I have a couple who separated in May. They don’t have a separation agreement in place yet, so I’m hoping to give her some good, neutral, information that will benefit their disabled kids.
From what I understand, the divorce is messy and I’m going to be seeing her soon. After the separation, she applied and got the DTC credit going back to 2016 and 2018 for 2 of the 3 children. He doesn’t know this and CRA is re-assessing her returns.
There is no point in it. I’ve been doing their returns since 2019 and she has never had any federal or provincial tax owing. Quickly popping it into TC for 2023, his refund would change by over $7k.
I can explain to her that she should let him claim those adjustments and can write something into the agreement about how to handle it. They split it, it goes into RESPs, whatever. Anything, but let it go unclaimed.
What about the future? He is a truck driver and said it will be as long as 2 -3 years before a job opens up where he works now so they can go to shared custody. I know if he is paying child support, he can’t claim the eligible dependent, but could she allow him to claim the disability ongoing? It seems really unfair that the disability credit is lost for the children until he no longer travels for work and gets joint custody.
Any guidance how to get those kids the funds they are entitled to?
Hi might have a shot at claiming the DTC for 2024 (the year of separation) as well as year(s) while the couple were happily married. Going forward (2025 onwards) if he is paying child support my understanding is he is unable to claim the DTC for any child for which he pays support.
If you pay child support
If you pay child support, you cannot claim the disability amount transferred from a child for whom you had to pay support payments except in one of the following situations:
- You were separated from your spouse or common-law partner for only part of 2024 due to a breakdown in your relationship and you did not claim any support amounts paid to your spouse or common-law partner on line 22000 of your return. When this is the case, you can claim a disability amount transferred from your child on line 31800 of your return, in addition to any allowable amounts for that child on line 30400 and line 30425 of your return, if applicable
Note: In this situation, if it is better for you, you can choose not to claim any amounts for your child (for example, on line 31800, line 30400 and line 30425), and only claim support amounts you paid to your spouse or common-law partner on line 22000 of your return.
- You and another person had to make support payments for the child for 2024. When this is the case, you can claim the disability amount transferred from your child only if you and the other person(s) paying support agree that you will be the one making the claim. For more information, see Income Tax Folio-S1-F3-C3, Support Payments
Thanks, @snoplowguy That’s what I was afraid of. I was really grasping at straws hoping there was a path that only experience would reveal. I hate seeing wasted credits 
, especially credits that are there to help children. Hopefully, he is able to get a local job sooner than later. Then, he’ll have 50/50 custody instead of child support payments.