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“dependent” means, in pertinent part, a son of the taxpayer over
half of whose support was received from the taxpayer. Sec.
152(a)(1).
In the case of a child of divorced parents, section
152(e)(1) provides in pertinent part that if a child receives
over half of his support from his parents who are divorced under
a decree of divorce and the child is in the custody of one or
both of his parents for more than one-half of the year, then the
child will be treated as receiving over half of his support from
the parent having custody for a greater portion of the calendar
year.
Section 1.152-4(b), Income Tax Regs., provides that the term
“custody” is “determined by the terms of the most recent decree
of divorce”. Because the divorce decree grants Michelle Cutler
full custody of Ammon, she is considered Ammon’s “custodial
parent” under section 152(e). Cafarelli v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 1994-265.
Petitioner as the “noncustodial parent”, is allowed to claim
Ammon as a dependent only if one of three statutory exceptions in
section 152(e) is met. Under these exceptions, the “noncustodial
parent” is treated as providing over half of a child’s support
if: (1) Pursuant to section 152(e)(2), the custodial parent
signs a written declaration that such custodial parent will not
claim such child as a dependent, and the noncustodial parent
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Last modified: May 25, 2011