When involved with a child custody case, it is a pretty common occurrence to also deal with who will be allowed to claim the child dependency exemption. Although the IRS will not allow the dependency exemption to be split in any one year, there is ample authority for a court to allocate the right the claim the dependency exemption. Usually, this takes the form of the parties alternating the years in which each is allowed to claim the child. Be aware, that the custodial parent may be required to execute IRS Form 8332 in order for the non-custodial parent to be allowed to claim the child.
A problem arises when the non-custodial parent is also paying child support and is behind on that support at the end of the year. For those of you lucky enough to live in the sunshine state, I understand that Florida has a specific statute that states a child support obligor may not claim the child tax dependency exemption if he/she is in arrears on that support obligation. While Kentucky has no such statute, there is support in the case law to allow you to have your attorney go back to court and request that the delinquent obligor be barred from claiming the children until the arrearage is caught up. Further, since the tax dependency exemption is something that is usually raised during settlement negotiations, your attorney should condition your assent of that division on the non-custodial parent's child support obligation being current at the end of the calendar year.
For more information on the tax implications of divorce, you should check out the IRS' Publication 504.
Perspectives of a Legal Career
I have been invited to speak at my alma mater, Southern Illinois University School of Law during one of their spring open houses for admitted students. I will be speaking on March 2, 2009, at 11:00am at a session entitled "Perspectives of a Legal Career: Alumnae Speak About the Profession." This will be a panel discussion where practicing lawyers give their thoughts on the legal profession, advice for those entering the profession, etc.
Staying Together for the Children?
My wife and I just got back from chaperoning church's youth retreat. Two days of sleeping on an inflatable mattress, cooking for and hanging out with thirty-three adolescents. (Some of you may have followed my updates on Twitter as we were shopping for supplies this past weekend. If you aren't following my updates, shame on you! Friend me up at www.twitter.com/jeffalford) This retreat drove home some things I already knew; primarily, kids today have to deal with so much more than we ever had to at their age. The other thing that impressed me was how resilient kids are.
This time of year especially family law practitioners hear potential clients talk more about staying together for the children, usually to get through the holidays. As a general matter, I get asked pretty often about staying together for the children, either temporarily or for the long haul, and whether it is a good idea. The fact is, I can not answer that question for anyone, no lawyer can.
There is a wealth of information on the effects of divorce on children. One excellent study was performed by Judith Wallerstein. Her initial study from 1979 showed that children do suffer from a divorce. She performed a follow-up study with the same subjects, this time as adults, and found that children of divorce continue to suffer as adults.
The counter argument is that living in a dysfunctional home with two parents who do not want to be together, is just as detrimental to children and can have just as many negative effects. As a matter of fact, there is other evidence that children of divorce can, and often do, recover and lead normal, well-adjusted lives as adults. A much more in-depth review of the research can be found at the Counselorlink website.
In the end, the decision of whether to stay together for the children and how a divorce might affect the children, comes down to the children themselves. The potential divorce' knows (or should know) their kids better than anyone else and, like all decisions in a divorce, it is a very personal and case-specific decision to be made after much prayer and introspection. If the ultimate decision is to divorce, then the parties should do absolutely everything in their power to reduce the stress and damage to their children.
This time of year especially family law practitioners hear potential clients talk more about staying together for the children, usually to get through the holidays. As a general matter, I get asked pretty often about staying together for the children, either temporarily or for the long haul, and whether it is a good idea. The fact is, I can not answer that question for anyone, no lawyer can.
There is a wealth of information on the effects of divorce on children. One excellent study was performed by Judith Wallerstein. Her initial study from 1979 showed that children do suffer from a divorce. She performed a follow-up study with the same subjects, this time as adults, and found that children of divorce continue to suffer as adults.
The counter argument is that living in a dysfunctional home with two parents who do not want to be together, is just as detrimental to children and can have just as many negative effects. As a matter of fact, there is other evidence that children of divorce can, and often do, recover and lead normal, well-adjusted lives as adults. A much more in-depth review of the research can be found at the Counselorlink website.
In the end, the decision of whether to stay together for the children and how a divorce might affect the children, comes down to the children themselves. The potential divorce' knows (or should know) their kids better than anyone else and, like all decisions in a divorce, it is a very personal and case-specific decision to be made after much prayer and introspection. If the ultimate decision is to divorce, then the parties should do absolutely everything in their power to reduce the stress and damage to their children.
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