Child Care /Non-Dependent Child Care

[TamiL315]

I live in Florida. My exhusband and I are divorced. He does pay child support, however he has been in Guam for over a year. Our Divorce Decree reads:
Each Party shall claim one (1) child for purposes of an income tax deduction, with the Wife having even numbered years when only one child is of minority.

We have two children. I claim my daughter and he claims my son. I signed and sent him Form 8332 Release of Claim of Exemption for my son.
I claimed the child care credit on both children on my daughter as a dependent and on my son as a non-dependent.
When my ex filed the IRS denied his return saying that I claimed my son. I did not claim an exemption, I have spoken to the IRS twice and they say I have done nothing wrong because I pay for the child care from my account. They said that the children have to live with you in order to claim the child care.

My ex-Mother in Law is telling me that JAG is involved, saying that it red flagged me. Do I have anything to worry about? I looked up Publication 17, Chapter 33 and it looks like I am ok, but should I find a lawyer?
Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[roamer5]

Did you claim Earned Income credit for the children?

If you only listed your daughter on page 1 of the 1040, then I don't understand why the IRS thinks you claimed your son as an exemption. One possibility would be if you claimed both children on the Earned Income credit form and your ex-husband also claimed one of the children on an Earned Income credit form.

 

[loku]

From the facts you give, you have acted according to the law, so you have nothing to fear from this. As roamer5 said, the problem most likely has to do with the way your ex filed his return. It is his problem and not yours.

 

[TamiL315]

No, I claimed Head of Household, but I didn't qualify for Earned Income Credit. My daughter is the only child on the first page.

We think he may have tried to claim the child care thinking that because he paid support that it was the same. And he may not have sent in the 8332 form that I sent him. I have not heard from him, so either it is cleared up or he is planning on suing me which he already threatened to do. But I told him what the IRS said and told him he couldn't claim the child care anyway but I have received no response. He is stationed overseas, so our only correspondence is through email.

Thanks for your assistance.