Claiming Children on Taxes - A Question for someone who knows the Law
Background:
- 2 kids, joint custody, BM is primary residence
- According to the divorce decree, BM and DH get to claim one child each on their taxes each year.
- BM is working under the tables and therefore does not need to file a tax return
DH will ask her to allow him to claim, using this form:
http://www.irs.gov/app/vita/globalmedia/8332.pdf
and is even willing to split what the refund is worth with her.
From a legal standpoint however, given that it's clearly stated in the divorce decree about each parent claiming a child, would BM be doing anything unlawful if she is being claimed as a dependent by her parents and letting them claim her allocated child as a dependent? I am trying to confirm whether this would be considered in breach of the court-ordered divorce decree.
I've researched this quite a
I've researched this quite a bit because we share 50/50 and Wingnut (BM) wanted to claim. Turns out in our case, whomever gets the biggest advantage gets to claim. That being said, my research indicates that the Form 8332 supercedes any divorce decree so if BM signs it, she or anyone else can't claim the child. Also, (I'm not a tax attorney but have spent some time studying taxes), I can't think of any situation where BM's parents could claim their grandchild. You should ask a tax lawyer because I am not qualified to give any real tax advice.
"God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy" and you can't change crazy!!
Thanks for your reply. He
Thanks for your reply.
He did actually ask her and she claims she gets something from her employer and has to submit a return of some sort and so she uses the claim. I was so mad at DH then, because of now insisting to get a copy of whatever it is she submits so that we can know for sure what she makes (in the very same way she INSISTED to see his payslip), he just let it slide. Why he continues to TRUST anything this woman says is beyond me!!