Yes, that's what it means.
The father will now have to file a paper return to claim the child.
You will have to review your return, figure out what you claimed and then file an amended return.
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If you and the other parent
live together, only one of you can claim the child for any tax benefit. The
interview is confusing (it's designed for divorced parents, who are allowed to
split the child). The second parent should
not enter the child, at all.
If you and the other parent live together, either one of you (but not both) may claim the child. You may decide between you which one will claim the child. Only if you can’t agree, do the IRS tie breaker rules apply, to see who has first choice. It may be worthwhile to prepare trial returns, both ways, to see which way the family comes out best. This tool may be useful: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1.
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There is a
special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents.
When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child
tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned
Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This
"splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived
together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you
can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any
other manner.
Note in particular
that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of
Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released
the exemption to him.
So, it's good idea to let the other parent know that you
will be claiming those items, as many first time divorced parents are not aware
of this rule and may try to claim those items, which will cause the IRS to send
out letters.
Ref: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170897
