<p>For the 2007/2008 school year my 22 year old daughter was a full time student, working and living on her own and paying all of her expenses and tuition. Her Dad was required in a divorce decree to pay her $250 for the months she was actually in school. (9 months) She had claimed herself on her taxes because she paid more than half of her support. I just received a letter from an Attorneys office requesting me to send them proof of her being a full time student for those years. If I do not the later said they will take me to court and I would have to pay his legal fees plus court cost because the IRS is requesting these forms from him. I do not have anything from the college because she is an adult paying her own way. Can they really do this and does my daughter have to give him these documents?</p>
<p>Who are these lawyers representing? Your ex? It shouldn’t be hard to get a document that shows that she was a full-time student. Can your daughter send you a copy of her transcript for the relevant year?</p>
<p>Is your ex claiming you D on his taxes?</p>
<p>I’m not in the legal field - but I will give it a shot.
Court is requiring dad to pay daughter money while she attends school.
Daughter is paying all her own expenses, ( - the $250), despite being considered a dependent for tuition.
I think tax form 1098 would cover this, and that it is reasonable for your daughter to give her dad a copy.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t send some random ‘attorney’ personal information like this. How do you even know who they are? How do you know it’s not a scam?</p>
<p>Was your D 22 y/o at that time? If so, I don’t see what you have to do with this at all even if it’s legit since it would have been her, as an adult, claiming herself - nothing to do with you.</p>
<p>If your ex is still willing to speak with you then ask him what’s going on and whether these lawyers represent him and ask him if he’s discussed it with your D. In addition, ask these lawyers who they represent. You also can contact the IRS and ask them what’s going on.</p>
<p>If this gets past these first couple of stages you or your D might want to consult with a lawyer. It sounds as if they’re just trying to intimidate you with their threats of you paying their court costs.</p>
<p>To the basic point - it should be pretty easy to determine who paid more than half of her support - either her or her dad. This seems like a simple matter for the IRS to determine and I don’t see why lawyers need to be involved and they could cost more than any savings anyway unless he’s getting hit with big penalties.</p>
<p>The whole thing sounds fishy.</p>
<p>OP - How one deals with authority figures really depends on one’s personality. So take the following with the appropriate grains of salt:</p>
<p>(1) You are assuming you know what’s being requested;
(2) You are assuming that the person requesting the documents is authorized to do so; and
(3) You are assuming you are obligated to respond.</p>
<p>Since the attorney has inserted himself/herself into this, I’d make them fulfill their side of the bargain by providing a copy of the IRS letter requesting documentation. At that point you can decide who the appropriate supplying party is … you, your D, the college, etc. (And if it was me, I’d send all required documents directly to the IRS by Certified Mail … but that’s just me.)</p>
<p>But the OP doesn’t HAVE the information being requested. I’d send the law firm a certified letter saying that I would be happy to provide the information if I had it, but that the D was an independent student and I have no records about it. And then if I got a further communication from them, I’d consult my own attorney.</p>
<p>^ As I noted above, how one responds largely depends on personality. I wouldn’t send a letter that put my D in the attorney’s cross-hairs, especially if it opened me to a charge of being non-respondent also. But that’s just me.</p>
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<p>Your daughter who was 22 then and 27 now or your daughter who is 22 now and was 17 or 18 then?</p>
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<p>It seems reasonable to me that if he has to pay only for the months she was actually in school, then proof should be provided that she was in school, but who should provide that proof, and to whom, and if it has to be fulltime… all those things need to be figured out.</p>
<p>And the thread title is “who gets to claim on income tax” but the question asked is different, ie “Can they really do this and does my daughter have to give him these documents?”</p>
<p>I am curious as to why the father is not just asking his daughter, and why he is having his attorney send the OP such threatening letters. </p>
<p>It appears that the $250/month during the school year was being paid to the daughter and not to the OP. Is he so out of touch that he did not have knowledge of whether his daughter was in school full time, or not? And did she need to be “in school” or “in school registered as a full time student?” After all, $250/month doesn’t go far in covering the costs of a college education, and the daughter might have needed to take a reduced academic load to make it more affordable or to permit her to work more hours.</p>
<p>The appropriate proof for the father, if it is indeed necessary, would either be a copy of the transcript or a copy of the IRS Form 1098-T…both of which are issued in the student’s name, not the parents, and because of privacy laws, are accessible only by the student unless the student permits the parents access.</p>
<p>My guess is that the father may have claimed his daughter (and likely her education credits) on his tax forms for the year in question, and that your daughter claimed herself on her own tax return…and that the IRS is checking things out.</p>
<p>So, in this situation, I would politely ask the attorneys, in writing, to furnish you a copy of the IRS letter so that you can determine what information is actually being sought. And, if it is not information on your own personal tax return for that year, then politely inform the attorney ,in writing, that you do not have that information because it was not on your own return, and that legally you cannot supply information on any other adult’s return. </p>
<p>You could then suggest that the father politely contact the daughter for whatever information he needs. </p>
<p>My guess is that if he was paying her only $250/month for only four or five months of the relevant tax year, and that she was not otherwise living with him, and that she was paying her own expenses with her own earnings and loans in her own name, that he did not supply more than 50% of her support for the entire tax year , and that the IRS is not going to let him claim her…especially as she is an adult who claimed herself.</p>
<p>Actually, I can’t believe that his attorney is stupid enough to send a threatening letter to you for information that he should know is not yours to give.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe that his attorney is stupid enough to send a threatening letter to you for information that he should know is not yours to give.”</p>
<p>Actually, I know attorneys that use threatening language as standard boilerplate in their “requests.”</p>
<p>Newhope,
unfortunately you are right about some attorneys thinking that ranting and blustering and attempting to intimidate people is the way to go about business…especially the bottom feeders who are too lazy or incompetent to go about obtaining information they need for their clients the correct way.</p>
<p>OP, don’t be intimidated by this tactic. Just because the attorney makes a threat in a letter doesn’t mean the court would back him up and assess legal costs to you. </p>
<p>Was the $250/month paid to you, or your daughter? Did the divorce decree require her to be a full time student? If that was a requirement of the decree, and if she was not a full time student, the worst that could happen is that the ex could be entitled to reimbursement of the $250/month for however many months involved…not an insurmountable sum. </p>
<p>You might want to give your daughter a heads-up that she might be getting a communication from her father, and have her obtain any documentation she might need to give him. Let her know that she should not be intimidated by any threats. And if the only amount of support she received from her father during that period of time was a total of $2250 over a period spanning two tax years…he obviously did not provide more than 50% of her support for the periods in question.</p>
<p>Actually, I am curious as to the ex’s problems with the IRS…because child support is not tax deductible in any event, so I am wondering why he needs documentation of her student status, unless he tried to claim her deduction as his dependent, and her education credits. Maybe he claimed education credits and the IRS could not match them up with a 1098-T, and that is what started this whole matter?</p>
<p>"… unless he tried to claim her deduction as his dependent, and her education credits. Maybe he claimed education credits and the IRS could not match them up with a 1098-T, and that is what started this whole matter?"</p>
<p>This was my guess as well. There’s no way to know for sure, which is why several posters have suggested getting a copy of the IRS ‘Request for Documentation’ letter.</p>