How is this not illegal?

[AE_1989]

my son’s father hasn’t been involved since 2021 of April. I clean my son and last year and I did so because I’m the one qualified, and that means criteria to claim my child as a dependent my son has not been a dependent of his fathers and years now, but still, he takes me to court from an outdated parenting plan that says he can claim our child, every other year on the years starting in the year 2018 when we signed this paper however since 2020 this is no longer been the reality that we’ve lived since I’ve had 400% custody of my son since April 2021 like I said, but the judge said says I have to amend my taxes and let him claim our son. I should’ve did this cause then it would’ve went through the IRS, but I did not realize, and I refused to do so because he does not qualify to be a dependent of my exes now the judge is completely going behind the IRS back telling my ex he can go to an accountant to decide how much you would have gotten if you claim my son, which, like I said, if you would’ve clean my son, he would’ve got zero because my son would not be dependent of his and hasn’t been for years not financially or physically and now he gets to go to the accountant. Decide how much he owe the IRS would’ve paid him and then they’re going to take that amount and put it on me as a payment that I need to make  to him. How is this legal I don’t understand? Like what is wrong with the judge I don’t understand at all. It’s obvious that this is outdated. My son has not been in his father’s life or or vice versa. Neither one of them care to have a relationship I think I care more for them to have a relationship than they do in four years now!! 

[xmasbaby0]

No one at TurboTax can give you legal advice, and that seems to be what you really need.   We can only tell you what the IRS says about claiming a child as a dependent.   The IRS only cares about physical custody---who the child lived with for the most nights during a tax year.   The IRS does not get involved in court orders, etc.

We do not know what "paper" you signed in 2018.  You need the advice of an attorney regarding whatever you signed.

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.  The non-custodial parent gets the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.  If the child is 17 or older the non-custodial parent gets the $500 credit for other dependents.

If you and the other parent have a signed agreement, you need to indicate in MY INFO that you have such an agreement.

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.

[Opus 17]

The IRS follows federal law, which overrules state court orders.

However, this sometimes means that what you can claim legally on your tax return, will violate a court order.  The IRS will not care, but the family court might care very much.

Generally, if you have a parenting order, you can't just decide to ignore it if the situation changes, you have to ask the court for a modification.  If you don't ask for a modification, the old order remains in effect, because that's how courts and court orders work.

You need to consult with an attorney who can review your specific facts and circumstances. 

[Hal_Al]

Q.  How is this legal I don’t understand, "he does not qualify to be a dependent of my exes"? 

A. There is a provision, in the tax code, that allows the custodial parent to let the non custodial  claim the dependency.  It appears that the judge has ordered you  to let the father claim the child, on his taxes (or effectively ordered it by telling you not to claim the child). 

This is a very common situation in divorce degrees.  Ideally, a divorce decree would require the custodial parent to provide IRS form 8332 to the non custodial parent. 

Note: I'm not a lawyer.  But, from what you describe, you did not follow a court order and the judge has ordered a remedy.  You got the benefits of claiming the child, on your taxes, and now the judge has ordered you to hand that over to the the other parent.

The father's accountant should know this:

 There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent (or a judge) has released the dependency to him.