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child, and it required the parties’ execution of the appropriate
Internal Revenue Service documentation in order to entitle the
taxpayer to the dependency exemption deduction. This
documentation was not executed pursuant to the decree.
No such ambiguity exists in the present case. The
separation agreement states that petitioner was entitled to the
dependency exemption deduction when petitioner and Ms. Rogers
started filing separate returns. This requirement does not cause
any ambiguity because it is clear from petitioner’s return that
he was filing separately from Ms. Rogers.
Finally, respondent’s assertion that the lack of Social
Security numbers causes the declaration to be ineffective is
without merit. The Social Security number of petitioner, the
noncustodial parent, appears elsewhere on the return; its
presence on the written release is superfluous. This Court has
held that the omission of the custodial parent’s Social Security
number from a completed Form 8332 does not invalidate the release
effected by that form. Bramante v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
2002-228. Accordingly, the presence of Ms. Rogers’ Social
Security number is not required for the separation agreement to
conform to the substance of Form 8332.
The requirements of section 152(e)(2) have been met, and
petitioners therefore are entitled to the dependency exemption
deduction claimed on their return for Brandi.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011