court ordered divorce degree

[SHUBEE89]

my client lives in arizona and her divorce degree says x can claim son everyother year and that he has 50/50 custody he has never taken the child 50% of the time and according to the divorce degree
he only pay $200 each month. son lives with mom and she pays all expenses so she claimed the boy this year (which was court ordered dads turn) since he did not take the boy like he should have
does the court order trump irs rule since the divorce was only 4 years ago and irs says it trumps the court order and why would she be in contempt of court

[TaxGuyBill]

Tax law says the Custodial Parent claims the kid unless the Custodial Parent gives the Noncustodial Parent a filled out Form 8332.

The Divorce Decree says the ex can claim the kid every other year. Unless something else is stated in the Divorce Decree that alters that requirement, that means the Divorce Decree requires your client to give her 'ex' Form 8332 for every other year. If she does not do so, your client would be violating the Divorce Decree (which might be contempt of court).

If your client does like that situation, your client could consult a Divorce Attorney to try to get the Divorce Decree altered.

[Lion]

The IRS has it's own regulations re dependency exemptions and does not abide by any state court. However, the state court rules when it comes to a state divorce, so your client may find herself back in state court answering contempt charges re not abiding by her state divorce decree. Have her return to her own lawyer to deal with the state fall out. What Bill said. You stick to advising re tax law.