Hi, sorry that no one directly answered your question and rather answered if you will file Married Separately or not. I found a good answer here:
"A child's dependency exemption cannot be claimed by more than one person. So if your wife chooses to claim the child you cannot. In cases where children are being included on a tax return, it is usually best not to file Married Filing Separate (MFS). The credits and deductions tend to be less. If you live together MFS or Married Filing Joint (MFJ) are your only legal tax statuses. You may wish to reconsider filing separate.
Thank you for choosing Turbo Tax. Lorie." (Link provided below.)
To your actual question, my husband and I are on good terms together he is the biological parent with legal custody to claim one of the children (my step child). We for our own reasons keep filing MFS (separately) for documentation of our own incomes without him needing to release my income to his ex-wife when she and he discuss taxes with each other. (A.K.A. We prefer to keep my income & salary privately documented and completely separate.)
CHEERS!
Reference: https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/married-filing-separately-with-a-stepchild/00/308...
