Who Claim My Daughter on Their Taxes?

IRS laws state that whoever the dependent lives with for more that 6 months out of the year has the right to claim them. If you have custody and she lives with you, then you should claim her. Simple. He's just trying to confuse you in to letting him claim her. Don't. You should claim her.

Custodial parent claims (at least in my state) regardless of income unless otherwise agreed...period.

well in order to claim a child they have to have been living with you for last 12 months so technically he can not file her. I would call a tax agency to verify this and if its correct then you have nothing to worry about.

I prepare taxes as a part-time job and the tax law states who provides more then 50% of support for the child and where the child has physical residence. The only way he should claim her is a qualifying non-dependent so he can get head of house hold credit but only if he provides a room where he lives for only her use.
She lives with you and you have custody you have the right to claim her. Nothing in the tax laws state anything about the custody agreement that is only a curtisy and technically not legal if the child doesn't actually live with him. If he claims her you can report him to the IRS and they will go after him for it.

the person with the highest income claims daughter ONLY if child spends 50% of time with each parent. call the IRS hotline they are very helpful. your taxes will flag if both of you claim her which he will likely want to avoid. let him know that you will be claiming her and that if he wants to battle the IRS he is welcome.

if he is able to claim the child on his taxes even once he can claim her
every year until she 18. if he does not have custody then he cant legally
claim her on his taxes
K. h.

The person who has custody of the child and has the child living with them is truly entitled to claimthe child on their taxes. However, if the primary parent allows the secondary parent to claim the child then that is merely being curteous and allowing the non-costodial parent to claim the child(ren). Notice I said ALLOW and ENTITLED. The parent that provides MOST of the support for the child is the one that is entitled to claim the child but this does not mean the non-custodial parent can't. Whoever claims the child first is actually the winner, however you can dispute the claim and give proof that you were the primary caretaker and IRS will take care of the rest (my sister had to go throught this twice in a row, eventually the father stoped claiming them because he would have to pay the money back)

my husband and his ex went thru this. the lawyer told us if it is stated the custodial parent claims the child then the custodial parent has rights. if it say alternate each yr then that is what you must do. i think your ex is looking at the amount of money he would get if he claims her. that is his only reason behind this. my husbands ex put her son...whom lives with us full time on her taxes...we filed our taxes with him claimed and then got a call later about it. we informed her she better contact the irs and refile hers because she was in contempt of court and could be fined if not jailed if we contacted the irs about what she did. she refiled hers reluctantly. i would do as the victoria said. contact the court in which the paperwork is filed and get a copy. always keep a copy with you if nessecary it prevents problems in the future if you can pull one out quickly and to check what it says. if your ex doesnt have a copy then supply him with one and make sure you do it in front of someone else so he can't say he didnt get one from you. it always helped me to remember...think like the ex and expect the unexpected. there is a reason they are the ex...lol.

Hi R.,

The custodial parent claims the child unless it states in the custody agreement that the noncustodial parent has that right.

It should be addressed in your court order. If you don't have a copy anymore, contact the County Clerk of Court's office where your order was issued. You can get another copy. Often times, the order will have the dependent tax claim alternate years... odd numbered years with x parent, even numbered years with y parent. Please don't make any assumptions about this. Contact your clerk's office for a copy and if it isn't specified then you can petition the court to award it to you.
If the court papers say that YOU get to claim her as your dependent, then claim her. Regardless of what he does. If the order says HE gets to claim her, then it's HIS right .... if one of you claims her and the court says it is the other's right, then the one filing improperly is committing tax fraud.

The one of you whom she lived with over 6 months of the year, unless your custody agreement reads differently.

I agree with everyone. Unless it states in your divorce decree or on a court order of any kind that he may claim her, then YOU as the custodial parent should be claiming her. He's full of bull talking about higher income. Just do your taxes, claim your daughter and ignore him. If he pursues it, he can take you to court and let the judge have a good laugh.

R.,
If you are the custodial parent (meaning she lives with you 6 months or more out of the year) then you have the right to claim her on your taxes. He can only claim her if you agree to this.

I wouldn't know for sure legally, but for one "the person with the highest income" sounds like BS... that is the person who would need it the least. But I don't think it matters either way, legally. I do believe it is "51% placement majority" in other words, whomever the child lived with more during the year, especially if you are listed in your court order as having "full placement", even if you and your ex have joint custody (which refers to the decisions made on behalf of the child).

The parent with custody legally claims the child as dependent. Go ahead and do your taxes asao. When it's done, it's done. Not a whole he can do about it then, and he will be one who is inevitably audited if he tries to claim her as a dependent.

Ask an accountant who does taxes, they are current on the laws of your state. We can all tell you all kinds of answers but I am certainly not up to date on tax law for that purpose.

But I can tell you I honestly believe the parent who has custody whether they are poor as a church mouse or as wealthy as an heiress. Your ex doesn't have that legal right. You are the legal custodial parent, even if you wanted to he can't legally claim her. He can claim his child support though.

my custody papers say that I can claim my daughter, and my ex my son, but ONLY if he is not behind in child support, which he always is, so I get to claim both of them! So you need to check your paperwork. Good luck!

You should be the one to claim your child as a dependent if you are the custodial parent, the child lives more than half the year. That is normal unless you gave him that in your separation agreement. You need to find your agreement ASAP. You might be able to request a copy from: your lawyer if u gave them a copy, from the courts if you made it public record. Either of those methods will most likely cost you. I would search hard for that agreement. Good luck to you.

There's a lot I can say on this issue, but I want to take a moment to ponder. I HAVE to say this right now though, him having a higher income than you has NOTHING to do with it, and YES you as the custodial parent should be claiming her (in most circumstances)...

Usually the person that the child lives with the most is the one that claims the child, however, it also depends on your custody agreement. My sisters was written that if he was current on child support they would rotate. If he was behind on child support she got to claim the child. Can you go back to the courts to get a copy to be sure? Once you are sure, give him a copy and let him know you are claiming her. If he does too out of spite, you'll both get a notice of discrepancy from the IRS and once they see the copy of the agreement, he'll be the on in trouble for trying to claim someone that he doesn't have a right to claim.

Whomever is the primary provider "should" claim the child. Normally that would be the custodial parent; however it can be different if both parties agree or a court order specifies. Be aware, if her father claims her and then you claim her, it can be quite difficult to untangle the mess. I

The custodial parent files the claim.

CUSTODIAL. Unless otherwise agreed upon, it's the person who provides 51% of the minors upkeep and daily living expenses. CHild support does NOT count towards that.

If you are the custodial parent and your daughter lives with you more than half of the year then you are the only one who can claim your daughter on your taxes. There is tax code that says who can claim a child as a dependent. It has nothing to do with income, but does have provision that the child has to live with you. And in the case of separated parents who the child lives with most of the year. In order for her father to claim her you would have to give him special permission assuming she lives with you at least during the school week. If he doesn't have your permission and claims her anyway you can report him for tax fraud.

Might it also have something to do with the directions on the tax form? I can't remember if it's only for "head of household" or for claiming child care credits or something else, but the forms have asked me where the child lived either for more than 6 months of the year, or in certain situations, where the child lived the 2nd half of the year.

Certainly do get a copy of your custody order, though. Some couples agree to let the higher wage-earner claim dependents to get a larger refund, and then they split the difference.....wouldn't it be nice if all of our ex's were so accommodating? lol. Good luck.

You are correct, the custodial parent claims the child.