If you have 50/50 custody and nothing in writing or a Court order stating who can claim the kids, whoever files their taxes first gets to claim them.
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I’m doing this with my kids dad we have 3 in the pass he didnt claim them bc he was never around or helping child support. He is claiming one this year and I’m doing 2 and probably the same next year and so on from what I have read that the parents can switch years and if you are doing them online ( like I am) then there is a form you have fill out or he has to stating you are letting the other parent claim them and you are not claiming that kid. But at the end of the day If there is no parenting agreement saying anything then its whoever’s claims first. If he trying to start stuff and take you to court have that proof that you have them most of the time and he does not help with half of the stuff for them.
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If you have 50/50 it’s mom files one year, dad files the year after and vice versa. So, whoever didn’t file last year files this year. At least that’s how it is in Kentucky.
Can’t do anything but what the court order says until it’s changed.
If the parenting plan is not working, file with the court to change it.
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Are your kids on Medicaid? Might be an option for you… that has to be hard with always buying stuff…
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Whoever pays more than 50% of their expenses has a right by law to claim them as dependants. It is the parent where the child (ren) live (s) with that has a right by law to legally claim them. Obviously they spend more money on their daily expenses.
Don’t be fooled. Go to child support court. Judge will side with you when you show proof of all your extra expenses and will make him pay 50% through a court order.
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Parents are both equally responsible for their children, you all should switch years for each kid.
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You assuming everything is an excuse or him doing things and not having money is because of one thing. You have to be willing to consider he has other things going on outside of having the kids as he probably has them every other weekend.
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While it’s a shared responsibility if you are the main care taker and they live with you Monday through Friday it is your responsibility to provide insurance for the child and when these things that aren’t covered split the bill.
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Careful if you both claim them you will get audited and may have to pay penalties even if you file first. If it is in your custody agreement that you each claim one their could be other ramifications
Revisit the court system and request full custody but even though you get full custody of both kids he will still be allowed to claim them every other year depending on state guidelines. Im going through this atm in Indiana. Good luck !!
If it’s court order for you to file one and he files the other than you have to stick to that agreement. If it’s not, you or him can claim both but can bite you or him in the ass of brought up in court. If he’s that big of a issue you need to go back to court and fix the custody agreement.
Does he pay child support! If so he definitely has the right to claim at least one. If he doesn’t then you have the right claim both. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t play an active role in their lives.
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You need to go talk to either an attorney or go to a tax office. Then you will get the legal answer.
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Sounds like u been nice for even letting him claim one (i wouldn’t have) file for both girls and tell him not to or the IRS will come after him. If he gets mad tell him to bad. Unless it is court ordered nothing he can do about it.
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Whoever claims them first. I went through this with my ex husband
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You are the mother, you do more for them, hell you had them in your belly for 9 months, gave birth to them, hes just a sperm donor. He isnt doing what he should be doing as a parent. I would go back to the courts and get full custody. Let him pay child support. I would hurry up and get your taxes done before him. That way when he tries to file and put them on it, it will be flagged. Fuck him and his girlfriend. Kids are supposed to come first before anything and if he cant mount up to being the parent he is supposed to be and keeps making excuses then he shouldnt even be apart of your kids’ life. Hell I am a single mom of 5 I dont get child support and have managed to do everything on my own. You got this. Claim them they are YOUR kids.
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Tell the IRS that he’s claiming one of them despite the fact that he’s not contributing to 50% of their support. That’s illegal.
yes you are taking care of them! I went through the samething.
Go back to court. Make sure you have as much documented proof as possible(texts, receipts, etc).
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What is in the parenting agreement? If it doesn’t talk about taxes then the one who has has the child 51% of the year or greater will get it. You can both file for it and allow the irs to figure it out. They will ask for proof of where the child spent more time.
Where do they live 51% of the year? That’s who should claim them
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Whoever has the extra night per year can claim them or whoever has the children more than 6 months out of the year.
We have two different agreements, both my husband and I came with a kid from a prior relationship. My kid is 50/50 split but she spends more nights at my place. I take the deduction. For my husbands daughter, him and his ex both claim her… she spends more time at moms house so she takes the Earned income credit, daycare deductions all that stuff… we provide over half her support though because we pay an equal amount to what mom earns in child support, so my husband claims the deduction. It’s a special case the IRS allows it.
