My son has paid court ordered child support payments every week for many years, without missing one payment. When it comes to filing his income tax yearly, why is it that he cannot claim his children, or deduct the Monterey payments from his taxes?
By dollyddg
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It must be stated in the court papers on who gets what year to claim the children. If it doesn't the domicile parent gets the right. If he wants to claim the kids he will have to have a court and have a court decision on it. As far as not claiming on taxes he paid in on child support no one can, yes its unfair. but at least some states are looking to change this and looking to enforce the parent that don't have the kids rights.
Custodial parents (cp) usually get the tax deduction. This is because, usually, the child support does not cover half of the expenses related to raising kids. Think about it - if you had to take the kids in today and cover all of their expenses, how much would it cost you?
The cp has to pay for renting/buying a bigger place, more bedrooms, than a single person. That costs a lot. Utilities go up, unless the kids don't watch TV, play video games, go on line, have lights in their rooms, etc. The food bill goes way up. In some cases, caring for the kids keeps the cp from taking a higher paying job that would take too much time from the kids, or would require that they move away from the NP.
Then there are school fees and supplies, activity costs, clothes, toys, medical costs not covered by insurance, entertainment, higher costs for eating out, movies and such, babysitters - the list goes on and on. Your son sounds like a good guy. If he feels that he is paying more than half of ALL the child-related expenses, he can try to change things. He can talk to the ex about it. He can go to a lawyer and see if the court might change it. But he should think long and hard before doing anything.
Divorce is hard enough without adding more issues to the mix. The ex is not going to be happy about it, and, no matter how you look at it, it will take money out of the kids household. Would changing this be worth it? Sometimes being mature means not fighting an issue, even if it is unfair.
Here are some word that you will never hear.
"I want to pay my ex spouse more child support but she won't take it."
It costs money to raise children. Whatever they get in child support is never enough. If you bring a child into this world you are obligated to support it.
Does anyone ever wonder what children think when they know the noncustodial parent is trying to shave off every dime they can from their children?
It is usually documented in the divorce papers as to who claims the children on their 1040. Each case is different. In my own, the stipulation was that he would claim the child unless he missed a payment. If he missed one payment for the whole year then I was able to claim my child.
As it turned out, he missed a payment early on and continued to miss from that point on. I then was able to claim my child at that point. So originally, it's not always the custodial parent who gets to claim the child as in my case. He had missed several payments before I claimed him. And the prior poster is correct: Unless the custodial parent gets a TON of child support the support received no where near covers the actual cost of raising a child.
Back in 1982, my support was $200 - My child's daycare while I worked was $40 a week - there's $160+ right there, That left me $40 to buy clothes, food, pay his portion of utilities (laundry, lights, etc.) also provide outside entertainment such as an occasional movie or even a car ride to the country. I couldn't even buy medical insurance with that.
I realize some children received more child support and some received none. And when it became clear that my ex-husband was refusing to pay at all, I had absolutely no qualms about garnishing his Social Security when he started receiving it. My son is now 30 and his child support was finally paid up only a few months ago.
Each state is a bit different. But generally a person must pay at least 51% of the child's living expenses in order to claim them & court ordered support is nowhere near that
Each state is a bit different. But generally a person must pay at least 51% of the child's living expenses in order to claim them & court ordered support is nowhere near that.
Best advice-tell your son to talk to his tax preparer. Different states/different laws . and a little OT, why are you asking-seems like your son needs to be responsible for this and for getting his own answers.
Child support payments are never enough to raise a child. Have some sympathy for the Mother of the child unless she's unfit and that's a whole different story.
Really this is a very simple answer! Child support has not been named correctly because it doesn't even come close to supporting the child financially! I really get upset when non- custodial, visiting parents, no matter how well intended, complain! Child support, unless it pays over 51% of every bill the custodial parent pays out is just a financial bandaid on a gaping financial arterial bleed in most cases! That's just the money side! What about the emotional needs of these kids and the time the CP spends 24/7 with the child, available to the child. Middle of the night go a rounds with fevers and vomiting, long battles with homework, dealing with changing teenage hormones! I'm not trying to imply that raising kids is awful, in fact I was a single Mom to four boys and after that went back and have two foster kids for the past five years. I received almost none of my child support due to no lack of effort on my part. The system back then wasn't as helpful like it is now. If your son wants to deduct his kids tell him to anty up and pay 51% of their upkeep like their mother is. Then I'll feel for him! I'm sure he's a great guy but I'm also sure he can do better or quit whining to his mom!
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