It is possible for you to both claim head of household provided you both paid over half of your own household. It is also tricky. You have must two different households living in one house and it is easy for them to blur together. Picture what a family looks like. Imagine two neighbors. How does your family live, like two different families or is it one big happy family really. One of the qualifying questions will ask about others that lived in the house with you. In addition, one of you may have other expenses that go into keeping up a home that the other doesn't have. Your situation could be complicated.
A quick and easy solution is to visit the IRS interactive tools for filing status and dependents to determine who should claim what status and which children. You should each go through the filing status tool carefully.
For complete information on keeping up a home, see Pub. 501 or go to the upkeep worksheet on page 8.
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