Child Support vs. Tax Deductions
Video Transcribed: What about the tax deduction? Who gets the tax deduction when the court order doesn’t spell it out?
My name is Brian L. Jackson. I am a Tulsa father’s rights attorney here with Dads.Law, and we are still talking about how to interpret your decree. And today I want to talk about the tax deductions for your minor children, and who gets it if it’s not specified in your decree.
Well, this could have a couple of answers depending on what your arrangement is. Now, if you have one parent as sole custodian under federal law, that person is entitled to the dependency deduction for those children, unless you have a court order that specifically says otherwise, and they’re willing to sign a waiver assigning the right to claim that child to the other parent.
Now, if you are joint custodians, then arguably either of you could claim the children, although probably if you asked a family court who’s entitled to it, it would probably boil down to who had the kids more. So if you don’t have a straight chop 50-50, then it is going to probably go to the parent with more time. And that may sound really unfair if you’re paying a boatload of child support, but that’s probably how the court will interpret that.
But what about if you have equal time and it’s not specified? Well, arguably either of you could be entitled to it, and this is probably a situation that you want to sort because it could become a race to the tax office. Although a court might determine that the parent who’s paying child support to the other parent gets to claim that deduction too.
But I would say, in all honesty, if it’s not specified and you have a straight chop, in other words, they’re with you half the time and with her half the time, arguably either of you could claim them. Under federal law, I think either of you really could claim them. As far as who the court’s going to say should be allowed to claim them, could go either way. The court might, on an equity basis, determine that the parent who pays more for the child gets that deduction.
But it’s hard to say. And guys, if you are dealing with a situation like that, you do need legal advice before you act because there are some potential pitfalls and you may need to go back to court to get it clarified. And in that case, you will need an divorce attorney in Oklahoma, one place you can get legal counsel is Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable.
