AboutTimmy Chou Expertise I am a experienced Mediator and a partner in a management consulting firm. As a mediator I work as a third-party neutral and specialize in partnership/shareholder disputes, management/labor issues, company culture difficulties, and family-owned business problems. I can help describe why alternative dispute resolution may be a good choice for you. As an experienced management consultant I may be able to offer creative ideas to help resolve your organizational and business problems and disputes. "If you say conflict, I say opportunity".
Question i currently have mediation arrangments with my daughters father. We have in the paperwork that he can claim her in odd years on his taxes and i can in even years due to us having 50-50....well he has not had her this last year his share of the time...he should have her sat night to wed after school...well the last year she'd come home to me sun night or monday after school...i don't think it's right that he claim her on his taxes this year due to his time not being met...mind you there is much much more...but is it legal for me to claim her anyway...or is it not due to the mediation paperwork....thanks..frustrated and confused
Answer Thank you for your question!
I was notified today about your question - but never received any prior notification so sorry about the delay in responding.
As you may know, Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own settlement.
I am not an attorney but you may want to go see one as I cannot speak to what is typically allowed in your state.
It is legal to claim deduction if you have actually provided the support. How this affects your mediated agreement is another thing altogether.
Ideally you would be able, through a mediator, to negotiate with the father allowing you the deduction for this year and perhaps changing the 50-50 deal to reflect another more appropriate method.
However, just doing what you want without prior notice is likely to just piss someone off and set up a dispute that, if it ended up in the hands of a bunch of lawyers, would cost everyone much more than the tax savings provided by the deduction.
I would check with a lawyer to understand the law here, and then see if you can begin a negotiation to address it with the father and see how that plays.
These are some ideas. Feel free to follow up with additional questions.
For your general information, the pros and cons of the types of dispute resolution methods follows.
GOOD LUCK!
Arbitration, Mediation, and Litigation
Arbitration: the referral of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for final and binding determination outside of the judicial system
Benefits of Arbitration:
Confidential, no public record
Limited exchange of documentation, information
Quick, don't have to wait for a court date
Arbitrators have expertise in the subject matter and are trained in conflict resolution
Cheaper than litigation
Preserves business relationships
Negatives of Arbitration
It's a compromise, no 0 winner
Complex arbitration can be costly
If not satisfied, may litigate the arbitration procedure
Poor results with an unskilled arbitrator
Both parties must agree to cooperate in the process
Mediation: the process by which parties submit their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who works with the parties to reach a settlement of their dispute.
Benefits of Mediation:
Neutral mediator can objectively suggest alternatives not considered before
Parties are directly engaged in negotiating the settlement
Can be quicker than litigation
Less costly than litigation
Preserves business relationships
85 of American Arbitration Association cases mediated find successful solutions
Negatives of Mediation
may not reach a binding decision
unskilled mediator
Litigation: using the judicial system to resolve disputes
Benefits of litigation:
a clear winner and loser
uses a prescribed set of procedures
more predictable outcomes
is final
Negatives of Litigation:
waiting for court dates can do more harm
usually more expensive than mediation and arbitration
part of the public record
