So, in our custody order it states that both parents share custody with both minor children on a bi-weekly basis. It also states that if a parent is required to seek child care due to work that the other parent shall be responsible to pay half of said parents childcare costs.

Now BM has had no problem when she puts the kids in daycare coming to DH and expecting him to pay half. She has now decided, since DH had to seek childcare last year, that it's not fair that she should have to pay for half of it and told DH that if he tries to get her to pay for it that she will go for more physical custody of the children and will go after him for child support which will be $160 a month as is right now but will change if and when she is granted majority custody of the children.

Now, I may have my dumb moments, but I'm pretty sure this is illegal. You can't threaten someone in order to get out of paying a bill that you are legally obligated to pay.

Now, on to the main issue. Per the CO, BM gets to claim both of the children on her taxes and DH gets to claim the EIC. Now technically neither DH or BM qualify for the EIC since they do not have the kids for over 50% of the year. It's shared custody. The only reason why DH gets it is because of the CO.

Now DH makes too much money to claim the EIC so he has in the past traded BM for one of the kids. It's been about three years since they last did that because BM has turned into a phsyco.

BM has recently had another child with her new husband. That gives her a total of four kids. Two with DH, one with her new DH, and one SD. They house that she lives in is to small and she has decided that she wants the EIC money for the past three years plus this year so she can put a down payment on a new home. That's almost 25K that she does not qualify for from the federal government.

DH and I have talked about this and due to her crazy behavior over the last four years and the fact that she has a DH and needs to go to him to support her and her family and not my DH, DH is not going to write the letter signing the EIC credits over to her. Of course this is going to piss her off because the only way for her to get it legally is to have DH sign them over to her and I'm assuming that she is going to start threatening the same thing in regards to taking the kids and going after him for child support if he doesn't do it.

Now, with all that being said, I'm pretty sure that what she is doing is illegal. With some of the reading that I have done, to prepare myself for the full on assault I see coming in the near future, she already is and would be guilty of extortion and coercion.

Would I be correct in assuming that forcing my DH by threats to help her commit fraud against the federal government (IRS) is illegal? Technically he wouldn't be helping her, but be forced to sign over the EIC to her (which is legally his) so she can claim money that she doesn't qualify for? DH can't afford to pay child support and she knows it and not only is she threatening child support but she's threatening to go after majority custody of the kids so she can go after him for more child support.

Legal or illegal?