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Should a Father paying child support ( one out of 14 years) but living out of state claim his daughter on his tax return? Seems weird as her mom and we grandparents cover all her needs year round. Her mom is on disability and doesn't do taxes yearly. Please advise! !
Should a Father paying child support ( one out of 14 years) but living out of state claim his daughter on his tax return? Seems weird as her mom and we grandparents cover all her needs year round. Her mom is on disability and doesn't do taxes yearly. Please advise! !
Don't you have to pay more than 50% of a child's expenses to claim them on your taxes? Maybe, you as the grandparents could claim her?
How does the dad justify that if he does not pay child support? Could he have decided to claim the child as the mother does not "do taxes"? Could it have been part of the divorce decree?
Someone should check it out. It could be a real disaster for the dad if he has to redo his taxes for many past years (if he did it wrong) as he probably would have fines and penalties in addition to repaying all of the money that he would now owe in taxes. That could be thousands of dollars that he could owe, which probably would make it even harder for him to pay the child support which he owes for the child.
BTW, you better be sure that mom doesn't need to "do taxes" because she is on disability or she could be in trouble with the IRS, too.
The parent with legal custody gets to claim the child as a dependent. If both parents have shared legal custody, then they alternate years of claiming the child as a dependent..
However, this can get sticky. The non custodial parent can get to claim the child as a dependent if that parent pays more than 50% of the child's living expenses/support for the year. It is possible that the father thinks his child support payments meet that requirement because of the mother's low income. Her disability income is probably not very much.
Grandparents are pretty much out of the picture if either parent wants to take the exemption. Only if the parents do not want to claim the child then can a grandparent try to do so.
In this case, the father may have a claim on the exemption depending on the finances involved. He would have to present your daughter with an IRS form which she would have to sign giving up her claim to the tax exemption and letting him have it if he qualified. Without the form, he can't make the claim.
She can't not sign just because she doesn't feel like it. He can take her to court and she could be forced to sign it.
OP- You're going to have to sit down with your daughter and figure out which parent is paying more than 50% of the child's expenses for the year. I don't know if that goes just by income or if other payments received, such as housing aid, food stamps, etc. also are included in your daughter's case. I really suggest you get an opinion of a good tax professional . This can get really complicated. You need someone who knows the in's and out's of this.
What do the custody document say about claiming the child? I've known some estranged couples that claimed their child on alternating years, but it was spelled out in the court papers who got even and who got odd years. Doesn't sound like the father of the child in question has any right to claim her. If you are providing at least 50% of her support and needs (housing, clothing, living expenses, food, etc...), then you have the legal right to claim her as your dependent. Sounds like the father is taking advantage of the fact that the mother doesn't file taxes and assumes that he automatically gets the tax break of claiming the dependent. Is he not taking your right to claim the child as a dependent into consideration?
Should a Father paying child support ( one out of 14 years) but living out of state claim his daughter on his tax return? Seems weird as her mom and we grandparents cover all her needs year round. Her mom is on disability and doesn't do taxes yearly. Please advise! !
If he's made only (one out of 14 years) I'd say NO!
Maybe if the mom filed a tax return herself, it wouldn't/couldn't happen.
Should a Father paying child support ( one out of 14 years) but living out of state claim his daughter on his tax return? Seems weird as her mom and we grandparents cover all her needs year round. Her mom is on disability and doesn't do taxes yearly. Please advise! !
From the current IRS publication.
[LEFT]Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart).
In most cases, because of the residency test, a child of divorced or separated parents is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. However, the child will be treated as the qualifying child of the noncustodial parent if all four of the following statements are true.
The parents:
Are divorced or legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance,
Are separated under a written separation agreement, or
Lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of the year, whether or not they are or were married.
The child received over half of his or her support for the year from the parents.
The child is in the custody of one or both parents for more than half of the year.
Either of the following statements is true.
The custodial parent signs a written declaration, discussed later, that he or she will not claim the child as a dependent for the year, and the noncustodial parent attaches this written declaration to his or her return. (If the decree or agreement went into effect after 1984 and before 2009, see Post-1984 and pre-2009 divorce decree or separation agreement, later. If the decree or agreement went into effect after 2008, see Post-2008 divorce decree or separation agreement, later.)
A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate maintenance or written separation agreement that applies to 2014 states that the noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent, the decree or agreement was not changed after 1984 to say the noncustodial parent cannot claim the child as a dependent, and the noncustodial parent provides at least $600 for the child's support during the year.
Custodial parent and noncustodial parent.
The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent.[LEFT]If the parents divorced or separated during the year and the child lived with both parents before the separation, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the rest of the year.
A child is treated as living with a parent for a night if the child sleeps:
At that parent's home, whether or not the parent is present, or
In the company of the parent, when the child does not sleep at a parent's home (for example, the parent and child are on vacation together).
[/LEFT]
Equal number of nights.
If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights during the year, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI). December 31.
The night of December 31 is treated as part of the year in which it begins. For example, December 31, 2014, is treated as part of 2014. Emancipated child.
If a child is emancipated under state law, the child is treated as not living with either parent. See Examples 5 and 6. Absences.
