Legal Question in Family Law in Utah

The short answer is yes. The court can award the dependent tax exemption to the parties regardless of what the custody order is. In fact, it's not unheard of to have the non-custodial parent being awarded the tax exemption every year depending on the parties' respective financial situations. There is one caveat you need to be aware of. His right to claim your son as a dependent on his taxes is conditioned on his being current in all of his support obligations as of December 31st of the tax year for which he wishes to claim the exemption. In other words, if, as of December 31, 2012, he was delinquent in his child support, medical expense reimbursements, etc., then under Utah law he would not be legally entitled to tax the exemption. I hope this answers your question. Thank you.