@StephanieSuiter wrote:
He has claimed them the last 3 years. He only sees them 13% of the time by choice. He gets all their stimulus money and won't help buy summer clothes but get behind on child supprt. i suppose I would see it differently IF he wouls follow court orders and spend his time with them as he is suppose to. I have them 87% of the time. But he remarried and decided he doesn't need to do weekday visitations and summer schedules.
If you have a court order that would allow the other parent to claim the children for 2020, and you file an amended return to claim them as dependents for yourself, the IRS will accept it, but you may be considered in violation of your court order. The other parent could complain to the court, and the court could take action against you including fining you, ordering you to amend your return and release the dependent, or reducing your child support. You should not violate a court order without good legal advice from your own attorney.
To claim your children as dependents, you will need to prepare and file an amended return. You can do this in Turbotax online, but the amending function is not turned on yet. (It should be ready next week.). Here is a link to instructions,
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/amending/help/how-do-i-amend-my-return/01/27439
and a couple of helpful articles and videos
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/amend-return/amending-your-income-tax-return/L4B7pN42I
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/amend-return/video-how-to-amend-your-tax-return/L2wLEwRf1
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/amend-return/how-to-file-an-amended-return-with-the-irs/L6kO691...
The process in your case will be to create the amended return, and add the 3 children as dependents. Answer they lived with you more than half the year, and you do not have a custody agreement that will let the other parent claim them (since you are ignoring the agreement). Turbotax should indicate you will receive some recovery rebate and other benefits adding up to a large additional refund.
You will need to print your amended return and file by mail. An amended return is a form 1040-X that summarizes the changes, and a copy of any of the tax forms that have changes (your form 1040 with the dependents listed, and possibly other forms). Sign the 1040-X and the 1040, and mail them to the IRS. Expect it will take 5-6 months to process, and any refund you claim will be paid by a check mailed to the address on the tax form. The IRS does not do direct deposits of refunds from amended tax returns.
You don't need to send any proof of custody. Just list your childrens' names and SSNs and any other information asked by the program.
If there is a conflict between your amended return and the other parent's return, the IRS should send a letter to both parents asking about the dependents. That letter usually takes 6-9 months to show up, but the IRS is very backlogged this year. If and when you do get a letter, you will respond with proof that the children lived with you, and any other information the letter requests.
