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period of time both before and after school and on weekends,
Bertha Muncy is the custodial parent, and petitioner is the
noncustodial parent.
The Internal Revenue Service created Form 8332, Release of
Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, to
effect the custodial parent’s waiver of the dependency exemption.
However, to meet the requirements of section 152(e)(2), the
custodial parent’s written declaration need not be made on Form
8332, as long as the submitted declaration conforms to the
substance of Form 8332. Boltinghouse v. Commissioner, supra
(concluding that a separation agreement conforming to the
substance of Form 8332 satisfied section 152(e)(2)); sec. 1.152-
4T(a), Q&A-3, Temporary Income Tax Regs., 49 Fed. Reg. 34451
(Aug. 31, 1984). In addition, neither section 152(e)(2) nor the
regulations thereunder require that the waiver of a spouse’s
claim to a dependency exemption be incorporated into a divorce
decree to be effective. Boltinghouse v. Commissioner, supra.
Petitioner did not submit a Form 8332, and at trial, he
admitted that he had not attempted to obtain a Form 8332 from
Bertha Muncy. The question therefore is whether the divorce
decree conforms to the substance of Form 8332 and satisfies the
requirements of section 152(e)(2). As the Court explained in
Miller v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 184, 190 (2000), affd. sub nom.
Lovejoy v. Commissioner, 293 F.3d 1208 (10th Cir. 2002):
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