From your comment above "...Other than holidays and occasional weekends she doesn't go home per se. She will be with her mother in Orlando about twice as much as her time with me..."
It would appear that your home would not be her home except for the "temporary absence" to attend school. If that is the case then you probably do not meet the "lived with you more the half the year" test to be your Qualifying child.
However, she might not meet that test for the other parent either depending on the exact cercumstances, so she might not be the Qualifying Child dependent of either parent, but could possibly meet the Qualifying Relative test for one parent, if that parent provided more than half of her total support for the year and her taxable gross income was less than $4,050. Who could claim would then come down to why provided the support since living with you is not a Requirement for a Qualifying Relative.
---Tests to be a Qualifying Relative (& Unrelated Persons)---
(Must meet ALL of these tests to be a dependent)
1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
2. The person either must be related to you, or must live with you all year (all 365 days - There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service) as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,050 (tax-exempt income, such as certain social security benefits, is not included in gross income)
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support** for the year.
5. The person is not filing a joint return.
In any case, the person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico
The above is simplified; see IRS Publication 17, for full information.
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https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2016_publink1000170933">https://www.irs.gov/pub...>
** Worksheet for determining support
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**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
