Form 8332 (Rev. 10-2018)
Page 2
relative of the noncustodial parent for
purposes of the dependency exemption, the
child tax credit, the additional child tax credit,
and the credit for other dependents.
Special Rule for Children of
Divorced or Separated
Parents
A child is treated as a qualifying child or a
qualifying relative of the noncustodial parent if
all of the following apply.
1. The child received over half of his or her
support for the year from one or both of the
parents (see the Exception below). If you
received payments under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
program or other public assistance program
and you used the money to support the child,
see Pub. 501.
2. The child was in the custody of one or
both of the parents for more than half of the
year.
3. Either of the following applies.
a. The custodial parent agrees not to claim
an exemption for the child by signing this
form or a similar statement. If the decree or
agreement went into effect after 1984 and
before 2009, see Post-1984 and pre-2009
decree or agreement below.
b. A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate
maintenance or written separation agreement
states that the noncustodial parent can claim
the child as a dependent. But the
noncustodial parent must provide at least
$600 for the child’s support during the year.
This rule does not apply if the decree or
agreement was changed after 1984 to say
that the noncustodial parent cannot claim the
child as a dependent.
For this rule to apply, the parents must be
one of the following.
• Divorced or legally separated under a
decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
• Separated under a written separation
agreement.
• Living apart at all times during the last 6
months of the year.
If this rule applies, and the other
dependency tests in the instructions for your
tax return are also met, the noncustodial
parent can claim an exemption for the child.
Exception. If the support of the child is
determined under a multiple support
agreement, this special rule does not apply,
and this form should not be used.
Post-1984 and pre-2009 decree or
agreement. If the divorce decree or
separation agreement went into effect after
1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial
parent can attach certain pages from the
decree or agreement
instead of Form 8332, provided that these
pages are substantially similar to Form 8332.
To be able to do this, the decree or
agreement must state all three of the
following.
1. The noncustodial parent can claim the
child as a dependent without regard to any
condition (such as payment of support).
2. The other parent will not claim the child
as a dependent.
3. The years for which the claim is released.
The noncustodial parent must attach all of
the following pages from the decree or
agreement.
• Cover page (include the other parent’s SSN
on that page).
• The pages that include all of the information
identified in (1) through (3) above.
• Signature page with the other parent’s
signature and date of agreement.
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CAUTION
The noncustodial parent must
attach the required information
even if it was filed with a return in
an earlier year.
Post-2008 decree or agreement. If the
divorce decree or separation agreement went
into effect after 2008, the noncustodial parent
can’t attach certain pages from the decree or
agreement instead of Form 8332.
Specific Instructions
Custodial Parent
Part I. Complete Part I to release a claim to
exemption for your child for the current tax
year.
Part II. Complete Part II to release a claim to
exemption for your child for one or more
future years. Write the specific future year(s)
or “all future years” in the space provided in
Part II.
To help ensure future support, you
may not want to release your
claim to the exemption for the
child for future years.
TIP
Part III. Complete Part III if you are revoking a
previous release of claim to exemption for
your child. Write the specific future year(s) or
“all future years” in the space provided in
Part III.
The revocation will be effective no earlier
than the tax year following the year you
provide the noncustodial parent with a copy
of the revocation or make a reasonable effort
to provide the noncustodial parent with a
copy of the revocation. Also, you must attach
a copy of the revocation to your tax return for
each year you are claiming the exemption as
a result of the revocation. You must also keep
for your records a copy of the revocation and
evidence of delivery of the notice to the
noncustodial parent, or of reasonable efforts
to provide actual notice.
Example. In 2015, you released a claim to
exemption for your child on Form 8332 for the
years 2016 through 2020. In 2018, you
decided to revoke the previous release of
exemption. If you completed Part III of Form
8332 and provided a copy of the form to the
noncustodial parent in 2018, the revocation
will be effective for 2019 and 2020. You must
attach a copy of the revocation to your 2019
and 2020 tax returns and keep certain records
as stated earlier.
Noncustodial Parent
Attach this form or similar statement to your
tax return for each year you claim the
exemption for your child. You can claim the
exemption only if the other dependency tests
in the instructions for your tax return are met.
TIP
If the custodial parent released his
or her claim to the exemption for
the child for any future year, you
must attach a copy of this form or
similar statement to your tax return
for each future year that you claim the
exemption. Keep a copy for your records.
Note: If you are filing your return
electronically, you must file Form 8332 with
Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax
Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return. See Form
8453 and its instructions for more details.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask
for the information on this form to carry out
the Internal Revenue laws of the United
States. You are required to give us the
information. We need it to ensure that you are
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figure and collect the right amount of tax.
You aren’t required to provide the
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or its instructions must be retained as long as
their contents may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue law.
Generally, tax returns and return information
are confidential, as required by Internal
Revenue Code section 6103.
The average time and expenses required to
complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances. For
the estimated averages, see the instructions
for your income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this
form simpler, we would be happy to hear from
you. See the instructions for your income tax
return.
