Probably the best resource for answers to federal income tax questions in divorce is found in IRS Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals. The publication contains a comprehensive summary of federal tax treatment of divorced and separated individuals, including questions regarding filing status, claiming exemptions for children after divorce, treatment of alimony, QDROs, taxation of property settlements between spouses, tax deductibility of attorney fees and costs of obtaining a divorce, community property issues, and other critical tax information for divorced or separated persons. The publication is in the Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by selecting the appropriate link below. While we make effort to keep the publication on our site up to date, you may wish to download Publication 504 directly from the IRS by selecting the appropriate link below (be forewarned that the IRS site can occasionally be slow to connect and download--especially at tax time--and that we cannot guarantee that the IRS link will not move).

IRS Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals (Download directly from the IRS)

This is the form the custodial parent needs to sign to release his or her claim to the exemption for children to the non-custodial parent. Even if your divorce decree awards you the exemption for one or more of the children, if you are the non-custodial parent you will probably need your ex-spouse to sign this form for the IRS to recognize your claim (because most Utah divorce decrees entered after 1984 do not unconditionally entitle the non-custodial parent to the exemption). This form is in the Adobe Acrobat Reader format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by selecting the appropriate link below. While we make effort to keep the form on our site up to date, you may wish to download Form 8332 directly from the IRS by selecting the appropriate link below (be forewarned that the IRS site can occasionally be slow to connect and download--especially at tax time--and that we cannot guarantee that the IRS link will not move).

Form8332 (Download directly from the IRS)