I'm adding a side note here out of concern for the future welfare of the child and her family. I know the situation is difficult, and I hope the child will be protected. The mother needs to be aware of her responsibility to avoid claiming the child as her dependent because the mother is supposed to know the truth that child did not live with her for over half of the year. Therefore, the mother should not use the child to claim the child tax credit, or child care credit, or use the child for earned income tax credit. If the mother files incorrectly, and the IRS rules that the mother showed an intentional disregard of the rules, then the mother might need to repay any amount in error with interest. In addition, according to the IRS, the mother could be subject to the 20-percent-accuracy-related penalty and the 75-percent-fraud penalty. The mother could also be banned from claiming one or more of the credits for the next two years; and she could be banned from claiming one or more of the credits for the next ten years if the IRS rules that the error is because of fraud. The bottom line here is that this situation is very, very serious for the mother, and it should not be taken lightly. The mother and her other children could have significant future problems if the mother is not honest. The dependency is not something that you or the mother can trade. You qualify, and the mother does not. The mother cannot legally claim the child if she did not support the child and did not live with the child for over half the year.
