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who claims college-age dependents?

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L

ld

Guest
Divorce decree stated that ex-husband gets to claim son as dependent for tax purposes and that I get to claim older daughter. Daughter is now 25 and I do not claim her. Son is 19 and in first year of college. Ex no longer pays child support and we are equally sharing college expenses; however, when son is home from college he lives with me and I spend more money on him (food, gasoline, spending money, etc.; which I do have documented). Ex says he can continue to claim son. I, of course, hope that now that son is not a minor child, the divorce decree is not valid and I can claim him. We live in Texas and divorce was final in Feb. 1994. Who gets to claim him?
Thanks for any advice...
 


W

wowie

Guest
I am not a lawyer and not a CPA.

WEll, this is a complicated situation. .. I have a sort of sneaky response. Your son could always claim himself. You can still claim head of household as well as his various deductible expenses. Your son probably would be eligible for Earned income credit which would make his refund larger. Ask your attorney who did your divorce before using this approach.
 
L

ld

Guest
Hmmm, not a bad idea.....
My son did not earn any money in 2000, can he still claim himself? Sounds like I gotta call the attorney and get a good CPA.
Also wondering if there is any chance that I could get the divorce decree amended at this late date, so that I can claim son until he is out of college.
Thanks in advance.
 
W

wowie

Guest
sorry it took so long to respond. Been busy:( I'm not sure whether he can claim himself if he didn't earn any income. Did he have even a paper route or babysit or anything? As you said, I would recommend a lawyer and a CPA. You might pay some, but I think it would save you money in the long run.

I am not a lawyer, but I think that you can file an amendment to your decree. People have their child support re-evaluated all the time for income purposes. I can't imagine that you would not be able to for a new living arrangement. Best of luck.
 
L

ld

Guest
Some good news

Thanks, I have talked to a CPA who says son could claim himself even if he hasn't worked, would owe nothing, but then no one would get the tax deduction. I guess in the overall scheme of things, I'd rather ex get the deduction than no one. I haven't talked to attorney yet to see what the cost of amending the decree would be to determine if the overall savings would be worth it.

I did have some good news, though. 25 yo daughter has moved back home with me and is going to school, but I didn't want to claim her for fear of messing up her chances at financial aid. I've learned that now, (actually it occurs at age 24) she is no longer required to report parent's income on her FAFSA, no matter where she lives or who claims her on income taxes. (This is according to financial aid departments at two different local colleges.) So it looks like I can claim her this year, not lose head of household deduction, and buy some time to work on divorce decree problem. Hope this info might help someone else.
 
W

wowie

Guest
congrats and good luck. . .

Just a hint that things might financially work out better if you let daughter claim herself and get earned income credit. Maybe you two could work out an agreement that she could split it with you for "rent" or something.

I wish you and your family the best. Also, she should get an extra little credit for being a student. Plus she can take the Hope College credit of lifetime learning credit depending on what year of college she is in.
 

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