If the children lived with both you and your spouse more than half the year and meet the tests to be claimed by either of you and you can't agree on who will claim them, the tiebreaker rules come into effect. The first tiebreaker is number of nights living with you. Whoever the children lived with the most number of nights during the year is the one who is entitled to claim them as a dependent. If the number of nights is the same, the second tiebreaker is adjusted gross income. Whoever has the highest adjusted gross income is the one who is allowed to claim them.
