Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

The parent that has primary custody or the parent that has the child over 50% of the time.

However, I heard "rumor" in the past 3 months that the law might have changed on this matter. I am no expert on federal income taxes. So talk to your CPA about this. Usually federal tax is superior to Texas law. But I heard another family law attorney tell me that the law in this regard might have been tweaked a bit in this regard. I have not confirmed this -- so I don't know if this is true. Normally TX judges don't touch IRS laws. (Sometimes family law attorneys are wrong at mediations so I never take what another attorneys says at a mediation unless I verify it myself! At this mediation, it was irrelevant so I did not need to verify it!)

Or, the parent that has primary custody can agree to give the child to the other parent by signing an IRS form each year that allows the other parent to claim the child on the other parent's tax return. I cannot remember the number of the IRS form.

For example, my ex and I used the same CPA each year for our taxes. Our CPA did our taxes each year then decided who should claim the kids. I would sign the form if it appeared that my ex would get the bigger refund. Then ex would give me 1/2 of his refund. Since our CPA told me what the refund would be, I knew I was getting the right amount. It worked for us. We were both happy.