Ok ... bottom line ... if the kids are his as well and you all live together then either of you can claim the dependents but both of you cannot claim the same child. Due to the EIC & CTC rules going back to normal the person with the higher income (even if they cannot file HOH) will usually get more for the kids BUT before either of you file you really need to review both returns to see where the kids to the most good for both of you combined. Cooperation is key here for the best results all the way around. If you can use the downloaded program so you can easily flip flop between the 2 returns and do NOT file until you are absolutely sure the returns are as you want them. Remember unless you are putting one child on each return the person not claiming a child should have not have the child anywhere on the return at all ... if you live together you cannot split up a single child even though you can each take one if you have more than one.
