  The non-custodial parent gets the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.

As far as the IRS is concerned, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child spent the most nights during the tax year--at least 183 nights.

[lsabin]

Thanks for responding, but I still am unclear. My ex husband and I have joint legal custody of the children, and I have primary residential custody. The divorce agreement states that we will each claim one child. It appears that me claiming one of them as a nondependent has caused his taxes to be rejected. I am trying to confirm and correct this.

I do not remember if I signed a form 8332. And when I looked at my return, I didn't see any evidence of that.

I may need to amend my return. Do you agree? If so, how do I do this?

Thank you,

Lisa