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Posted Jan 20th, 2012
Does my ex husband have the right to file our daughter as an exemption on his taxes for the past
year?

Additional Details:
my ex husband is taking me to mediation because he wants to be able to file our daughter on his
taxes every other year. he does pay child support for her throughout the year, but i am the
custodial parent and she stays with me primarily throughout the year. she see''s him every other
weekend and then half of the summer. does he have the right to file her on his taxes as an
exemption when federal law states that whoever the child resides with for more than six months out
of the year is the parent who claims them? does he really have a case and will a court side with
him?
Legal Topic Area: Family Law in FL

You are legally correct, and if your marital settlement agreement or divorce judgment doesn't say otherwise, you get to claim the exemption. Commonly, when we settle cases or when judges make trial decisions, we split the exemption on alternate years on the theory that the other parent is paying support and therefore deserves the monetary break. But if that didn't happen in your divorce, it's too late to change it now. You can't just go back to the judge and say, "I feel like changing my divorce deal!"


Answered on Jan 20th, 2012 at 12:12pm