@LLaDue1980 wrote:
It doesn't allow me to just select another status, it runs me through all of the questions again that it asked initially. Then it tells me again that HOH is the best option.
Either you are answering the questions wrong, or you have a misunderstanding about the tax laws.
If you have custody more than half the nights of the year, choose "7 months" or longer in Turbotax as your estimate of how long the child lived with you. Then you will be asked if the other parent is claiming the child due to a custody agreement. If you say "yes", you will not claim the child as a dependent, but you will still qualify for HOH, because only the parent where the child lives more than half the nights of the year is entitled to that benefits. It can't be waived, shared or transferred, even under a state court order. (A state court can't order you to do something that is illegal under federal law.). If you are releasing the dependent claim, you must give the other parent a signed form 8332.
Similarly on the other side, if the other parent chooses "6 months" or less, for how long the child lived in their home, they can't claim the child without you giving them the release form 8332, and then they get the child tax credit but not HOH, or EIC, or the childcare credit, because those benefits can't be waived, shared or transferred. The only way that a parent who has custody less than half the nights of the year can qualify for HOH is if they lie and say they had custody more than half the nights. That's tax fraud, and no valid state court order can tell someone to break federal law.
If you are the parent who has custody less than half the nights of the year, select "5 months" or less as your estimate, and indicate yes, you will receive a form 8332. You will not qualify for HOH, but you will have to obtain a signed form 8332 from the other parent and mail it to the IRS within 3 days of e-filing. Don't indicate the child lived with you all year.
All the rules are here, look especially for sections marked "special rules for children of divorced or separated parents."
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
The rules are repeated here,
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p504.pdf
