who can claim the children

AZ-when we divorced we agreed we would each claim one child, then the child support amount changed and by default, so did the person who could claim the children, it went back to father who makes more money.which takes precedence? our original divorce agreement that we both signed or a court order that I had no say in... If i claim the children, I am wondering what the courts could do to me. is this serious?

cnorth said:

AZ-when we divorced we agreed we would each claim one child, then the child support amount changed and by default, so did the person who could claim the children, it went back to father who makes more money. If i claim the children, I am wondering what the courts could do to me. is this serious?

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Did who is allowed to claim the children change in the court order?

I think you would get in trouble

I think if court decree stated split dependent claim on taxes, and you claimed both then you would be in contempt of court.

gramdma said:

I think if court decree stated split dependent claim on taxes, and you claimed both then you would be in contempt of court.

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Ya think? Why do you believe I asked the question?

yes it did

We argued about who was to claim the children, (2) the court 'rule' would have been he claim both children odd years and me 1 child every other year. we went around that and made our own agreement, we would each claim 1 child every year. Then income changed and I requested a modification of child support based on his higher income and I also took on health ins. anyway, by default the court does not look at what we agreed on the year prior in our divorce decree, they only put in what their guildelines say it should be. which is the first way, him every other year both and me every other year, 1 child. I asked the judge to consider our decree to go back to the way it was... he said no and congratulated my ex for the two 10k/yr raises he got in the last year.

cnorth said:

We argued about who was to claim the children, (2) the court 'rule' would have been he claim both children odd years and me 1 child every other year. we went around that and made our own agreement, we would each claim 1 child every year. Then income changed and I requested a modification of child support based on his higher income and I also took on health ins. anyway, by default the court does not look at what we agreed on the year prior in our divorce decree, they only put in what their guildelines say it should be. which is the first way, him every other year both and me every other year, 1 child. I asked the judge to consider our decree to go back to the way it was... he said no and congratulated my ex for the two 10k/yr raises he got in the last year.

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then if this is his year to claim the children he will be sending you an IRS Form 8332 (relinquishment of rights). If you do not sign the form he can and should file a contempt motion against you including payment for the tax refund lost, attorney fees and court costs and if he were in my office, I would add puntative damages since you already know you have no right to claim the children but did so tortiously.

so..

the fact the he agreed to let me claim a child every year means nothing? our original divorce decree means nothing and the courts can pretty much do whatever they want?
what if he doesnt have that form. he never asked for it last year when we each claimed a child. what kind of office do you have? are you a tax attorney?

cnorth said:

the fact the he agreed to let me claim a child every year means nothing?

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not to the court.

our original divorce decree means nothing and the courts can pretty much do whatever they want?

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yes

what if he doesnt have that form. he never asked for it last year when we each claimed a child.

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then you are subject to an audit from the IRS.

Listen, what you are doing is tantamount to thumbing your nose at a court order. I suggest you think about it. What would YOU do if your ex decided to stop paying child support? After all, it's just a court order.

true..

I would take him to court if he stopped paying child support. but what if he doesnt ask me for the form. i would sign it if he asked for it. but he has never asked me, i dont think he knows about the form because last year he would have needed it to claim our son. Its sad that the judge did not even care about our original agreement and just threw that out the window. we spent a lot of time coming to that agreement and it was fair. now i can only claim 1 child every other year, we have 2 kids. that ticks me off. we have joint custody, he is favored because he makes more money?

cnorth said:

I would take him to court if he stopped paying child support. but what if he doesnt ask me for the form. i would sign it if he asked for it. but he has never asked me, i dont think he knows about the form because last year he would have needed it to claim our son. Its sad that the judge did not even care about our original agreement and just threw that out the window. we spent a lot of time coming to that agreement and it was fair. now i can only claim 1 child every other year, we have 2 kids. that ticks me off. we have joint custody, he is favored because he makes more money?

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so you didn't come to this forum for the correct legal answer but a way to scam the courts and your ex AND your children.

I'm done.

what?

no... I am trying to find out what takes precedence, the original agreement or the new court order. I am not trying to scam anyone. I will do what is legally right. I also wanted to know what the repurcussion would be. when it comes down to it i will do whats right I was just curious about the outcome. thats a big leap of judgement you made about me.

cnorth said:

no... I am trying to find out what takes precedence, the original agreement or the new court order. I am not trying to scam anyone. I will do what is legally right. I also wanted to know what the repurcussion would be. when it comes down to it i will do whats right I was just curious about the outcome. thats a big leap of judgement you made about me.

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That's the judgement the COURT will make if you do not honor the court order. I have told you what must be done, the ramifications and eveyrthing else you need to know. If you don't like it too damn bad.

You always have the right to pay $300 or more for your OWN attorney to tell you. Maybe then you'll stop looking for the answer you want to hear and listen to the LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE ANSWER.

cnorth said:

no... I am trying to find out what takes precedence, the original agreement or the new court order. I am not trying to scam anyone. I will do what is legally right. I also wanted to know what the repurcussion would be. when it comes down to it i will do whats right I was just curious about the outcome. thats a big leap of judgement you made about me.

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If the new order had been silent on the issue of the tax exemptions, then your original agreement would have stood regarding that. However, since the new order DOES mention the tax exemptions, the new order stands. At least as far as state court is concerned.

Have you even tried to discuss this with him? Would he maybe be willing to stand by the original agreement if you approached him on it?

yep

I sure did. I begged him to let me claim one child so that I would not owe as much. He is not willing to stand by our original agreement because he says he owes too and would essentially be giving the money to me, which he doesnt like to do... He feels its 'just' since I did take him to court for the change in child support.

cnorth said:

I sure did. I begged him to let me claim one child so that I would not owe as much. He is not willing to stand by our original agreement because he says he owes too and would essentially be giving the money to me, which he doesnt like to do... He feels its 'just' since I did take him to court for the change in child support.

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you opened this can of worms. And the court answered you. now you get to live by it.