chickawa said:
What is the name of your state?arkansas: it's a long story and i will tell it all at another time. my husband has two children that he has always paid child support on intill the older one came to live with us 2 years ago.so here is whats current .one is 16 and lives with his mother and the other one lived with us intill he graduated this past may and now he goes to college. no one had to pay child support intill the oldest finished high school and yes he was 18 now 19. so now we pay for the 16 year old and that is fine. between my husband and his ex they came to an agreement that she would not sue him for his over time because he does not get it all the time. and this way we could help the oldest one in college with tuition and car insurance. ok now, she has decided that she wants the child support based on the over time too. reason is that she is moving to where the the oldest is going to college and is moving him in with her so she feels that this is another mouth to feed and she also wants to claim him this year 04 because she has been paying his cell phone bill since august o4 and its only 65 a month not compared to the 3000.00 we have been out on him since august. can she take us back to court and sue us again this soon? i am concedering letting the 16 yr old come stay with us he wants to real bad and she knows this.
Ok...first issue, the tax exemption. The child is over 18 and child support is no longer an issue. Therefore the family court no longer has any control over the tax exemption, the IRS does....and to a smaller degree, so does the child.
Whether or not either of you can claim him depends on whether or not either of you provided more than 50% of his support for 2004. How much he earned himself will be a major factor in that determination.
Second issue, custody of the 16 year old. Its sounds like mom let the older child go to live with you without making any noise about it legally (correct me if I am wrong). There is no guarantee that she would do the same where the second child is concerned. Therefore it isn't a question of you "letting" the child live with you. It may not be possible without filing for custody and even then its not guaranteed.
Third issue, the older child moving back in with his mom. At that point she will actually be making a major contribution to his college expenses, because she will be providing his room and board. Therefore for next year she would definitely qualify for the tax exemption (again, allowing for his own earnings).
Final issue, child support for the younger child. Since there is a "change of circumstance" its possible that mom may be able to file for a modification again this soon. If she can, then she would be entitled to ask that all of your husband's earnings be included in the calculation. Your husband can attempt to fight that as well.
You also should probably research whether or not your state has any provisions that allow for court ordered support for the college years....just in case things get sticky. I have never seen child support reinstated after its been stopped, but knowledge is power.
