@Patrick091975 wrote:
I was in court earlier this week. My ex-wife is supposed to allow me to claim 2 of our 3 sons per our 2012 court order. I had to get my attorney involved as we are still waiting (waiting since 1/31/20 as Jan 31 is the deadline on our court order for her to sign the form). She did sign for 1 son in June 2020, but refuses on the other. We have another court date in late August now because she was a no-show to our court date earlier this week but what penalties can be brought against her? She did claim the other son on her taxes for 2019. I am asking for attorney's fees too for defiance. We have been divorced since 2012 and this is the 2nd year she has been resistant in signing the IRS form (she lost in court last year but this was resolved before April 15 in 2018). Also, I noticed she did not claim any maintenance (over $25k) on her 2019 taxes either. Thank you in advance.
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to force her to sign the 8332 form that is different than what you are already doing. If she is refusing to follow a court order, the court has the ability to punish her directly (like, "sign here right now or go to jail for contempt until you sign.") You might bring some extra copies of form 8332 for the current and future tax years already filled out and ready to sign, so the judge can order her to sign them in the judge's presence if the judge thinks that is needed.
Child support is not taxable to your ex or deductible by you.
Spousal maintenance (alimony) is deductible by you and taxable to her, for a 2012 order, unless the order was modified after Jan 1, 2019. If the order was modified after Jan 1, 2019, the parties have the option of making the alimony non-taxable to her and non-deductible to you, or leaving it as taxable/deductible.
If you report an alimony deduction on your return and your ex does not report alimony income, that mis-match should trigger automatic IRS letters to both of you, requesting proof. If you send in proof of the alimony payments and a copy of the court order, the IRS should bill her for the back taxes.
Since each child dependent is worth a $2000 tax credit until age 16 and a $500 credit after that, it might be worth considering to negotiate a $4000 reduction in child support and then agree to let her claim the children every year and not have to keep going to court to get the forms signed.
