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taxpayer during the taxable year in which such individuals are
claimed as dependents. However, section 152(e) provides a
special support test in the case of parents who are divorced or
legally separated or who lived apart at all times during the last
6 months of the year. Section 152(e) applies to parents who were
never married. King v. Commissioner, 121 T.C. 245 (2003).
The support test in section 152(e)(1) applies if: (1) A
child receives over half of his support during the calendar year
from his parents; (2) the parents are divorced under a decree of
divorce; and (3) such child is in the custody of one or both of
his parents for more than one-half of the calendar year. If
these requirements are satisfied, as in the present case, “such
child shall be treated, for purposes of subsection (a), as
receiving over half of his support during the calendar year from
the parent having custody for a greater portion of the calendar
year (* * * referred to as the ‘custodial parent’)”, thus
allowing the dependency exemption to be claimed by the “custodial
parent”.
Petitioner, as the “noncustodial parent”, is allowed to
claim a child 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:
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Last modified: May 25, 2011