hey, i have a really stupid tax question(please don't laugh at me)

[christine]

this will be the first year i'm filing single with a child.

i have primary physical custody of my daughter, and my ex pays child support. do i automatically get to claim her as a dependent? as my ex has moved out of state without a forwarding address and phone #, touching base with him isn't an option. even his lawyer doesn't know how to find him-the lawyer fired my ex as a client last week.

like i said-stupid. but i need to know.

[TC]

Typically this is spelled out in detail in a Divorce Decree...assuming you are divorced, first I would re-read your Decree to see what the exact verbage is there.

Otherwise, in situations like this it is common for the person with the physical custody to retain the right to claim the child as a dependant....so in your situation, I would advise you to file that way....but I would also check the Decree to see what it says.

TC

[livealittle]

what they said and the irs has it's own rules regarding if both parties claim the children.

my divorce decree says that I have get to claim the children on my tax return each and every year beginning with 2005. technically, if your x claims the child, he has to have you fill out IRS form 8332 linked here

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf

and attach it with your tax return. The irs used to let you attach a copy of your divorce decree, but they no longer allow that beginning with tax year 2009.

[Lee Borden]

If your decree is silent, the exemption belongs to the custodial parent. No need to contact Dad about it. If Dad claims her too and the Service challenges you, you simply demonstrate that you're the CP. You win; Dad loses.

[livealittle]

If your decree is silent, the exemption belongs to the custodial parent. No need to contact Dad about it. If Dad claims her too and the Service challenges you, you simply demonstrate that you're the CP. You win; Dad loses.

most of the time, this is true, Lee.

However - the IRS has it's own rules about who gets to claim the children when both the CP and the NCP claim the child if it is not spelled out in the divorce decree.

Here is the text from publication 504 regarding if 2 people claim the child.


Table 4.When More Than One Person Files a Return Claiming the Same Qualifying Child (Tie-Breaker Rule)

*IF more than one person files a return claiming the same qualifying child and ...

   1 - only one of the persons is the child's parent

   2 - two of the persons are the child's parents and they do not file a joint return together,

   3 - two of the persons are the child's parents, they do not file a joint return together, and the child lived with each parent the same amount of time during the year,

   4 -     none of the persons are the child's parent,

*THEN the child will be treated as the qualifying child of
the ...   

    1 - parent.   

    2 -  parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year.   
     
    3 -   parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI).   
 
    4 - person with the highest AGI.   

here's a link to the publication.


http://www.irs.gov/publications/p504/ar02.html#en_US_publink100044170

[christine]

thanks-that puts her on my tax stuff, then-she's been with me all along