Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

I have been divorced since 2001. For most of those years, my ex and I shared legal and physical custody 50/50 of our two boys. On our taxes, we each took a child exemption. In 2007, I moved out of the country for 18 months. My ex would not allow the boys to go with me and instead they visited for the summer and I returned home twice a year and rented a home for one month. We altered our divorce ageement to state that no child support would be paid until I returned home, and at that time the custody arrangement would revert back to 50/50. In late 2008 I returned home but was unable to find a job until late 2009. Because I was unemployed, I lived for six months with my parents in another county (which did not allow me to have 50/50) and then eventually moved to a closer county where I pay rent. I received no child support and still do not. Since May, the boys are with me approx. 35% of the time. We will probably never get to 50/50 because they would rather be closer to their friends, although my older son wants to live with me full-time. In 2008, I allowed my ex to have both boys as tax exemptions since I had no income and I thought it was the right thing to do. He is now telling me since he pays for the bulk of their expenses, he is taking both of them on his 2009 taxes (and in the future), even though our divorce agreement says we will share them. I pay rent and their food costs and clothing when they are with me. He does pay for a lot more of their expenses, including health insurane but he also make twice as much as I do. Is what he is doing legal? Do I have any recourse??

Asked on 2/11/10, 2:24 pm

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Unless you had the court ratify your changes into a new court order, the last court order is still valid and enforceable.

Answered on 2/16/10, 6:32 pm

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