Thank you in advance as I searched through the forum and couldn’t find an answer.
My ex-wife filled out my daughter’s FAFSA and did not contribute any funds for her school. I took out a ParentPlus loan to pay the remaining tuition after Financial aid.
We have 50/50 custody.
Or must the FAFSA/1098-T/Dependent belong to the same person?
First of all…the FAFSA and 1098T are your kid’s, not your former wife’s.
Did you contribute more than half support to your kiddo?
She makes more than me and per the divorce decree stays with her a few extra days per the divorce decree.
she comes out paying more than me before I add in the loan I just took out for tuition.
The 1098-T is issued to the student, but it doesn’t get “filed” with any tax return (although information about the 1098-T is needed for a taxpayer, including a parent, to claim an education tax credit based on the student’s college expenses and payments).
Whether or not you can claim an education tax credit on your tax return for qualified education expenses incurred by your daughter, and your ability to claim her as your tax independent, are completely separate from anything having to do with the FAFSA.
Also, “exemptions” are no longer part of the federal tax return.
I have a similar question - in my final divorce agreement my ex’s lawyer negotiated him claiming one of the girls (unfair I know, he doesn’t even pay child support and the girls live with my current husband and I in another state). So of course I pay the tuition and books and well everything (both are in college right now). So can I claim the tuition being as I pay it or does he automatically get to do that because he ‘claims’ the one girl.
You cannot claim an education tax credit based on your daughter’s college expenses if you do not claim her as a dependent on your tax return. Your ex-husband can claim an education tax credit for the college-attending daughter he claims as a dependent on his tax return, even if you are the person paying the bills for the qualified expenses.
Isn’t there a tax form in cases of divorce where one parent can give the other parent permission to claim the child as a dependent and any tax credits?
Maybe you should see if you would qualify income wise for the AOTC and your ex wife can check if she would qualify.
Then maybe you can come to an agreement that one of you claims the child as dependent and gets the AOTC one year, and the other the other year, and so on.
Or one claims the child and then splits the credit with the other parent.
Exemptions no longer exist. But you can get a dependent credit of $500 for a college student who is your dependent.
IRS form 8332. The former spouses must be able to play nice together.
So glad I had a pricey lawyer to protect me – ugh
How would your former spouse be able to claim your child as a dependent if he is not providing a majority of the support or the child is living with him?
@BelknapPoint can a parent who is not paying more for something for the kid actually declare them as a tax dependent?
In the case of a child of divorced or separated parents, yes. See IRS form 8332.
Doesn’t that end at 18 though? My ex was given the right to claim every other year but only up until this year.
I suppose if child support is continuing beyond that other agreements could have been made. DS’s child support ends at 18 as well. After that we’re just going to see what works best for everyone. Him claiming the tuition might work better.
A person can be classified as a qualifying child or qualifying relative at any age, if certain conditions are satisfied. Even if one parent was given the right in a divorce agreement to claim a child for tax purposes, the parent awarded that right can still release the claim for use by the other parent.
I understand the qualifying child part continues on, but I’m talking about the non-custodial parent being able to claim the child even though they’re not providing more than half of support and isn’t paying tuition (previous poster’s situation). I would think her obligation to release the child as a dependent per the divorce agreement ends at 18.
Absent a divorce agreement or some other kind of enforceable contact between the parents, there is no “obligation” for a parent who is legally allowed to claim a child as a tax dependent to release that right to the other parent, although doing that is still an option. Thus my reference to former spouses “playing nice” with each other when form 8332 is used.
The parent with whom the child lived the most and at least 6 months (with certain exceptions such as being away at college or other temporary places) and provides more than half the household expenses is the parent who can claim claim the child fully as a dependent. That parent is usually the custodial parent
As brought up in above threads, a Form 8332 signed by the custodial parent, can release some of the tax benefits of having a dependent child to the non custodial parent. The $500 dependent credit and the AOTC are the two that are relevant here. However, unless the divorce decree spells this out specifically, the custodial parent does not have to sign that 8332 and can keep both of those credits as well as Head of Household status and Earned Income credit if that parent meets the other eligibility requirements for those. The non custodial parent does not gain those two latter benefits if it hinges on getting that 8332 because the child would have lived with the other parent for more than half the year and that is critical.
But , yes , the college credits/deductions can be claimed by the non custodial parent with that form. If the OP is indeed paying college expenses and it is not so stipulated in the divorce decree, the OP can bring up the subject of those credits and Form 8332 and request that those credits be released to him/her, and that if they are not , an adjustment in the college payments might be in order. This has happened to a number of non custodial parents I know.
Most good divorce attorney would have included college provisions into the divorce decree and stipulations. I’ve noticed however, that it’s quite frequent that this is left nebulous.
My ex had a beast of a divorce attorney who ran me through the wringer - it was horrible. I didn’t care for the arrangement and while it is unfair it is (since there is an agreement) legal. He would NEVER give me back the right to claim the one girl regardless that I am paying for everything. Let’s just say he and his attorney used fear tactics to get what they wanted financially and the kids have lived with me for all of their high school years in a different state.
@toomanyteens - But does the divorce agreement go out beyond 18? If you are the custodial parent I’m assuming every year you either sign an 8332 form for him to claim her, or (like my ex and I did) had one form that covered all the years from divorce to age 18).
Once that 8332 expires it isn’t legal for him to claim her if you’re providing more than half the support.
It does and talks about college specifically and my obligation to pay OYE