I have a shared custody arrangement with my oldest daughter. She is with us every other weekend. How long should I say she "lived with me"? 12 months? 3?

 

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WITH your daughter, or FOR your daughter?

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I assumed the arrangement was with the other parent for the oldest daughter.
♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥Lisa♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

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Count up how many actual nights she stayed with you.

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Divide the number of nights she stayed with you by 30. That is approximately how many months she lived with you.

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Or do this:

2 nights every other week equals 52 nights per year.

52/365 = .14.25%

.1425 x12 = 1.71 mos.

You are not her custodial parent, since you had her less then 50% of the time.

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This will give the correct answer in turbotax.  Because you don't have custody more than half the nights of the year, you can't claim her as a dependent unless you get a signed release.  By figuring your custody in this manner (4 nights per month= about 2 months) turbotax will give you the correct options in the interview.
TomD8
Level 15

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"You are not her custodial parent"...and therefore you cannot claim her as a dependent on your tax return (unless the custodial parent releases to you his/her right to claim her, or it's spelled out in a pre-2009 divorce agreement).

**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.