William R. and Deborah L. Cramer - Page 9




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          attach a completed Form 8332 to his 1998 tax return, but he also            
          testified that he believed Cramer would have refused to sign a              
          Form 8332.  Cramer’s direct testimony that she “wouldn’t have               
          signed” confirmed that she had no intention of releasing the                
          dependency exemptions for 1998.2  The Cramers’ return, on which             
          Cramer claimed the dependency exemptions for Charles and Daniel             
          for 1998, further confirms that she did not intend to release the           
          dependency exemptions for that year.                                        
               Moreover, the last page of the divorce decree fails to                 
          specify the names of the children for which the exemption claims            
          would be released, the year for which the exemption claims would            
          be released, and Cramer’s Social Security number.  See Miller v.            
          Commissioner, supra at 190; see also Loffer v. Commissioner,                
          supra; Horn v. Commissioner, supra (holding that a handwritten              
          note did not conform to the substance of Form 8332 in part                  
          because the note failed to identify the specific years to which             
          it was meant to apply); White v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-             
          438 (holding that a letter purporting to release the dependency             
          exemptions and signed by the custodial parent taxpayer did not              


               2  Cramer contends that, pursuant to the child support                 
          order, Dunda is not entitled to the exemption deductions because            
          Dunda allegedly was in arrears on his child support payments.  We           
          do not address the question whether Dunda was precluded from                
          claiming the dependency exemptions because his child support                
          payments were in arrears.  Cramer’s testimony, regardless of the            
          validity of her contention, clearly indicates that she had no               
          intention of releasing the dependency exemptions to Dunda in                
          1998.                                                                       




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