Are you married to the kids other parent or are you married to someone else? Do you have the kids more than 6 months out of the year?
No. If you are married and lived with your spouse during any part of the last 6 months of the year, even if it is not the kids biological parent, you cannot claim head of household. Your filing options are married filing jointly or married filing separately.
Possibly, if you have a spouse that you have not lived with for the last 6 months of the year.
In order to claim head of household you would need to pay more than half of the expenses for the household that included your qualifying child. The IRS does not require that you claim the child as a dependent on your return to file as head of household if the other parent is claiming the child via form 8332.
For residency purposes, your child would have to live with your for MORE than half of the year, based on nights spent in your home. If they spent less than 183 nights at your home in 2025, then they would not be considered as living in your home for more than half of the year.
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