Release/Revocation of Release of Claim

to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent Form 8332

(Rev. January 2010)

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service © Attach a separate form for each child.

Name of noncustodial parent

Release of Claim to Exemption for Current Year

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

Note. If you choose not to claim an exemption for this child for future tax years, also complete Part II.

Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Years (If completed, see Noncustodial Parent on page 2.)

(Specify. See instructions.)

Part I

Part II

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

Noncustodial parent’s

social security number (SSN) ©

OMB No. 1545-0074

Attachment

Sequence No. 115

for the tax year 20 .

for the tax year(s) .

Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Year(s)

(Specify. See instructions.)

Part III

I revoke the release of claim to an exemption for

Name of child

Signature of custodial parent revoking the release of claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

for the tax year(s) .

Post-2008 decree or agreement. If the

divorce decree or separation agreement went

into effect after 2008, the noncustodial parent

cannot attach certain pages from the decree

or agreement instead of Form 8332. See

Release of claim to exemption below.

General Instructions

The custodial parent is generally the parent

with whom the child lived for the greater

number of nights during the year. The

noncustodial parent is the other parent. If the

child was with each parent for an equal

number of nights, the custodial parent is the

parent with the higher adjusted gross income.

For details and an exception for a parent who

works at night, see Pub. 501.

Release of claim to exemption. This release

of the exemption will also allow the

noncustodial parent to claim the child tax

credit and the additional child tax credit (if

either applies). Complete this form (or sign a

similar statement containing the same

What’s New

Purpose of Form

● Release a claim to exemption for your child

so that the noncustodial parent can claim an

exemption for the child.

If you are the custodial parent, you can use

this form to do the following.

● Revoke a previous release of claim to

exemption for your child.

Revocation of release of claim to

exemption. Use Part III to revoke a previous

release of claim to an exemption. The

revocation will be effective no earlier than the

tax year following the year in which 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. Therefore, if you revoked a

release on Form 8332 and provided a copy of

the form to the noncustodial parent in 2010,

the earliest tax year the revocation can be

effective is 2011. You must attach a copy of

the revocation to your tax return each year the

exemption is claimed as a result of the

revocation. You must also keep for your

records a copy of the revocation and evidence

Custodial Parent and

Noncustodial Parent

A dependent is either a qualifying child or a

qualifying relative. See your tax return

instruction booklet for the definition of these

terms. Generally, a child of divorced or

separated parents will be a qualifying child of

the custodial parent. However, if the special

rule on page 2 applies, then the child will be

treated as the qualifying child or qualifying

relative of the noncustodial parent for

purposes of the dependency exemption, the

child tax credit, and the additional child tax

credit.

Exemption for a Dependent

Child

Definition of custodial parent. New rules

apply to determine who is the custodial parent

and the noncustodial parent. See Custodial

Parent and Noncustodial Parent on this page.

Note. If the decree or agreement went into

effect after 1984 and before 2009, you can

attach certain pages from the decree or

agreement instead of Form 8332, provided

that these pages are substantially similar to

Form 8332. See Post-1984 and pre-2009

decree or agreement on page 2.

information required by this form) and give it to

the noncustodial parent. The noncustodial

parent must attach this form or similar

statement to his or her tax return each year the

exemption is claimed. Use Part I to release a

claim to the exemption for the current year.

Use Part II if you choose to release a claim to

exemption for any future year(s).

of delivery of the notice to the noncustodial

parent, or of reasonable efforts to provide

actual notice.
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Part I. Complete Part I to release a claim

to exemption for your child for the current

tax year.

To help ensure future support,

you may not want to release 

your claim to the exemption for

the child for future years.

Specific Instructions

Attach this form or similar sta

your tax return for each year 

the exemption for your child. 

claim the exemption only if th

dependency tests in your tax 

instruction booklet are met.

TIP

If the custodial pare

his or her claim to th

exemption for the c

future year, you mus

copy of this form or similar st

your tax return for each futur

you claim the exemption. Kee

for your records.

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subject to the Paperwork Re

unless the form displays a va

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relating to a form or its instru

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become material in the admi

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Revenue Code section 6103

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).

Public assistance payments, such as

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF), are not support provided by the

parents.

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.

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.

e oepaeocae

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.

CAUTION

The noncustodial parent must

attach the required information

even if it was filed with a return

in an earlier year.

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.

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.

If this rule applies, and the other

dependency tests in your tax return

instruction booklet 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.

The noncustodial parent can no longer

attach certain pages from a divorce

decree or separation agreement instead

of Form 8332 if the decree or agreement

was executed after 2008.

Custodial Parent

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.

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.

completed Part III of Form 8

provided a copy of the form 

noncustodial parent in 2010

revocation will be effective fo

2012. You must attach a co

revocation to your 2011 and 

returns and keep certain rec

stated earlier.

Noncustodial Parent

Note. If you are filing your re

electronically, you must file F

with Form 8453, U.S. Individu

Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-

See Form 8453 and its instru

more details.