The guy didn’t pay. The guy who raised the kid claimed him as a dependent. If the original guy has to pay up he should be able to go back and amend all of his tax returns claiming another dependent.
Now the decree states which parent can claim the child as a tax dependent. When I got divorced it was “whoever spends the most money”. My lawyer advised me to claim the dependents and if she claimed them too and if it ever came up with the IRS I’d win. Well, guess what. It IRS called me in and told me I’d been caught in a rule change and I owed extra taxes for three years. Never is fair.
“Now the decree states which parent can claim the child as a tax dependent. When I got divorced it was “whoever spends the most money”.
You were fortunate. In Texas, hubby sent the child support, had the children most of the time at our house, and did not get to claim children as dependents - this was the 1990’s.