Your Legal Questions Answered

This is a great question and one that we get often. The law on point states that only the custodial parent, as defined by the IRS, is allowed the deduction. The custodial parent is the one that has the child for the most number of nights through the year, That person gets all of the tax benefit of having a child, including the dependency deduction, and the ability to claim head of household status. If your decree says that the other parent is to get this benefit, then the custodial parent can allow the other parent to do this by filling out and providing them with form 8332. To fix the problem of the inappropriate party claiming this deduction, we recommend you contact one of our family law attorneys for a case assessment. You can then explore your options in this assessment and determine whether or not moving forward with a contempt filing or other action is worth your time, depending on your unique facts.