Believe it or not, Florida courts do not have the authority to decide which parent can claim the children as dependents for federal tax purposes. You have to look to the IRS Code, which provides that the custodial parent is automatically entitled to take the dependency exemption for a child if all of the following requirements are met: a. The child’s parent contributes more than half of the child’s support during the calendar year; b. The child’s parents have not lived together during the last 6 months of the year, or are divorced or separated under a written agreement of decree; c.The child is in custody of one or both parents for more than half of the calendar year. Remember, the parties have the availability to decide between themselves which parent will claim the children in a marital settlement agreement, the courts can ratify this agreement, which will become a binding court order.