Q: In a custody case, will a judge ever deny one parents request for rights to claim the child on taxes every other year?
My ex and I have a now 9 year old daughter that he has had very little to do with. He has not made any attempts to see her in over two years. Last spring we had a very nasty dispute over taxes as I discovered he had been claiming her every year saying she lived with him half the time (lie). I had turned him back in a couple years prior for fraud on his unemployment because he was working for cash and not reporting it. (To keep child support from increasing) now he’s filed papers for custody and suddenly wants time with her. Obviously because time gives him rights to some $$. I didn’t fight him on the tint he said he wants. I won’t stop him from being a Dad. But he’s adamant on asking for rights to claim her on taxes every other year and i don’t agree with it. That’s the only thing holding us up. Does this need to even be addressed? Why can’t he be more focused on adjusting to having her back in his life instead of what he can get out of it? Do i need to just give him what he wants ?
A:
It sounds as if you were never married. Was there any adjudication of paternity? If not, he has no right to claim her.
Going forward, the judge can award the exemption to you alone. Based on what you’ve said, that seems appropriate.
If the decree doesn’t address taxes, IRS regs state that the exemption goes to whoever has the child most of the time. If equal, it goes to the parent earning the most.
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