Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana
Child support arrears and federal income tax
My ex-husband is over $10,000 in arrears for child support of our two children. It is currently being deducted from his employer. Their is a lien on his income taxes for child support. When he files he pays so their is no refund. In our divorce agreemnet he claims one child and I claim the other. He has the child for a weekend about once a month and I take care of all medical, educational and living costs. Can I legally claim both the children as exemption on my federal and state income tax returns since he is in arrears? Thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Child support arrears and federal income tax
You can legally claim both the children as exemptions only if your decree reads that his exemption is dependent upon support being current. If it does not and you are enforcing the order in Court presently, you can request that his exempton be contingent upon pay-off of the arrearage. There is also a question regarding how old your decree is and whether the decree required you to sign a Release of Claim of Exemption in order for him to take the exemption with the IRS. In any case, you would still be eligible for certain credits such as childcare credits with the IRS.
Re: Child support arrears and federal income tax
This may be done either by agreement and the filing of the appropriate from with the IRS changing that status or by petitioning the court.
If agreement cannot be reached, then it is possible to ask the court to change the current status of exemption. Given the situation you've described along with other factors which may exist, you might just sway the court for such a ruling.
In any case, you should not presume to able to do so unless one the above results.
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