Only question I would have is does her birth father claim her in case of a divorce or child custody agreement?
The IRS has rules for the dependents of divorced or separated parents. Those rules are based on federal law as established by congress. Only a federal judge can over ride those rules. A lower court judge can not - though many incorrectly think they can. Now, since federal judges do not handle divorce, separation or custody cases I can tell you with 100% certainty that a court order over ride will *never* happen.
The IRS rules for your situation are simple. Basically, the IRS rules state that the child can be claimed as the dependent of the custodial parent. This is followed by a clear definition of the custodial parent, and the non-custodial parent. Those rules are:
- The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for more than 182 nights of the tax year. The nights do not have to be consecutive. Temporary absences such as summer camp, hospital stays, attending school, etc count provide the child returns to the same household at the end of the temporary absence.
In the case where the divorce or separation occurred during the tax year, then the custodial parent is the parent with whom the child stayed with the most nights of the tax year.
- The non-custodial parent is the parent that does not meet the requirements of the custodial parent.
