Legal Question in Family Law in California

The IRS allows your allocation in the divorce papers to trump the IRS rules. The IRS rules are what govern if you don't have or can't reach an agreement. Technically you are supposed to give your ex an IRS form releasing the deduction, but they never ask for it in my experience as long as the child's SSN only shows up on one return.

You will definitely need to communicate with your ex-husband on this issue, as you have the potential of being audited should both of you claim the same child. You do need to follow your divorce judgment, meaning that you would claim one, not both children. That being said, it's not necessarily a bad thing that your ex-husband claims one child. When child support was ordered, it was likely based on the presumption that each of you would claim one child. If you look at your DissoMaster (the computer printout that says how much support you are owed), you can see that the exemptions are listed under each of your columns. When your ex claims one child, that boosts his net income, which in turn, increases his support obligation to you. If you think that it's still in your financial best interest, you'll want to do three things: 1) Have your CPA run both scenarios so you can see the difference claiming an additional child; 2) Consult with and/or retain an attorney who can run a new DissoMaster and recalculate support; and 3) Either try to reach an agreement with your ex or file a motion with the Court asking to claim both children on your future taxes.