After you and your spouse is divorced you may be wondering who gets to claim your children as a dependent on their taxes. Claiming independent childcare providers increased certain breaks, such as child or dependent tax credits, the earned income credit, and more favorable filing status. But if you are divorced or legally separated it can make it difficult to determine who can claim the dependent. Your child custody lawyer will help you answer your questions.
So the difference between custodial and noncustodial parents is that the custodial parent is the one that has the child for over half of the year. The noncustodial parent may sometimes claim the child if they provided half of the child support. The noncustodial parent may also claim the dependent as a divorce or separation decree or written declaration from the custodial parent says that they can.
But what if some tiebreaker rules to determine who claims the child as a dependent? This is useful for there is no divorce or separation decree that states the noncustodial parent can claim the dependent wonders the written declaration from the custodial parent, then tiebreaker rules may be in effect.
Some of those rules are:
- The parent who the child spends the most time with may claim the dependent.
- If the child spends equal time between both parents, then the parent with the highest adjusted gross income may claim the dependent.
- If only one of the taxpayers is the child’s parent, that parent may claim the dependent.
What happens if divorced parents both claim a child is dependent on their taxes? The answer is that when both parents claim the child, only the first filed return will be accepted. Because of this if there is any doubt about who will claim the child it is best to communicate with the other parent before filing.
Can a custodial parent revoke their right to claim their child is dependent? If you have no divorce or separation decrees and custodial parent to parent who has more right side of the year, can sign form 8332. Form 8332 or a written declaration to release their dependency claim, will allow the noncustodial parent to claim the child on the taxes. However either document may be only for one year, may have to be renewed, or it can be for several years at a time and study to be renewed at the end of that date.
However the custodial parent has the right to revoke this form of the written declaration anytime and claim the child as a dependent because the custodial parent has more of the rights of the child out of the year. If you have a child that you are claiming from a divorce and you have the form 83320 you need to use with your tax forms to claim a child that the other parent has released the dependent rights to.