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Posted by Arthur Kamlet on July 2, 2008, 11:53 pm
Please log in for more thread options >kamlet@panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) wrote:
>
>>>Client got divorced in December, but remained
>>>in the house. Client's ex-spouse had no income
>>>for 2007 and apparently will agree to anything.
>>>(How come I never find these women?) Client
>>>wants to file HoH and claim is ex-spouse as a
>>>dependent.
>>
>> In order to claim her as his dependent, she must pass the
>> Qualifying Relative tests, including the support test (he
>> provided more than half her support.)
>>
>> And in order to claim HoH he must have a HoH qualifying
>> person. One requirment to be an HoH Qualifying Person
>> is a close blood relationship. Ex-spouse fails this test.
>
>I haven't gone to look at the statute, but is that the case even if
>there's a court order from the divorce requiring that he support her?
Sure.
One of the underlying points of this new rule is state court orders
involving dependency exemptions and, presumably, HoH qualifying
persons, are moot for federal tax purposes. Oh, a divorce is
a divorce and I suppose an annulment is an annulment. But an
order assigning the dependency exemption issued from now on
will be ignored for federal tax purposes.
Besides, HoH does not demand that he merely support an HoH
qualifying person, it demands that he provide most of the
Household costs for her.
One other item is that if he is required to pay her alimony,
sometimes called spousal support, and they are now living
together, whether or not for fun and profit, the alimony is
neither deductible by him nor taxable to her.
I would think that divorce attorney CPEs would include a lesson
on adding "Jane Doe will be requird to complete IRS Form 8332 or
its successor forms assigning the dependency exemption to John Doe
every year until the minor child Junior Doe is age 21" and then
the only relief Jane would have if John refuses to sign an 8332
is to go back to the state court to compel John to comply.
And now getting a multiyear 8332 is fraught with a great deal of
danger should the custodial parent wish to revoke it.
And if the order was conditional, as just about all orders
written in Franklin County Ohio are when child support is
involved, the state court is the only one to determine if
the condition has been met.
--
ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH
--
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