The Dependency Tax Exemption Requirements Have Changed For 2009!

In 2008, the IRS amended Code Section 152(e), the section which addresses the subject of the child dependency exemptions for divorced or separated parents. The old rule and procedures have been changed dramatically.

Here is a summary of the dependency exemption requirements:

  • The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
  • The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
  • The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
  • The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.  … View Full Article → “The Dependency Tax Exemption Requirements Have Changed For 2009!”

A Commentary: Nurturing Children After Divorce

Considering a multitude of differing perspectives and insights helps me to better hone my skills as a divorce lawyer.  What I see and hear every day is rarely black or white, but a rainbow of shades of gray. One way of broadening my viewpoint is to read all sorts of blogs each week, an activity which I totally enjoy! Consistently, one of my favorites is Michael Mastracci’s Divorce Without Dishonor Blog. Mike is an excellent attorney from Baltimore, Maryland. His own difficult and acrimonious divorce and child custody battle led to his personal interest in collaborative family law.  Attorneys and clients both should include his blog on their frequent read list. Mike regularly espouses ethical, moral and philosophical standards that we should aspire to meet. I have personally and professionally been a proponent of child welfare issues for over 30 years.  So, when I read his recent post about “What We Are Teaching Our Children of Separation and Divorce,” I had to ask Mike if I could have his permission to republish it.… View Full Article → “A Commentary: Nurturing Children After Divorce”

Should Ohio Social Workers Be Looking Over Their Shoulders?

The legal analysis posted last week on this blog by Daniel Pollack discussing legal immunity for children services social workers was comprehensive and well done. A review of Ohio federal cases on point is very interesting and enlightening.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided on the issue of whether a caseworker can be personally liable.1 In Holloway, the court determined that absolute immunity applies to a caseworker only when they are acting in the scope of a legal advocate (such as a prosecutor) which is not their role under Ohio law.  The caseworker sued in Holloway withheld information from the Court that the mother had attempted to assert her parental rights, lying to the mother in telling her that her parental rights had been terminated when they had not and in failing to share information which would have allowed mother an opportunity to assert her rights in Court.   … View Full Article → “Should Ohio Social Workers Be Looking Over Their Shoulders?”

Is There Legal Immunity for Social Workers Who Lie?

It is an accepted principle that a parent has a constitutionally protected interest in the custody and care of his or her child.  This interest does have exceptions, especially when the child may be in immediate or apparent danger. This is when child protection services gets involved. Crucial to every child protection investigation is to establish the facts and circumstances of the case. When these are presented to the court at a dependency hearing, the evidence may become proof.

The best professional judgment of child protection workers may, in hindsight, be wrong.  For this and other reasons, child protection workers usually have some level of immunity from prosecution.1  When individual government officials are sued for monetary damages they generally are granted either absolute or qualified immunity. The United States Supreme Court has stated that qualified immunity is the norm, absolute immunity is the exception.2

Should that immunity disappear when, in their official capacities as child protection workers, they make knowingly inaccurate or false statements which result in the wrongful removal of a child?  … View Full Article → “Is There Legal Immunity for Social Workers Who Lie?”

The Legal Distinctions Between “Sole Custody” vs “Shared Parenting”

For many parents contemplating a divorce or dissolution of their marriage, a primary concern is which parent shall have “custody” of the child or children of the marriage.  I shall begin the article by addressing the differences between the two parenting systems in Ohio – “sole custody” and “shared parenting”.

  1. The parents have different names or titles:  In a situation where one parent has “sole custody” of the child/children, that parent is designated as the “residential parent and legal custodian” and the other parent is designated as the “non-residential parent” or the “non-custodial parent”.  In a shared parenting situation both parents have the same title. They are both designated as the “residential parent and legal custodian” of the child or children.  For school district reasons of residency and tuition, one parent’s residence is typically designated as the residence of the child for school district purposes.  The parent whose residence is the residence of the child for school district purposes may have a slight advantage over the other party as he or she has the ability to change residences with the child changing school districts accordingly.  
… View Full Article → “The Legal Distinctions Between “Sole Custody” vs “Shared Parenting””

Estate Planning For The Modern Family – Use Of The QTIP Trust For Second Marriages

As we all know, the typical family from the 1950’s television shows such as “Leave it to Beaver” have become a rarity over the years.  A couple celebrating their golden wedding anniversary is not so commonplace.  Today, approximately fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce.  In the traditional family, estates usually involve wills and the use of “joint and survivorship” ownership between husband and wife or “beneficiary designations” to ensure that upon the death of a spouse everything would pass to the surviving spouse.  However, in today’s modern family, there may be a second or even third spouse and children from prior marriages.  How does an individual take care of his or her current spouse yet protect his/her children from a prior marriage?

The problem with leaving everything outright to one’s spouse in such a family is that the spouse may presumably leave everything to a new spouse or to their own children upon their death, leaving the children from one’s prior marriage with nothing.  … View Full Article → “Estate Planning For The Modern Family – Use Of The QTIP Trust For Second Marriages”

International Custody Cases In Federal Court Are Complex

On July 1, 2009, I received a decision on one of the more interesting cases I have worked on since embarking on my legal career.  The case started out as a custody case in Juvenile Court, but quickly spiraled into a full-scale federal trial; and subsequently, an appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  It’s safe to say that this was not your typical custody case.  What made this case different, among other things, was that the family had moved to Ohio from Israel and the mother had returned to Israel.  While in Israel, she decided to pursue custody and filed a Petition for the return of the minor child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, claiming that our client, the child’s father, had kidnapped the child and wrongfully retained him here in the United States instead of allowing him to return to Israel.… View Full Article → “International Custody Cases In Federal Court Are Complex”

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