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Petitioner and the mother of the three dependent children
have been living together for more than 10 years, and petitioner
provides the primary support for the household, which includes
the dependent children. Mississippi abolished common-law
marriage in 1956, Miss. Code Ann. sec. 93-1-15(1) (1999), and the
living arrangement of petitioner and the mother is illegal under
Mississippi law, Miss. Code Ann. sec. 97-29-1 (1999); see also
Davis v. Davis, 643 So. 2d 931 (Miss. 1994); Sullivan v.
Stringer, 736 So. 2d 514 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). Petitioner does
not claim a dependency exemption for the mother, and correctly
so. See Turnipseed v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. 758 (1957).
However, petitioner asserts that his living arrangement with the
children does not violate Mississippi law, and that continuation
of this arrangement should be encouraged.
Petitioner has cared for the mother’s children as his own
and claimed them as his foster children since 1991. Petitioner
asserts that the State of Mississippi accepts these children as
his foster children, citing as evidence the high school record of
one of the children showing the names of both petitioner and the
mother as “Parent/Guardian” of the child in question, with the
relationship between petitioner and the child labeled “F-Father”.
Petitioner also asserts that no one else claims the children as
dependents or foster children for tax purposes, and that the
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