CANDA ALSTON, APPELLANT,
v.
JOHN VAZQUEZ, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed a paternity judgment with child support and parenting plan but reversed the tax dependency exemption provision, requiring the trial court to condition each parent's right to claim the child as a dependent on being current with child support payments.
A trial court has discretion to award the income tax dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent in a paternity case, but must condition that right on the parent being current with child support payments.
[1] A trial court's discretion to award the income tax dependency exemption to a noncustodial parent in a paternity case must be conditioned upon that parent remaining curren…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial court had the discretion to transfer the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent.”
Court citing Vick v. Vick, 675 So. 2d 714, 719 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996) to establish the general rule regarding trial court discretion.
Canda Alston and John Vazquez were parties to a paternity action involving a child. The trial court entered a final judgment establishing paternity, o…
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Canda Alston appeals a final judgment of paternity that included a child support order and parenting plan. We affirm the trial court’s thorough, thoughtful, and well-documented final judgment as to all but one of the issues Appellant raised. As part of the final judgment, the trial, court ordered that Appellant would have the income tax benefits of claiming the parties’ child as a dependent in even-numbered years, while Appellee, the child’s father, would have those same tax benefits in odd-numbered years. “The trial court had the discretion to transfer the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent,” Vick v. Vick, 675 So.2d 714, 719 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). However, the trial court erred in not conditioning each party’s right to claim the child as a dependent on being current with child support payments. See Salazar v. Salazar, 976 So.2d 1155, 1158 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). We remand with instructions for the trial court to enter an amended final judgment containing that condition for the right to claim their child as a dependent for tax purposes in alternating years. In all other respects, the final judgment is affirmed.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
SAWAYA, ORFINGER, and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
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Lennon v. Simone Lennon, 264 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)…custodial parent. See 26 U.S.C. § 152(c)(4)(B)(i) (2012). However, federal and state law allows the noncustodial parent to claim a child under certain circumstances. Id. § 152(e)(1)-(3); § 61.30(11)(a)(8), Fla. Stat. (2016); Alston v. Vazquez, 226 So. 3d 377, 377 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017) ("The trial court [has] the discretion to transfer the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent." (quoting Vick v. Vick, 675 So. 2d 714, 719 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996))). If the court on remand wishes to depart from the…
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Authorities Cited
- Sims v. State, 675 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
- Redding v. State, 675 So. 2d 714 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
- Salazar v. Orestes Salazar, 976 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)