If a child was not with either parent on a particular night (because, for example, the child was staying at a friend's house), the child is treated as living with the parent with whom the child normally would have lived for that night, except for the absence. But if it cannot be determined with which parent the child normally would have lived or if the child would not have lived with either parent that night, the child is treated as not living with either parent that night. Parent works at night.
If, due to a parent's nighttime work schedule, a child lives for a greater number of days, but not nights, with the parent who works at night, that parent is treated as the custodial parent. On a school day, the child is treated as living at the primary residence registered with the school. Example 1—child lived with one parent for a greater number of nights. You and your child’s other parent are divorced. In 2014, your child lived with you 210 nights and with the other parent 155 nights. You are the custodial parent.
Example 2—child is away at camp. In 2014, your daughter lives with each parent for alternate weeks. In the summer, she spends 6 weeks at summer camp. During the time she is at camp, she is treated as living with you for 3 weeks and with her other parent, your ex-spouse, for 3 weeks because this is how long she would have lived with each parent if she had not attended summer camp.
Example 3—child lived same number of nights with each parent. Your son lived with you 180 nights during the year and lived the same number of nights with his other parent, your ex-spouse. Your AGI is $40,000. Your ex-spouse's AGI is $25,000. You are treated as your son's custodial parent because you have the higher AGI.
Example 4—child is at parent’s home but with other parent. Your son normally lives with you during the week and with his other parent, your ex-spouse, every other weekend. You become ill and are hospitalized. The other parent lives in your home with your son for 10 consecutive days while you are in the hospital. Your son is treated as living with you during this 10-day period because he was living in your home.
Example 5—child emancipated in May. When your son turned age 18 in May 2014, he became emancipated under the law of the state where he lives. As a result, he is not considered in the custody of his parents for more than half of the year. The special rule for children of divorced or separated parents does not apply.
Example 6—child emancipated in August. Your daughter lives with you from January 1, 2014, until May 31, 2014, and lives with her other parent, your ex-spouse, from June 1, 2014, through the end of the year. She turns 18 and is emancipated under state law on August 1, 2014. Because she is treated as not living with either parent beginning on August 1, she is treated as living with you the greater number of nights in 2014. You are the custodial parent.
Written declaration.
The custodial parent must use either Form 8332 or a similar statement (containing the same information required by the form) to make the written declaration to release the exemption to the noncustodial parent. The noncustodial parent must attach a copy of the form or statement to his or her tax return.[LEFT]The exemption can be released for 1 year, for a number of specified years (for example, alternate years), or for all future years, as specified in the declaration.[/LEFT]
Post-1984 and pre-2009 divorce decree or separation agreement.
If the divorce decree or separation agreement went into effect after 1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial parent may be able to attach certain pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. The decree or agreement must state all three of the following.
The noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent without regard to any condition, such as payment of support.
The custodial parent will not claim the child as a dependent for the year.
The years for which the noncustodial parent, rather than the custodial parent, can claim the child as a dependent.
[LEFT]The noncustodial parent must attach all of the following pages of the decree or agreement to his or her tax return.
The cover page (write the other parent's social security number on this page).
The pages that include all of the information identified in items (1) through (3) above.
The signature page with the other parent's signature and the date of the agreement.
[/LEFT]
Post-2008 divorce decree or separation agreement.
The noncustodial parent cannot attach pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332 if the decree or agreement went into effect after 2008. The custodial parent must sign either Form 8332 or a similar statement whose only purpose is to release the custodial parent's claim to an exemption for a child, and the noncustodial parent must attach a copy to his or her return. The form or statement must release the custodial parent's claim to the child without any conditions. For example, the release must not depend on the noncustodial parent paying support.[LEFT]The noncustodial parent must attach the required information even if it was filed with a return in an earlier year.[/LEFT]
Revocation of release of claim to an exemption.
The custodial parent can revoke a release of claim to exemption. For the revocation to be effective for 2014, the custodial parent must have given (or made reasonable efforts to give) written notice of the revocation to the noncustodial parent in 2013 or earlier. The custodial parent can use Part III of Form 8332 for this purpose and must attach a copy of the revocation to his or her return for each tax year he or she claims the child as a dependent as a result of the revocation. Remarried parent.
If you remarry, the support provided by your new spouse is treated as provided by you. Parents who never married.
This special rule for divorced or separated parents also applies to parents who never married, and who lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of the year.[/LEFT]
Should a Father paying child support ( one out of 14 years) but living out of state claim his daughter on his tax return? Seems weird as her mom and we grandparents cover all her needs year round. Her mom is on disability and doesn't do taxes yearly. Please advise! !
The previous info, while well intentioned are too confusing for the normal person to wade through....And, divorce/custody papers are a big variable.....
Go to a tax advisor....Or even to the IRS website, and look on the left side menu for Tax Advocate. I had to use the Tax Advocate years ago, it was a wonderful, free service. Very helpful.
You should be claiming both your daughter and grandchild it sounds like, but please check asap. If he paid C.S. this year....it could change that. So many variables......
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The noncustodial parent must attach the required information even if it was filed with a return in an earlier year.[/LEFT]
