BulldogTom Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 One of my clients just called with a "quick question". Clients niece has a boyfriend. Boyfriend gets niece pregnant. Before the baby is born, boyfriend dies. Baby is born in December. Niece gets call from grandparents of baby. "Would niece mind if they took the dependency exemption for the baby on their dead son's final tax return"? They would make sure that the tax benefits went to the baby. I am trying not to say this is crazy, but then I can't come up with a authoritative answer on why this cannot happen. After talking to her (maybe the shock of the question wore off) I think I have the right answer, but I wanted to run this by you guys. The father of the child cannot take the exemption for the baby because he was dead when the baby was born. The baby was not a dependent yet. When the baby was born, the father only had an estate, and the estate is barred from getting a dependency exemption by the code section that allows an exemption to an individual (need to look that section up). The estate also fails on the relationship test and member of the household test. Have any of you ever heard of this? Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregster Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 One of my clients just called with a "quick question". Clients niece has a boyfriend. Boyfriend gets niece pregnant. Before the baby is born, boyfriend dies. Baby is born in December. Niece gets call from grandparents of baby. "Would niece mind if they took the dependency exemption for the baby on their dead son's final tax return"? They would make sure that the tax benefits went to the baby. I am trying not to say this is crazy, but then I can't come up with a authoritative answer on why this cannot happen. After talking to her (maybe the shock of the question wore off) I think I have the right answer, but I wanted to run this by you guys. The father of the child cannot take the exemption for the baby because he was dead when the baby was born. The baby was not a dependent yet. When the baby was born, the father only had an estate, and the estate is barred from getting a dependency exemption by the code section that allows an exemption to an individual (need to look that section up). The estate also fails on the relationship test and member of the household test. Have any of you ever heard of this? Tom Lodi, CA Never heard of it or experienced it before however I would concur with your interpretation. Love those "quick questions" Gregster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 >>Love those "quick questions"<< I sure love this one. And I would say the exemption is appropriate. For purposes of relationship, the father is considered to have lived the entire year and so is the newborn. If they had the same home, I say go for it. The estate as an entity includes only his property, not his person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 I vote with Tom on this one. While it is true that a person who dies during the year gets a full year exemption, that is not the same thing as being alive when the child was born. By the time the child was born, the father was deceased, so no dependant exemption for him. The mother gets the exemption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 >>the same thing as being alive when the child was born<< If that is your only objection, then I quote Regulations Sec. 1.152(1)(b-). "the period during the taxable year preceding the birth of an individual shall not prevent such individual from qualifying as a dependent under section 152(a)(9)." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbbwest Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 >>the same thing as being alive when the child was born<< If that is your only objection, then I quote Regulations Sec. 1.152(1)(b-). "the period during the taxable year preceding the birth of an individual shall not prevent such individual from qualifying as a dependent under section 152(a)(9)." VERY interesting quick question. Perhaps there are cites available, but would take some digging. IF parents were married (Oh, those were the days my friend...we thought they'd never end..) mom and dad in year of dad's death would file married filing jointly with one dependent or married filing separately with either parent claiming dependent. If they lived separately and dad supported prenatal mom, mom has legal right to give dad dependancy exemption by signing form...where are you form geeks when I need one (8???). Unfortunately in today's computer world...irrelevant point, if mom (or anyone else) doesn't claim baby and dad's final return claims baby there is no paper trail. If I were dad's final preparer I would have mom sign form, cya. Off of the top of my head. lbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxtrio Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 More information would help, as always. Did they live together? Did the niece work? Did the mother support herself, or is she being claimed by someone else? All questions I would ask. If they did not live together, and she supported herself, or was supported by someone else then why would we think he should claim the the child? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted January 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 More information. They did not live together. Mother of baby worked and made 8K. Don't think that there is anyone else planning to claim the mother of the baby. My client is bringing the niece in with her at her appointment. Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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