OK, I understand all of the points made, and they make complete sense. But let me make this a bit more complicated.
Assume the same facts as above - that the couple has a common child and pays all expenses of the house and child equally. But let’s modify this so that each parent also has a child from a prior marriage living in the house 50% of the time. So in addition to splitting common house expenses and expenses for their common child 50-50, each parent also supports their own child from a prior marriage 100% for the time that child is in the house.
Let's call the parents persons A and B. They have the common child let's call Child AB and, as discussed, they split all of AB's expenses as well as the common house expenses 50-50. But let's say Person A also has a child from a prior marriage – Child A - who lives in the home 50% of the time. And Person B has their own child from a prior marriage – Child B - who also lives in the home 50% of the time Person A pays 100% of their own Child A’s expenses while Child A is in the home and Person B pays 100% of Child B's expenses while Child B is in the home. So how does this affect the HOH determination? Without addressing the specifics of the agreements Persons A and B have with their ex-spouses regarding tax-reporting, can each now claim to be Head of Household since they are splitting all common expenses 50-50 but also paying the expenses of their separate children from the prior marriages?
