Can my ex claim our child? Court for child support, they said that the father was paying for more than half of the living expenses, but she only lives with me all year.

[Hal_Al]

Your question has been answered: You can claim your child, for full tax benefits.  You don't have to do anything special. Just  file a tax return, claiming full benefits (dependent, child tax credit, EIC). The IRS rules favor you.

Your  Ex is the one with the problem. If he doesn't like it, he'll have to file suit against you. The IRS will not help him.  Worst case: the court finds you in contempt and sends you to jail. Most likely  result: a modified court order.

[daisy09-]

I was replying to macuser_22, but yeah thanks

[TaxGuyBill]

I view it as the other way:  The Court Order REQUIRES you to give him a Form 8332.  If you don't, you are violating the Court Order and breaking the law.  If you disagree with the Court Order, YOU need to bring  HIM to court to change things.

[daisy09-]

Where exactly does it mention that? There is not one thing on MY court order that mentions the form 8332, and I highly doubt my ex knows about the form 8332 either because he has never asked for one. Besides, he already claimed her without the form so obviously he has had no problems to date?

[daisy09-]

I've never been ordered by a judge to sign one of the 8332 forms, there was no judge present. The father wasn't even present,he was there, in court, over the phone and there were no lawyers involved.

[TaxGuyBill]

If the Court Order states that he can claim the child, the only way to do that is for you to give him Form 8332.  If you do not give him that form, you are acting against the Order.

If he takes you back to court because you did not give him that form, a Judge WILL tell you to sign the form or you will go to jail, and will likely make you pay for any court expenses.

[daisy09-]

If that was the case, I'm pretty sure he would've done it by now, but even so, if a judge ordered me to do such a thing, I would, without hesitation because it's the law? Trust me, if he had an issue filling for that money, I would've heard about it by now.

[macuser_22]

We cannot give you legal advice here.   It seems rather strange for there to be a "court order" that compels something without specifying in the order how you must comply with it.   It is also strange to have a court order without a judge and all parties present.     I still recommend that you seek a local attorney or go back to the "court" for clarification.

We have no way to know what the order said of what type or court it was without a judge or how legal it is.

[TomD8]

Bottom line:

1. The tax law is clear.  In the absence of any pre-2009 divorce decree or separation decree (irrelevant if the parents were never married), the custodial parent has the absolute right to claim the child as a dependent on his or her tax return.  To the IRS, the custodial parent is the parent with whom the child spent the greater number of nights during the tax year.
2. The non-custodial parent may not claim the child on his tax return unless the custodial parent relinquishes his/her right, by completing IRS Form 8332 and giving it to the non-custodial parent.  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf</a>
3. In the absence of Form 8332, if the custodial and the non-custodial parent each file tax returns claiming the same child, the IRS (as Hal_Al explained earlier) will honor the custodial parent's claim, and will reject the claim of the non-custodial parent.

In theory, a judge could order the custodial parent to relinquish his/her right to claim the child.  That would introduce legal ramifications that are outside the realm of this tax forum.  The IRS would not involve itself in such issues.