Depends on your papers sometimes it’ll be written in. Otherwise it’s whoever files first but could cause some conflict between you two.
It is very easy for us at home to speculate and offer advice based on our own personal experiences, but we do not know your specific circumstances, custody agreements, court orders, etc. This is a question that would be best answered by a family law attorney who is familiar with your circumstances.
In New York state it is based on who has primary residency of child/children.
Personal experience:
I have sole custody, my ex has visitations, tried to file taxes claiming our son. Both our taxes were flagged and I recieved letters and phone calls. Had to provide court papers, as well as medical and school and a few other documents. He faced trouble for potential fraud.
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Whoever claims them first 
Well who ever takes care of them primarily is who should claim them but because you both share 50/50 custody it could be a little difficult especially if it wasnt apart of the court agreement already. You could try to file before he does and hope for the best but if he also claims then the IRS could suspend the refund and do an investigation where you will have to prove that you provide(d) most of the care. That is what I was told when I filed my 2017 taxes in NY.
It’s whoever has them for more days during the year. I have my children for 11 months put of the year, dad is a fisherman. We have joint 50/50 custody but I claim then on my taxes. Because I AM the one doing doctors, I AM the one doing school, I AM the one doing daily life for them for most of the year.
Mark down on a calender everyday you have them, of you have them for even 1 day past 6 months than you claim.
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It comes down to who ever has the child more. Dose not matter if it’s only one day that person gets the child tax credit. Talk with a tax professional and they will help you.
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Take him back to court tell them he does nothing for the kids makes excuses but apends money on his girlfriend . you buy everything for them and he’s claiming money for them that’s fuckin wrong .it’s 50/50 but he’s not stepping up and you enroll them in school so fuck him he’s all about $$$ . you’ll have to prove it to the court but it sounds like that wouldn’t be hard , bring up your daughter’s glasses and how he says can’t afford that but takes his girlfriend away on weekends
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If its the parenting agreement leave it be or take it back to court n have it changed
I wouldnt listen to much if this. It all depend on several things, do you have a court order? If not get one. We had custody of my step daughter, she only went to her moms every other weekend and because she paid child support at 176 a month she got to claim her, she didnt get full credit becae she couldnt claim her as living with her 6 or months or the year, but it was in the court order that she could claim her. Every situation is different. Our order said if she was even a penny behind in child support she couldnt claim her that year. She would aim her even on our years which always caused us to get an audit and our taxes would be held up for months. I would say you need to seek the advice of an attorney and if you do bot have a court order get one.
From my experience the court will have you alternate
In Canada, even if mom isn’t working mom still claims kids no matter what. Even tho my husband works. I claim under him, but our daughter is under me.
I say u because u do most of the work and plus there health insurance…
Court orders don’t matter federal law over rides state whoever has the child more gets the child tax credit. My ex battled me in court and lost. Get a tax professional to help you but make sure you can prove you had the child more. I’m out can get the child tax credit without actually claiming the child.
My ex gets one of my kids as a dependent only. I get both for EIC because they live with me more. You get more off EIC than the exemption, so I let him think he is getting something by claiming her as a dependent only. Also sometimes they say the parent must be current with child support to even get to claim for the year.
Sounds like you need to go to court and make an arrangement
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If it’s technically 50/50, take turns each year claiming
Yes most definitely you should claim them
For me I didnt care if It was switching who claims our kid each year, but when I read our divorce decree it said I was able to claim every year
There is ALOT of wrong info in this thread. Court orders mean NOTHING when it comes to taxes. The IRS goes by tax rules. Period. They cannot consider the divorces decree or court orders. The parent that the child lived with for more than half the year claims the child. Who had them more nights out of the year. This mess of who files first gets it. THAT is WRONG. The other party can ask the IRS to step in and make a determination. If they decide whoever filed first was wrong… you can be ordered to pay it back. There is a lot of misinformation here. Please ask a professional
These questions. Not. Facebook. ( I’m an enrolled agent licensed by the IRS)
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If it’s 50/50 it should be every other year you get to claim
Gotta take him back to court girl.
If you take it to court they will probably tell u to alternate years. This is why me n my ex just claim one each.
My ex always asks me to claim one and I always laugh in his fuckin face. I do everything for these girls and he only does for himself.